Caitlin Jeansonne, VP of Marketing at MMI Agency, provided strategies for libraries to implement professional marketing on a limited budget using social media. She recommended starting with defining key "content pillars" and audiences. Sample pillars could be documents, events, and book spotlights. National days and trends data from Google can inspire content ideas. Focusing social media efforts on Facebook and Instagram is generally effective. Regular content planning and tracking basic metrics like engagement can help optimize outreach. Accessibility best practices like adding alt text and captions were also covered.

1. Caitlin Jeansonne, VP Marketing MMI Agency
Professional Marketing on a Library Budget:
Strategies from an Ad Agency Exec

2. About Caitlin
• Pop culture junkie, cat lady, nerd
• 16 years experience in digital agencies
• I’ve done a little bit of everything in
digital marketing: Digital media,
SEO/SEM, social media (organic and
paid), influencer marketing, content,
websites
• Proud sister of Ellen, a Young Adult
librarian in Harris County!

3. 3
100 EMPLOYEES
34 YEARS OLD
K E Y C A P A B I L I T I E S
Advertising
Branding
Brand activation
Creative
Digital media
E-commerce
@mmiagency
/mmiagency
/mmiagency
/company/mmi-agency
C O N T A C T
Experiential
Influencer marketing
Insights and data analytics
Public relations
Social media
Research
About MMI Agency
C L I E N T S
A B O U T M M I
• Full-service marketing/
advertising agency in
Houston, TX
• Specialized in
DTC/ecommerce,
content development,
influencer
letstalk@mmiagency.com 713.929.6900

4. What we’ll talk about today:
• Social Media strategies you
can use
• Where to start/how to
organize
• Tools
• Paid Social Ads
• Accessibility

5. Start with your “Content Pillars”
• Outline key content types that you’ll share
• Who are our key audiences? What kind of
information do they need? What content do you
want to get out to them?
• Think about episodic/repeatable content -
reoccurring events, programs, themed
spotlights of books and authors

6. Sample
Content Pillar
Documents

7. Social Media Content Trends in 2021
• Digital continues to be the
focus (convenience, etc.)
• Focus on “Helping” vs ”Selling”
• Social media usage remains
high

8. Public mindset: Post-pandemic anxiety is real
• According to The American Psychological Association and The Harris Poll:
Nearly half (49%) of Americans reported feeling uncomfortable about
returning to in-person interactions once the pandemic ends including (48%) of
vaccinated Americans.
• The Pandemic as a Wake-Up Call for Personal Health: as reported in The
New York Times, (42%) of Americans say they gained an average of 29
“pandemic pounds,” increasing their COVID risk.
• Additionally, nearly 1 in 4 (23%) reported drinking more alcohol than usual
to cope with pandemic-related stress.

9. Free Tool: Google Trends
google.com/trends

10. Sample
Content
Trend
Reports

11. Content ideas to consider
• Experiment with different types of content
• “Facebook Live” versions of programs
• How tos and Q&As
• Reading lists and resources around timely topics
• Share resources among branches
• Share learnings and ideas

12. Tried and true: National days
and months
Free resources like
daysoftheyear.com
list national days to
piggyback off of for
timely content

13. Then: Channel Plan
You don’t have to be everywhere! Better to
focus on fewer channels and give them love.
Considerations:
• Where do our patrons hang out online?
• Where does our content make the most
sense?
• Where are we already active?

14. When in
doubt,
Facebook &
Instagram
are good
options

15. Tip: Make sure channels are easy to find
• Link on your website
• Cross link from other social channels
• Add to the bottom of emails
• IRL: Encourage patrons to use the social channels as
a way to get up-to-date information on programs,
etc.

16. Tip: Facebook Page vs. Group
• Pages are the best way to share information publicly
• Groups are a great way to create discussion, and are
prioritized in the algorithm
• Consider a group for volunteers, or small groups - groups
can be public (where anyone can see the content, but they
still must join to post) or private

17. Next: Establish “Rules of the Road”
• What guidelines do you need to follow? (We
create a “watchouts doc” for all clients)
• How will approvals work? (If needed) Who is
your escalation point?
• Document this, so you can bring in help later if
needed!

18. Now: Get
organized
• Establish cadence (think quality
over quantity)
• Start with a monthly calendar
• Fill in dates that you already
know (events, etc.)
• Look for gaps in between to fill
in with “evergreen” content
• Can be a simple Google Doc

19. Tip: If you find yourself with extra time or
resources, create a bank of evergreen
content you can plug in in the future
• Quotes
• Author/Book recommendations
• Employee spotlights

20. 20
Sample
Content
Calendar

21. 21
Customize content
by platform

22. Free tool: Facebook Audience Insights
https://www.facebook.com/ads/audience-insights

23. Tool to try:
Canva

24. Important: KPIs
• How are you measuring success?
• Suggestions:
• Content Engagement (what types of posts get the most
engagement?)
• New followers (how many people are connected to you)
• Quality of comments/interactions (helping people discover
resources and programs)

25. Paid Social
Quick 101

26. Facebook/Instagram Advertising
$5/day minimum
Training: https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager

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30. Things to consider
Accessibility in Social Media

31. Accessibility
• We are seeing an emphasis on
accessibility related to websites
and social media.
• To comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (signed in
1990), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were
created to standardize accessibility guidelines. The most recent
version WCAG 2.1 was updated in 2018, WCAG 2.2 is
scheduled to be published in 2021
• 15% of the world’s population lives with a disability

32. First Steps for Accessible Social Media Content
• Great resource:
https://blog.hootsuite.com/inclusive-
design-social-media/
• Add alt text on Instagram photos
• Add video captions and image
descriptions - 85% of video on
Facebook is watched without sound, so
making your content digestible without
audio is a great first step.

33. Tips for Accessible Social Media Content
• Use camel case for multi-word hashtags to make hashtags
more legible and easier to read by screen readers.
• Put hashtags and mentions at the end of
captions. Punctuation marks are read aloud by screen readers.
Be mindful of how hashtags or @ mentions can disrupt copy.
• Avoid saying “click here.” Use descriptive call-to-actions like:
Sign up, Try it for free, or subscribe.
• Use inclusive language. Avoid ableist language, stick
with gender-neutral pronouns and terms, share diverse voices
and emoji, and evaluate text for assumptions
of limited points of view.

34. Examples of
more accessible
social content

35. Thank You!