Library Hi Tech

Marketing via social media: a case study

Luo Lili Wang Yuan Han Lifeng

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

Article information:
To cite this document:
Luo Lili Wang Yuan Han Lifeng , (2013),"Marketing via social media: a case study", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 31 Iss 3 pp. 455 466
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LHT-12-2012-0141
Downloaded on: 05 November 2015, At: 01:28 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 20 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 10271 times since 2013*

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

Stefan Olof Lagrosen, Kerstin Grundn, (2014),"Social media marketing in the wellness industry", The TQM Journal, Vol.
26 Iss 3 pp. 253-260 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/TQM-12-2013-0129
(2014),"Marketing with Social Media: A LITA Guide2014 6 Marketing with Social Media: A LITA Guide London Facet
Publishing 2014", Library Management, Vol. 35 Iss 6/7 pp. 535-536 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LM-06-2014-0069
Manfred Bruhn, Verena Schoenmueller, Daniela B. Schfer, (2012),"Are social media replacing traditional
media in terms of brand equity creation?", Management Research Review, Vol. 35 Iss 9 pp. 770-790 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1108/01409171211255948

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:543726 []

For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please
visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.

About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com

Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.
*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm

Marketing via social media:

a case study

Marketing via
social media

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

Lili Luo
School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State University, San Jose,
California, USA, and

Yuan Wang and Lifeng Han

University Library, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

455
Received 18 December 2012
Revised 11 February 2013
19 February 2013
Accepted 23 March 2013

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a study about a successful, award-winning online
video marketing project at an academic library in China, hoping to shed light on how to most
effectively employ social media in libraries marketing campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach The study examined the different aspects of the librarys online
video marketing project, including project preparation, video production, distribution and promotion,
and evaluation of students perception of this project via survey questionnaires. Factors that
contributed to its success were also analyzed.
Findings Four factors that contributed to the success of the librarys video marketing project were
identified: base video content on the real campus life, reflecting what students experience in their
everyday activities; convey content in a humorous, light-hearted, and refreshing style; employ social
media to share content and engage the target audience; and partner with students.
Practical implications The paper helps interested librarians develop a more grounded
understanding of how video sharing sites can be effectively and efficiently used as a marketing
platform and how to successfully create their own video marketing campaigns.
Originality/value One significant weakness in library marketing literature is the lack of empirical
studies analyzing the details of creating an online video marketing campaign. This paper helps fill that
void, and contributes to the growth of the knowledge about library marketing using innovative
technologies.
Keywords Online video marketing, Library marketing, Video sharing site, Social media, Marketing,
China
Paper type Case study

1. Introduction
Libraries have a well-established tradition of going where users are. Since social media
has introduced substantial and pervasive changes to communication between
organizations, communities, and individuals in recent years, libraries are increasingly
embracing it to strengthen their connections with the user community. Defined as a
group of internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of
user-generated content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010, p. 61), social media technologies
take on many different forms such as blogs, microblogs, wikis, social networking sites,
social bookmarking sites, photo and video sharing sites. According to the Pew Internet
and American Life project, in 2011, 65 percent of adult internet users used a social
networking site like MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, and 71 percent of online
Americans used video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo (Moore, 2011).
Given the popularity of social media, libraries have been actively establishing
presence on its various outlets. A survey conducted by EBSCO among European

Library Hi Tech
Vol. 31 No. 3, 2013
pp. 455-466
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-12-2012-0141

