Content Marketing: Beyond the Random Post

• Do you want to create and share online content that library users find genuinely useful?
• Are you uncertain about the effectiveness of your library's social media efforts?
• Would you like a better understanding of how to optimize content for sharing?

If your library has been "doing social media," then it's probably been seeing some very mixed results. Just posting "stuff whenever there's time" doesn't cut it in today's overwhelming online environment. It's time to level up your library to content marketing!

Content marketing is all about delivering content that library users find useful and relevant. Sign up for this four-week course and benefit from practical advice and guidance on how to market effectively by helping users answer the question, "What's in it for me?" Join instructor Laura Solomon, author of the best-selling book The Librarian's Nitty-Gritty Guide to Social Media and also The Librarian's Nitty-Gritty Guide to Content Marketing and discover the confidence, knowledge, and skills you need to go beyond the random social media post.

In this course, you will learn to:

• Create a content strategy
• Utilize best practices for creating and sharing online content
• Use various metrics to help measure content marketing

Participation in this course will help show libraries how to market effectively by focusing on what library users want.

Course Description: This four-week course includes weekly scheduled online meetings, as well as assignments and discussions to be done anytime during the week. During the online meetings, the instructor will share practical tips and techniques, best practices, and resources that you can use immediately to improve the content your library shares online.

Online meetings with the instructor will be held on these dates:

• Friday, Oct 20, 2017 @ 9am Pacific time
• Friday, Oct 27, 2017 @ 9am Pacific time
• Friday, Nov 3, 2017 @ 9am Pacific time
• Friday, Nov 10, 2017 @ 9am Pacific time

Please plan your schedule accordingly. Sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend the live session.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

•

• Week 1: What is content marketing and why does your library need it?
  • Making the leap from promotional to useful
  • Promotion versus marketing
• Week 2: Planning not to fail
  • Content audits
  • Editorial calendars
  • Re-purposing content
  • Calculating ROI and figuring metrics
• Week 3: Working effectively with online visuals
  • Guidelines for successful use of visuals in posts
  • Branding
  • Video
• Week 4: Best practices and common mistakes
  • Writing headlines
  • Making text scannable
  • Common mistakes

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2½ hours per week, for a total of ten course hours. Plan your schedule to attend the online meetings at 9 AM Pacific time on October 20, October 27, November 3 and November 10. (Meetings will be archived but you are strongly encouraged to attend in real time to derive maximum benefit from interaction with the instructor.) You can work on the assignment options and discussions at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, but it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: This class will benefit library public relations personnel, web librarians, and other staff responsible for the library's online presence and/or social media.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.

Keywords: content marketing, marketing,social media