Exploring AI in Library Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was initially introduced to the general public about two years ago and though most people were curious about it, many were cautious. Through use and research, tools have become more refined over the years.

According to Grammarly, two-thirds of marketers (66%) are already using generative AI at work, 13 percentage-points higher than the average worker. If you’re open to incorporating AI into your library’s marketing, but want to learn more about it, keep reading!

Marketing teams have incorporated AI to streamline their processes, allowing members of the team to better balance out their workload between writing, content creation, editing, scheduling, responding, and analyzing. Teams have been using AI mostly for ideation and content creation, but also find it helpful in research, editing, and comprehension. Marketers tend to use AI more for short-form content like captions or emails rather than long-form blogs or documents. Having short, snappy writing suggestions improves the quality of their work and allows them to get more done in a week. Marketers reported saving up to six hours weekly with AI.

There are many ways that AI can be used to assist with marketing, from scheduling social media to creating content or editing photos and videos, even collecting insights. The first step to exploring is finding an area you’d like to try automating and then connecting with the right tool. In previous blogs, we’ve touched upon the AI features that are now incorporated in social media platforms to offer caption suggestions. These are readily available and easy to turn to when feeling stuck writing a caption or hitting the right tone.

If your library doesn’t have a large budget for marketing, AI tools can be great for creating illustrated graphics or voiceovers. Or there are tools that can enhance your photos by removing the background or adding in details that better enhance the message you’re trying to send. Here is a list of AI tools that could be a jumping point in finding the right fit for your marketing team.

As with any newer technology, there are always glitches and potentially negative effects to be aware of when using AI. To state the obvious, AI is computer-generated and therefore lacks the nuances that we can create as humans, especially in writing. Humans will always have the ability to be more creative than AI and that’s why it’s sometimes more helpful to use creation tools in tandem with your own skills. It’s important to become educated on the tools and resources that you’re using and the fair-use rights associated with content as you would when working with templates or stock assets.

You can embrace AI tools while still upholding ethical standards when it comes to creative work. The NJ State Library and Thomas Edison State University have recently formed an AI Task Force and we look forward to integrating AI technologies into our work, while also ensuring these tools align with our strategic goals and ethical standards. We hope that you too are able to consciously explore what AI has to offer as a powerful collaborator within your marketing efforts and open up the dialogue at your organization as well.