Marketing via social media: a case study

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 library's 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 library's 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.