1 / 18

Fishing in a Barrel: Facebook as an Outreach and Marketing Tool for Academic Libraries

Fishing in a Barrel: Facebook as an Outreach and Marketing Tool for Academic Libraries. Shannon Kealey Reference Associate Coles Science Center NYU Bobst Library. OR…. Fishing in a Barrel with a Knot in the Line:.

richard_edik
Télécharger la présentation

Fishing in a Barrel: Facebook as an Outreach and Marketing Tool for Academic Libraries

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Fishing in a Barrel:Facebook as an Outreach and Marketing Tool for Academic Libraries Shannon Kealey Reference Associate Coles Science Center NYU Bobst Library

  2. OR… Fishing in a Barrel with a Knot in the Line: Using Facebook for Outreach and Marketing Despite Increasingly Strict “Anti-Spam” Policies

  3. What Is Facebook? • Social networking web site for anyone whose institution has a network—began for college students • You are only able to view the profiles of others within your network • When you create a Facebook account, your email address (in my case, shannon.kealey@nyu.edu) determines your network (or barrel!)

  4. The Project: 1) Created a Profile

  5. 2)Sent messages to 1,688 NYU students who claim science concentrations on their Facebook profiles

  6. 3) Created a “Group” and invited students to join

  7. 4) Created “Events” to advertise speakers, etc.

  8. 5) Created “Flyer” that links to “Event”

  9. Limitations of the Project • Until you establish a “Group” there is no way to mass email students in your network • Workarounds: • Use reasonably priced Facebook “Flyers” • Facebook actively discourages Spam (such as my message campaign) • Workarounds: • Rotate between several versions of your introductory message • Send a message every 20 minutes or so rather than one immediately after another (a campaign like mine is practially impossible now)

  10. Data Tracked • Name, class year, concentration(s), and gender of each student contacted (1,688 total students) • Communication received by students • Positive replies to initial message with and without reference questions (76 students) • Negative replies to initial message(1 student) • Requests for appointments (2 students) • Students who added me as a friend (30 students) • Students who joined the “Coles Science Center Group” (76 students) • Total Positive Response: 121 students

  11. Analysis of Data • Overall positive response rate • 121/1688= 7.17% • Highest positive response rates by • Concentration • Class year

  12. Positive Response by Concentration

  13. Positive Response by Class Year

  14. Conclusions • Students entering their sophomore year were most responsive to outreach (44% of respondents) • Students entering their freshman year were second-most responsive (28% of respondents) • Pre-Med students were most responsive to outreach (27% of respondents) • Very few students were irritated by my presence on Facebook (1 respondent)

  15. Since the Initial Outreach… • Promote presence on FB to students in BI classes (1 in 10 adds me as a friend or asks a question through FB) • Promote to students on IM reference (1 in 5 adds me as a friend) • Two out of 30 attendees at a Coles Science Center speaker event learned of the event through advertising on Facebook (Flyer & Event).

  16. Plans for Continued Use of FB • Advertise presence on FB to students during BI and IM reference sessions • Conduct message campaign to incoming freshmen in Aug 2007 • Continue to use Events and Flyers to market library events to students

  17. Questions to Consider • Would outreach have been more successful during the school year? • Will students continue to contact me through Facebook when they have questions? • So far, this has only happened on three occasions

  18. FACEBOOK ME!!! Shannon Kealey Reference Associate Coles Science Center NYU Bobst Library Shannon.Kealey@nyu.edu

More Related