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

456

libraries suggested that primary goals of libraries social media involvement are
maximizing library exposure, modernizing the library image and e-reputation, promote
specific content offers, build discussion groups and collaborative work, reach new
audience of potential users and publish library news and press releases (Harnesk and
Salmon, 2010). Another survey targeting American Libraries reported similar findings,
where more than half of the respondents indicated that their libraries use social media
to promote general library services, market specific adult/youth/children programs
and services, provide quick updates and attract new users (Rogers, 2009).
It is clear from both survey studies that marketing is a key function of social media.
American Marketing Association defines marketing as the activity, set of institutions,
and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that
have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large (AMA, 2004). In a
rapidly expanding digital environment, marketing has become increasingly important
in promoting libraries and their services to users (Cole et al., 2010). Fulfilling the role of
the library requires librarians to learn and apply marketing skills, understand user and
stakeholder needs, create awareness, stimulate interest, build loyalty and demonstrate
value; and technologies such as social media can be used to support marketing, to
increase visibility, to raise levels of information literacy and to deliver personalized
services that anticipate the current and future needs of users (Kenneway, 2007).
In this paper, we present a case study accurately describing the successful use of a
popular video sharing site for library marketing. At Tsinghua University Library in
China, we produced a low-cost series of five short and entertaining videos titled Falling
in Love with the Library to promote library resources and services and to improve
brand awareness. The videos were posted on Youku (www.youku.com), Chinas
equivalent of YouTube, and achieved a staggering level of popularity. This online video
marketing project won the 10th IFLA International Marketing Award. The paper seeks
to share our successful experience with the world of academic libraries, hoping to shed
light on how to most effectively employ social media in libraries marketing campaigns.
2. Literature review
The importance of library marketing is well documented in the literature. Cole et al.
(2010) pithily summarized that marketing is imperative for libraries to be proactive and
to meet users needs. As the information environment becomes more competitive and
cluttered, marketing can make a difference by helping connect libraries with their
users. Kenneway (2007, p. 92) observed that marketing is now more of a critical issue
for librarians than it has been in the past because it is not good enough just to be good
at what you do anymore, and librarians have to be adept at communicating this and
what that means for their users.
The advent of social media has offered more opportunities for library marketing.
Blakeman and Brown (2010) identified several benefits of using social media for
marketing, branding and awareness, such as acquiring new customers, gathering
feedback from customers or community, raising awareness of community efforts and
connections, building community network, and fund raising.
There are a variety of social media technologies with the potential of being a
marketing platform; however, the library literature seems to focus primarily on social
networking sites, Facebook in particular. Numerous articles discussed academic
libraries presence on Facebook and its value in supporting marketing and outreach.

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

While it is indisputable that social networking sites like Facebook constitute an effective
marketing ground, another social media technology, video sharing sites, are also worth
pursuing. PC Magazine (2012) defines a video sharing site to be a website that allows
people to upload and share their video clips with the public at large or with invited
guests. A prominent example is YouTube. The business literature is abundant with
evidence of successful online video marketing via YouTube and other video sharing sites
(Miller, 2009; Jarboe, 2012). However, the use of video production and sharing in libraries
marketing endeavors is not abundantly documented in the library literature. Only a few
relevant articles have been located in literature searches, most of which were opinion
pieces about the promise and potential of library marketing via video sharing sites.
As early as 2007, Webb (2007) discussed the possibilities of using YouTube in
academic libraries. Although he did not specifically use the word marketing, it was
apparent that his suggested uses of YouTube served marketing purposes. For
example, he recommended that libraries film its various services, load them to
YouTube, and then make the link available on its website. Another recommendation
was to use it as a method of introducing resources available on campus, such as
creating visual helper for incoming freshmen-orientation sessions.
Little (2011, p. 70) provided a more in-depth analysis of how academic libraries can
embrace video sharing sites like YouTube. In addition to supporting video instruction to
both distance and traditional students at their points of need and sharing digital and
special collections, YouTube was a way to experiment and to advertise services,
resources, locations, which can be especially useful for incoming students or new faculty
who can watch such videos weeks before they arrive on campus. Little presented a few
examples to illustrate his point the University of Florida libraries offered a collection of
short orientation videos on its YouTube Channel; Dartmouth College library produced a
video overview of the library narrated by students, faculty and librarians, which
emphasized the librarys vast collections, librarians professional assistance and the
librarys role as a space for interaction, intellectual exploration, and socialization; and
Brigham Young Universitys promotional video titled Study Like a Scholar, Scholar
went viral and got profiled in the Chronicle of Higher Education and some other major
news outlets. Little concluded his piece with a reworked quote from Gil Scott-Heron to
highlight the importance of engaging video sharing in library operation the
revolution will not be televised, but it will be streamed online (Little, 2011, p. 72).
To illustrate libraries attempts at creating, developing or maintaining a
recognizable brand for their user communities, Ivie et al. (2011) compiled a
mediagraphy of marketing and promotion of library services using social media,
including YouTube. A list of library marketing videos as well as their YouTube links
was provided. Exemplar videos included in the list were: Harper College Librarys
video tour of the library on a book cart with a funny host who pointed out useful places
and items in a college library; New York Public Librarys YouTube broadcast titled
Shout it out for your library, which was a compilation of celebrities describing why
the library is important; and Pueblo City-County Librarys promotional video
presenting a tour of Teen Central, where young students set up books to fall down
domino-style through the area as the tour progressed.
In an effort to understand the ways that libraries are using YouTube for outreach
purposes, Colburn and Haines (2012) identified and analyzed library promotional
videos on YouTube, and derived a set of evidence-based best practices for the use of

