How To Market Your Library to Teens

No cap, it’s Teentober and we’re here to tell you how to get teens to stan your library. Your library’s marketing plan might come off cheugy and you just need a few tips to get your social media content to hit different and the awesome youth services you offer to live rent-free in teen’s minds. Make sure your social media passes the vibe check by reading this blog. Periodt.

Translation: If you want to sound like an old person trying too hard to appeal to a younger demographic on social media, do what I just did and Google “Gen Z Phrases” and type a whole bunch of nonsense. SHEESH these teens speak a different language, and nothing highlights it more than social media. But that’s ok! There are other ways to appeal to teenagers without speaking their language, which changes with the season.

Create a Teen Persona

A great place to start when marketing to a specific demographic is to learn about them. What do they like and dislike? Speak to teachers or parents to find out what they enjoy doing, what they struggle with in school, and what sorts of things they’re doing in their free time. This will help you determine what kind of services or activities would be helpful to them and how to best promote it. By building out this persona of a person aged 12-17, who likes sports, comic books and social media, but also struggles with math, you are able to then market and speak directly to this persona. It’s always good to have an open mind and learn about your younger patrons and what makes them tick before jumping right in by looking up slang and trying to sound cool. Teens can see right through the phoniness and you’ll have a hard time connecting with them if you don’t dig a little deeper.

Tell Me What You Want What You Really Really Want

Even better than asking around to learn more about teens is to speak directly to them! If you ask teens directly what they want, I’m sure they’d be happy to tell you. You can even show them your marketing plan and ask for feedback on that. A lot of times, because teens are young, they’re not asked to share their opinion and it will make their input feel valuable if you ask. Start a teen council in your library and allow your younger patrons to weigh in on programming and services that they really want or need. Let them make book lists that are shared with other teens. No one knows their generation better than they do, so sharing their thoughts and experiences will be most relatable to other teens. Involving them will spark their creativity and make them feel like they are a part of something bigger. Plus, you can be sure they’ll tell you what they don’t like. If I had a nickel for every time I just responded “ew” to someone when I was a teenager…I’d be rich!

TikTok on the Clock

Once you’ve established your persona and teen council, now it’s time to let it rip! Push the information out there, but try to do it in fun or catchy ways. This generation grew up with a smartphone in their hand, so they’re no stranger to social media. At the moment, TikTok’s primary audience is the teen demographic. Creating short videos for TikTok could be a great way for your library to reach these patrons in an informal and silly way. You don’t need to be polished or perfect on TikTok and it’s a much more try-friendly app. If something doesn’t stick, it doesn’t take long to create something new and see if that clicks with your audience. Why not try using it to be more authentic and sillier while also sharing your youth resources and services?

For example, a big thing that teens need in a library is their own space. Having a cozy area where teens can hang out without strict rules and can be themselves and talk about whatever they want to talk about is important for them. Try giving a video tour of your space and highlighting the freedoms that teens will have if they choose to spend time there. It can give parents peace of mind that they’re in a safe space, while also allowing teens to be who they are in a controlled environment. Promote homework help services, teen events or even contests through short videos. Explore what other libraries are doing on TikTok and keep an eye on trends that could work with what you’re promoting. If you’re having fun with it, teens will be able to see that shine through and are more likely to engage with your content. Bet.