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Library communications liaison outlines social media strategy after viral video
Summary
Amber, the library's communications liaison, told the West Bend Community Library Board that recent social media work dramatically increased engagement and outlined a 2025 plan to emphasize storytelling, partnerships and staff/patron features.
Amber, the library communications liaison, told the West Bend Community Library Board on Feb. 18 that a change in social media approach has driven sharp audience growth and engagement.
The presentation focused on metrics and a new editorial approach: “community driven and reader focused,” Amber said, and recommended shifting emphasis from event-only posts to storytelling about the library, staff and community partners to sustain audience attention.
Amber said the library’s Instagram and Facebook accounts have grown markedly: at one point in her talk she reported 5,558 followers and roughly 2,500 engagements — which she described as about 45 percent of followers — and later told the board the pages had reached nearly 6,000 followers after a viral video that “has been viewed 1,100,000 times, almost 1,200,000 times” and brought about 500 new followers. She compared the library’s engagement to an industry average of about 5–10 percent.
Board members and staff responded positively. A board member asked Amber to share her slides by email; another suggested borrowing aspects of her approach for other nonprofit pages. Library Director Steve praised Amber’s work and encouraged more behind-the-scenes and patron-focused content.
Amber described specific tactics the library will emphasize in 2025: pinned weekly-schedule posts for repeat reference, carousel photo posts and reels that highlight staff, patron interactions and partners; a short video series titled “Cindy in the City” to spotlight local nonprofits and businesses; volunteer and donor spotlights; and reused “best of” archival videos when appropriate. Amber said partnership posts can also help community partners fill volunteer or program needs and build reciprocal reach.
She also flagged content types that perform well for this library — short staff features, POV-style clips (for example, a library cart “ride-along”), and light, story-driven reels rather than pure event promotion. Amber pointed to Milwaukee Public Library as an example of an institution that combines awareness and service information effectively.
The board did not take any formal action on the presentation; members asked Amber to return slides to the board and to continue reporting results at future meetings.