Marketing via
social media

457

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

458

online video as a promotional tool by libraries. A key finding was that it was important
to frequently and strategically feature online video content in Web sites, local or
campus communication vehicles, and social media environments, in order to increase
viewership by the intended audience.
Only one article resulted from the literature searches was about individual libraries
experience of using video sharing sites for library marketing. Martin (2012) described a
successful streaming video communication effort developed at the California State
University, Northridge Oviatt Library to reach out to campus faculty. The videos were
accessible on YouTube and the librarys website, aiming at promoting new and
existing library resources and services. Two library staff members, a librarian and a
Cinema and Television Arts student joined forces to produce the videos with support
from other campus departments. Positive feedback from the campus community was
received about the videos.
Indisputably, the literature has well acknowledged the value of video sharing sites
as a marketing platform, and libraries have started employing such sites like YouTube
for marketing. However, one significant weakness in the literature is the lack of
empirical studies documenting the details of creating a video marketing campaign.
While viewing the end results, that is, library promotional videos on YouTube, can be
helpful for librarians to get a sense of how video marketing works, it would be more
beneficial for them to understand the most important things of the video production
and distribution process. To that end, we conducted a detailed analysis on Tsinghua
librarys successful online video marketing experience. We hope that the examination
of the award winning project will lead to a more grounded understanding of marketing
and promotion of academic libraries via online videos.
3. Falling in love with the library: a case study
3.1 Tshinghua University Library a little background
Tsinghua University is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China.
The University Library serves 16 schools and 56 departments across campus, and the
user community consists of over 39,000 students and 3,000 faculty members. Currently,
the librarys print collection contains 4.19 million items, and the electronic collection
includes 500 databases, 65,000 full text e-journals and 4 million e-books.
The university library system consists of a main library, seven branch libraries and
reference rooms in a number of colleges and departments. Plate 1 presents a panoramic
view of the main librarys building cluster.

