North Central Regional Libraries (“Library”) is seeking proposals from firms with social media expertise to manage the Library’s social media accounts in close collaboration with the Library’s marketing and communications team to meet identified objectives, create and publish posts on a regular schedule, and monitor and report analytics across all social media platforms used by the Library. Proposals must be received by March 2, 2020. The Library will review proposals and expects to select a firm based upon proposal documents, references, and interviews with the top firms.
Background:
North Central Regional Libraries is a public library system serving five counties in Washington State (Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, and Okanogan). Geographically, it is the largest and one of the most rural of Washington’s library systems, covering nearly 15,000 square miles and serving a population of just over 270,000. The Library operates 30 public library branches and has administrative offices in Wenatchee. Among other things, branch libraries provide access to diverse physical and non-traditional collections, community meeting spaces, public access computers, free wifi, and a wide range of library programming for all ages. The Library’s website provides library cardholders with free access to eBooks and digital audiobooks as well as a large number of online resources, including Lynda.com, the New York Times, Consumer Reports, Rosetta Stone, and more. In addition, the library’s outreach services include: enhancing library access to the most rural patrons through a unique mail-order library and two bookmobiles; providing book sets to book clubs and classroom teachers through a popular book club collection; fostering creative thinking and STEM literacy through a STEM outreach program; and providing bilingual outreach services to preschools, head start classrooms, and community events.
Scope of Work:
This is a time of growth and great change at North Central Regional Library. The Library has adopted and is implementing its first Strategic Plan (2019-2021), which has an emphasis on reaching underserved populations and increasing awareness of the Library’s offerings throughout the five-county service area. A successful social media strategy will help the Library meet these goals and the following objectives while addressing the challenges listed below.
Social Media Objectives: The Library’s primary objective is to develop a thoughtful social media strategy that increases awareness of the Library’s offerings, increases engagement among current library users, and connects the Library to previously unserved or underserved populations. More specifically:
● Expand the Library’s base of followers.
● Increase engagements with and among followers (clicks, likes, comments).
● Solidify the Library’s brand awareness and brand positioning with the public.
● Increase use of Library services and increase library card signups.
● Drive traffic from social media platforms back to the Library’s website.
Social Media Challenges: The Library has identified four current challenges to address with the chosen firm:
● Better understand Library audiences on each social media platform.
● Build a strategy to increase followers and reach new audiences.
● Identify the content that connects best to current and potential audiences and/or generates the most response or interaction on each social media platform.
● Discover and track how social media efforts impact use of Library services and library card signups.
GUIDELINES & EXPECTATIONS: Below are the guidelines the Library anticipates the chosen firm will adhere to. However, firms may submit additional or alternate guidelines that are designed to creatively meet the objectives and challenges listed above.
● Work closely with the Communications Manager for general direction and strategy development.
● Meet monthly with the Marketing and Communications team to coordinate efforts, brainstorm new ideas, and plan strategy implementation.
● Manage the existing central Library Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages, creating new accounts or expanding to new platforms (such as LinkedIn) as the need arises.
● Find, create, and share a wide variety of content across all Library social media platforms, following copyright best practices. Most photos and information can be provided by Library staff, but the selected firm may be asked to develop content on occasion.
● Monitoring Facebook pages for 30 branch libraries in order to ensure brand continuity and high-quality, error-free content. Share photos and content to the central Library social media pages.
● Advise the Library on how to best equip branch libraries to use social media to engage with their local communities.
● Deliver monthly analytics of social media usage broken down by each platform.
● Closely follow the Library’s branding guidelines and brand messaging.
● Engage quickly with comments on social media platforms, ensuring questions are answered correctly and in a timely manner by working closely with Library staff.
● Be available on occasion to publish content or communicate with staff outside of normal business hours, including evenings and weekends.
● Take pictures and short video at central and branch events and programs to share on social media platforms (optional, negotiable).
● Be able to conduct staff training as needed for a set hourly rate (optional, negotiable).
Due Date:
March 2, 2020 at 4:00pm
Address:
North Central Regional Library
Attn: Kim Neher
16 N Columbia Street
Wenatchee, WA 98801
Relevant agencies worth considering include Walker Sands and M Booth.