Plate 1.
A panoramic view of the
main university library

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

3.2 Social media pervasiveness in Chinas college life

In China, college students are the core user group of social media. By the end of 2011,
the population of social media users reached 244 million, and 67.9 percent of them were
between the age of 10 and 29. More than half of Chinas college students spent an
average of 3 hours on the internet, and a third of that time was on social media. The
most common activity (49.2 percent) on social media was content sharing, and 50.3
percent of the users had shared videos (China Internet Network Information Center,
2012). At Tsinghua University, social media such as video sharing sites are widely
used by students. In addition to personal use, video sharing sites are extensively used
for campus events. Students make and share their own videos for new student
orientations, award presentation ceremonies, student festivals, graduation ceremonies,
and events on Student Government Election Day.
3.3 Librarians partnering with students in library marketing
The popularity of video sharing via social media drew the attention of librarians.
Impressed by the pervasive use of video sharing sites in students campus life, we
decided to create a library marketing campaign to take advantage of it. The idea of an
online video marketing project was hence born. This marketing project aimed at
improving library brand awareness, promoting library resources, facilities and
services, and encouraging the optimal use of the library in a popular and effective way.
The project sought to engage online video marketing via social media to achieve this
aim. The outcome of the project was set to be a series of videos (named Falling in Love
with the Library) that would promote the library and evoke a feeling of love for the
library via an entertaining and romantic story. The videos would be posted to the
popular video sharing site Youku and promoted in multiple channels.
The project was funded by Tsinghua Universitys Students Research Training
(SRT) Program. The program offers small grants to academic projects that allow
students to have practical experience in a professional field. Each project is
credit-based and supervised by faculty members. Students earn credits based on their
performance on the project.
We recruited four students to participate in the librarys online video marketing
project, and they each specialized in a particular area of video production, such as film
making, script writing, camera work, and post-production editing. Of the librarians,
three served as faculty supervisors on this project. However, throughout the process of
this project, librarians and students worked as a team and formed a collaborative
relationship. Librarians were responsible for project planning and management, team
member training, providing sets for filming, and determining the messages the videos
sought to impart; students took charge of the detailed work of producing the videos.
The team worked together on creating the script, auditioning the cast, and distributing
and promoting the videos via social media.
3.4 Process of production
At the beginning of the project, the team compiled an operational plan, outlining the
project schedule and workflow. Team members held regular face-to-face meetings
every two weeks and occasional meetings whenever necessary to ensure the smooth
accomplishment of every milestone. Table I presents the schedule of the entire project.

Marketing via
social media

459

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

460
Table I.
Project schedule

Project schedule

Milestone

January, 2011
March, 2011
April, 2011
May, 2011
June, 2011
July to September, 2011
October, 2011
November, 2011

Project funded by SRT

Team recruitment
Information literacy training for team members and project planning
Scriptwriting
Video shooting
Video editing and programming
Product release
Promotion and evaluation

An online group was built on Fetion (a popular Chinese instant messaging software)
for team members to easily communicate with each other. The most challenging part of
the process was script writing, which required creativity, open-mindedness, and a
sense of humor that can be appreciated by todays youths. The script was a
foundational component of this project as it dictated what messages were to be
conveyed by the videos, what kind of a story was to carry these messages, and how the
story would be told. The team went through numerous brainstorming sessions to
finalize the script.
The following technologies were used in the video production:
.
Cameras: Canon EOS 550D, Canon EOS 7D, Canon EOS 5D MarkII.
.
Editing software: Adobe Premiere CS4, Sony Vegas Pro10.0, Magic Bullet Mojo.
3.5 End product a five-episode video series
The end product of this marketing project was a five-episode video series titled
Falling in Love with the Library. Each episode was four to five minutes in length.
The entire series featured a love story between two college students, and each episode
had a focus that highlighted a particular aspect of using the library. Table II provides
the summary of each episode and the messages conveyed in that episode. Throughout
the video series, the romantic love story unfolds in a light-hearted and humorous way.
Many details of the story were based on real college life so that students could resonate
with it and therefore feel a connection with the library.
3.6 Promotion
The video series[1] was posted to Youku, a popular video sharing site in China. It was
then announced and promoted in multiple channels, including the library website,
poster displays, post cards and book marks, word-of-mouth advertisement, RenRen
(www.renren.com, the equivalent of Facebook in China), and the librarys Weibo page
(www.weibo.com, Weibo is Chinas equivalent of Twitter). Colburn and Haines (2012)
found that the key to viewership increase is to promote the videos via as many venues
as possible, including web sites, local or campus communication vehicles, and other
social media platforms, and our strategic and frequent promotional efforts echoed this
finding (see Figure 1).
Since the release of the video series on October 24, 2011, it received about 160,000
visits within 20 days, averaging 8,000 visits per day. It even triggered the creativity
among the audience and one of them produced a series of video commentaries to
express his feelings about Falling in Love with the Library. Meanwhile, the librarys

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

Episode synopsis

Library highlight

Episode 1. A college girl Yifu needs a library

book, but it has been checked out by a boy
named Kaifeng. Yifu accidentally runs into
Kaifeng in the library and waits patiently for
Kaifeng to return the book by the due date. But
Kaifeng still has not returned it two weeks past
the due date. So Yifu walks up to him, points out
the book is long overdue, grabs it from him, and
returns it

The library provides email or SMS alerts about

circulation services. Students can set it up easily
to receive notifications about approaching due
dates, available holds or other circulation-related
information

Episode 2. Although Yifu rather forcefully

returns Kaifengs book, Kaifeng is drawn to this
beautiful girl. He has been saving the seat next to
him for Yifu since they met, hoping she would sit
by him and study together with him

Seat-saving is a common phenomenon at

Tsinghua University Library, as well as other
university libraries in China. Because the library
study space is limited, students tend to save
seats for their friends by putting books on the
desk to indicate the seat has been claimed. This
seat-saving behavior is discouraged as it
prohibits the most efficient use of library space

Episode 3. Yifu and Kaifeng meet again in

library study cubicles. They get to know each
other better and finally fall in love with each
other. One day Yifu notices that Kaifeng always
hides a library book for his personal use; so she
takes the initiative again to put it back on the
shelf. She sends a humorous SMS to Kaifeng,
telling him not to hijack a library book
anymore

Students hiding library books for their personal

use is a common problem at the library. It
interferes with the proper shelving and
circulation of library collections. Therefore,
book-hiding is discouraged in order for students
to effectively and efficiently use library
resources
Each library study cubicle has a graffiti wall
where students can release their creativity and
distress a little

Episode 4. One day Yifu asks Kaifeng on a date

in one of the library buildings, but Kaifeng
misunderstands the building name and goes to a
different building by mistake. Because of this
mistake, Kaifeng is 20 minutes late for their date,
and Yifu is upset. Kaifeng then tries to apologize
by texting her book titles from the Integrated
Library System (ILS) that indicate Im sorry or
I love you

The ILS of the library allows users to text a

bibliographic record to their mobile phones,
which makes it convenient for them to locate the
books they are looking for
There is a new library building on campus,
which is often confused with one of the old
buildings because they have similar nicknames.
It is important to clarify students confusion
about these two buildings

Episode 5. Yifu and Kaifeng are graduating soon.

The romantic moments they have shared in the
library are flashing by. Kaifeng leaves a message
in a book in the library reference room, telling
Yifu that shes the love of his life

Library is a place where romantic stories happen

and beautiful memories are made

Weibo page received over 1,000 comments (mostly enthusiastic) about the video series
and witnessed a substantial increase in the number of followers within 20 days of the
video release, the librarys Weibo account had over 1,200 new followers.
Because of the projects success on social media, a number of news media took
notice of it. In addition to the wide coverage on campus TV and newspapers, the
project drew attention from one of the nations major news portals, Phoenix New

Marketing via
social media

461

Table II.
A break-down of the
episodes of Falling in
Love with the Library

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

462

Figure 1.
Posters of Falling in Love
with the Library

Media. It published a feature story about the project, which was then cited by
numerous other websites and portals. China Library Weekly, a key professional
publication (Chinas equivalent of Library Journal) in the library community, also
published a two-page report detailing the process and outcome of this project.
3.7 Evaluation
To more formally measure this projects impact, we conducted a survey study among
Tsinghua University students one month after the video release. The online
questionnaire was linked from the library website, and the print copies were
distributed to high-traffic study areas across campus. A total of 212 valid responses
were collected.
The survey focused on examining students awareness and perception of Falling in
Love with the Library. More than 50 percent of the respondents had seen at least one
episode of the series, and close to 28 percent had heard of it. Regarding the helpfulness
of the series, 42.7 percent agreed that they had learned more about library services and
policies, and 72.6 percent felt that they had connected with the library at an emotional
level and truly fell in love with the library.
Respondents were also asked about their perception of the different aspects of the
video series, and Table III presents a detailed view of their feedback, which was
positive overall as the average rating for each item was higher than 4 on a five point
Likert scale (5 being excellent and 1 being poor).
About 97 percent of the respondents agreed that the video format of this marketing
effort was a good idea to engage library users. They particularly appreciated two
things about the videos: the story was heartening as they had similar experiences in

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

the library, yet in the meantime they discovered new things about the library; and the
style of the videos was humorous and refreshing, which changed the serious, rigid and
old-fashioned image of the library in their minds. Some respondents even proposed
ideas for Season 2 of Falling in Love with the Library.
Regarding the venue where respondents learned about the video series, social media,
poster displays and word-of-mouth advertisement were the top three. However, among
those who learned about it through social media, 90 percent had watched the series,
while only 53 percent of those who learned about it through poster displays had. One
possible explanation is that it was more convenient for social media users to follow the
link to view the video online than it was for those who learned about it via other physical
venues. This evidence shows that for an online video marketing effort to take effect, the
online element should be emphasized in the distribution and promotion of the videos.
Both the statistics and survey results suggest that the video marketing project
accomplished its objectives and could be considered successful. The title and slogan of
the project, Falling in Love with the Library has been widely accepted as the brand
identity of the library and hence used in library workshops and brochures for
freshmen. Even the Universitys Admission Office posted the video series on their
Webpage to showcase the library and attract prospective students. The project team
was also invited to present at professional conferences to share the successful
experience. Lessons learned from the project are discussed in the next section, and we
hope that interested libraries will find it beneficial in their own marketing practice.

Marketing via
social media

463

4. Conclusions
Digital technology such as social media offers great opportunities for library
marketing. Kenneway (2007) opined that digital as a medium for marketing is likely to
dominate over the course of the next decade because of two reasons: digital is
becoming the predominant channel for accessing content; and the digital environment
supports highly targeted and measurable campaigns (Kenneway, 2007). Thus, it is
important for libraries to recognize the potential of digital technology in marketing and
understand how to use it to achieve marketing goals. Libraries understanding of
technology has two layers of meaning: first, understanding the technicality of a
technology, such as its functions, features and characteristics; secondly, understanding
how people use it for communication and social purposes. For example, when
exploring the video sharing site YouTube as a marketing platform, libraries need to
not only figure out how to create an account, upload and share a video, but also become
familiar with the behavior, culture and etiquette of the user community. In other words,
it is not sufficient to just go where users are we need to make our presence relevant
and useful.

Overall quality
Story
Acting
Background music
Messages conveyed
Length

5 Excellent

1 Poor

57.3
56.4
51.6
62.9
66.1
64.5

34.7
23.4
33.1
28.2
21.8
25.8

7.2
12.9
11.3
5.6
10.5
8.1

0.8
5.7
3.2
3.2
0.8
0

0
1.6
0.8
0
0.8
1.6

Table III.
Respondents feedback
about different aspects of
the videos series (%)

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

464

We have identified four factors that contributed to the success of Tsinghua University
Librarys video marketing project Falling in Love with the Library.
(1) Content. The story featured in the video series is based on the real campus life,
reflecting what students experience in their everyday activities. There are many
young couples at Tsinghua University, and they often come to the library to
study together. The acts and dialogues in the videos have deep roots in the
campus romantic culture. For example, in the second episode of the series,
Kaifeng tries to win the heart of Yifu by saving a seat for her in the library
study space, and couples saving seats for each other is quite commonplace in
reality. When students see things they can resonate with, they are more prone to
feel a sense of connection and the messages conveyed by the videos are more
likely to make an impression. Creating the content is a critical step in a
marketing campaign choosing what story to tell and what messages to
deliver hinges upon a solid understanding of how to reach to the target
audience.
(2) Style. The style of the videos is humorous, light-hearted, and refreshing, which
is the exact opposite of the serious and rigid stereotype of library image. The
young generation tends to associate libraries with authority and formalness and
they are willing to use the library only for imposed information needs such as
school- and library-related questions (Harrington, 1985; Farmer, 1997; Pattee,
2008). At Tsinghua University Library, we try to position ourselves as a place
where students can not only effectively and efficiently access a wealth of
information resources and services for their intellectual development, but also
comfortably immerse themselves in the sea of knowledge so they can grow as a
person. It is therefore necessary for students to view library as a friendly and
comfortable place that supports their academic pursuit as well as personal
growth. Meanwhile, some of the highlights in the video series were about using
the library optimally by avoiding certain behavior (e.g. hiding library books),
and the humorous and light-hearted style is helpful to deliver the messages in
an easy and even hilarious way, instead of sounding like preaching.
(3) Venue. The staggering popularity of social media among college students
makes it an ideal venue to release and distribute the video series. The popular
video sharing site Youku is frequented by students for various kinds of video
content and is thus chosen to host Falling in Love with the Library. Links to
the videos on Youku can then be promoted through multiple channels,
including other social media platforms like the social networking site RenRen
and the microblogging tool Weibo. Both RenRen and Weibo have proved to be
effective venues to share content and engage the target audience.
(4) Partnership with students. Most important of all, the project thrives on an
innovative partnership between librarians and students. One of the roadblocks
for libraries to engage in video marketing is the lack of video production
expertise. Little suggested that academic libraries first find out if their
institution partners with any video sharing site because participating in an
institutional video initiative usually means that librarians can rely on technical
and production support from campus media/information technology or public
affairs departments in planning, producing and promoting videos (Little, 2011).

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

However, not all libraries have such support at the institutional level. At
Tsinghua University Library, our alternative is to partner with students who
are passionate and knowledgeable about video making. Such a partnership is
beneficial in three ways: students contribute great ideas to the content of the
videos because they are familiar with campus life and they understand how to
connect with other college students; students bring technical expertise to the
project and they handle the production details, and it is not necessary for
librarians to go through the steep learning curve of video making; and the
partnership also constitutes an opportunity for students self-growth, helping
them improve their knowledge about the library and about video production,
and enhance their teamwork capability. Overall, this is a win-win situation for
both the students and the library, and in Martins (2012) article, she also
discussed the importance of partnering with students and collaborating with
other campus departments in video production. Therefore, we think it is a
sustainable model that can be replicated at other academic libraries.
In conclusion, Tsinghua University Librarys video series Falling in Love with the
Library has proved to be a successful case of library marketing via social media. It is a
clear manifestation of going where users are and making the librarys presence
relevant and meaningful there. We hope this detailed analysis of the case can help
interested academic librarians develop a more grounded understanding of how video
sharing sites can be effectively and efficiently used as a marketing platform and
successfully create their own video marketing campaigns.
Note
1. Video series available at: www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_16568360.html; Series with
English subtitles available at: www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_16919888.html

References
American Marketing Association (AMA) (2004), Definition of Marketing, available at: www.
marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx (accessed 5 October
2012).
Blakeman, K. and Brown, S. (2010), Social media: essential for research, marketing and
branding, Bulletin of the American Society of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 37
No. 1, pp. 47-50.
China Internet Network Information Center (2012), The 2011 Report of Social Media Use in
China, available at: www.cnnic.cn/hlwfzyj/hlwxzbg/sqbg/201209/P020120903424883
977032.pdf (accessed 5 November 2012).
Colburn, S. and Haines, L. (2012), Measuring libraries use of youtube as a promotional tool:
an exploratory study and proposed best practices, Journal of Web Librarianship, Vol. 6
No. 1, pp. 5-31.
Cole, K., Graves, T. and Cipkowski, P. (2010), Marketing the library in a digital world,
The Serials Librarian, Vol. 58, pp. 182-187.
Farmer, L. (1997), Providing reference services for young adults: school and public librarian
partnerships, The Reference Librarian, Vol. 28 No. 59, pp. 153-162.

Marketing via
social media

465

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

LHT
31,3

466

Harnesk, J. and Salmon, M. (2010), Social Media in Libraries, available at: www.slideshare.net/
jhoussiere/social-media-usage-in-libraries-in-europe-survey-teaser (accessed 21 September
2012).
Harrington, J. (1985), Reference service in the childrens department: a case study, Public
Library Quarterly, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 65-75.
Ivie, T., McKay, B., May, F., Mitchell, J., Mortimer, H. and Walker, L. (2011), Marketing and
promotion of library services using Web2.0: an annotated mediagraphy, The Idaho
Librarian, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 1-4.
Jarboe, G. (2012), YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day, John Wiley & Sons,
Indianapolis, IN.
Kaplan, A.M. and Haenlein, M. (2010), Users of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of social media, Business Horizons, Vol. 53 No. 1, pp. 59-68.
Kenneway, M. (2007), Marketing the library: using technology to increase visibility, Impact and
Reader Engagement, Serials, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 92-97.
Little, G. (2011), The revolution will be streamed online: academic libraries and video,
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 70-72.
Martin, C.M. (2012), One-minute video: marketing your library to faculty, Reference Services
Review, Vol. 40 No. 4.
Miller, M. (2009), YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business, Pearson
Education, Oxford.
Moore, K. (2011), 71% of Online Adults Now Use Video-sharing Sites, available at: http://
pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Video-sharing-sites.aspx (accessed 11 April 2012).
Pattee, A. (2008), What do you know?, Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for
Library Service to Children, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 30-39.
PC Magazine (2012), Definition of video sharing site, available at: www.pcmag.com/
encyclopedia_term/0,1237,tvideosharingsite&i57378,00.asp (accessed 9 October
2012).
Rogers, C.R. (2009), Social media, libraries, and Web 2.0: how American libraries are using new
tools for public relations and to attract new users, available at: www.slideshare.net/
crr29061/social-media-libraries-and-web-20-how-american-libraries-are-using-new-toolsfor-public-relations-and-to-attract-new-users-second-survey-november-2009 (accessed
5 October 2012).
Webb, P.L. (2007), YouTube and libraries: it could be a beautiful relationship, College
& Research Libraries News, Vol. 68 No. 6, pp. 354-355.
About the authors
Lili Luo is an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, San Jose
State University, San Jose, California. Lili Luo is the corresponding author and can be contacted
at: lili.luo@sjsu.edu
Yuan Wan is Deputy Director of the Reference Department at Tsinghua University Library,
Beijing, China.
Lifeng Han is Deputy Director of the Reference Department at Tsinghua University Library,
Beijing, China.

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

Or visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY LAHORE At 01:28 05 November 2015 (PT)

This article has been cited by:

1. Doralyn Rossmann, Scott Woodward Hazard Young. 2015. Social Media Optimization: Making Library
Content Shareable and Engaging. Library Hi Tech 33:4. . [Abstract] [PDF]
2. Fei Yao, Chengyu Zhang, Wu Chen. 2015. Smart talking robot Xiaotu: participatory library service based
on artificial intelligence. Library Hi Tech 33:2, 245-260. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
3. Jason Shulman, Jewelry Yep, Daniel Tom. 2015. Leveraging the power of a Twitter network for library
promotion. The Journal of Academic Librarianship . [CrossRef]
4. Jennifer Wright Joe. 2015. Assessment of Social Media in the Library: Guidelines for Administrators.
Journal of Library Administration 55:8, 667. [CrossRef]
5. Heather A. Dalal, Robert J. Lackie. 2014. What If You Build It and They Still Won't Come? Addressing
Student Awareness of Resources and Services with Promotional Videos. Journal of Library & Information
Services in Distance Learning 8, 225-241. [CrossRef]
6. Lifeng Han, Yuan Wang, Lili Luo. 2014. Student Deep Participation in Library Work: A Chinese
Academic Library's Experience. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 40, 467-472. [CrossRef]
7. Priti JainImpact of Social Media on Information Professionals: 1655-1674. [CrossRef]
8. Esabel Maisiri, Elisha Mupaikwa, Similo NgwenyaStrategic Planning for Social Media in Libraries:
250-262. [CrossRef]