As traditional media continues to transform, booksellers grapple with what publicity efforts work and are worth the effort, the focus of a panel discussion on social media at the Winter Institute last week. "The stuff that used to work just isn't working anymore," said Stephanie Anderson, manager of WORD, Brooklyn, N.Y. "It's not like traditional advertising and PR has great follow-through rates so what could it possibly hurt try another thing that might not work?"
By listening to what booksellers and publishers and people in the community about what information they value, Anderson suggested bookstores could create a social media presence that works for them.
"It's like an ongoing focus group," observed the panel moderator, ABA's Meg Smith.
"The counterintuitive thing about social media is that it tends to be slightly haphazard," said Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo, co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn. "It's an organic thing, which means it's a lot messier."
Calling herself "the grandmother of media," Mary Gay Shipley of That Bookstore in Blytheville in Arkansas said she had recently hired a staffer to help the 35-year-old store navigate the social media landscape. Still, Shipley knows that any kind of PR message begins with two questions: "Who are you talking to? And what are you trying to do with this piece of information?"
Anderson agreed that social media is not only a haphazard medium, but also one that calls for authenticity. "The difference between PR and social media is that you have to really mean it," she said. "Press release language doesn't work; in fact, it is absolutely repellent." On Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr (which is gaining popularity), rules and best practices are still being worked out, Anderson and Stockton-Bagnulo said.
"It's not about the technology," said Stockton-Bagnulo, "it's really, really not. Just keep doing what you do." She said that the key to social media is building coverage in all sources--and no source, from a customer blogger to a traditional news venue, is too small. "It's part of the slow build," she said.
Stockton-Bagnulo knows first hand about the slow build: she started talking about and blogging about opening Greenlight years before it was a reality and the media--including the New York Times--came calling. The circle of buzz about the store "kept spreading," she added. "Of course, it helps if you're a ham." Also the media were poised to write about a positive bookstore story.
At WORD Anderson said she first started Tweeting and Facebook posting about the store because she wanted to know what other people in Greenpoint were interested in. When the media read about the store's matchmaking board and basketball league, they jumped on a couple of stories ready made through social media.
"Journalists are essentially lazy," she said. [Editor's note: Hey!] Bookstores that present stories instead of issuing press releases have a better chance of getting a journalist's attention, she continued. Social media helps build the buzz--even if there is no way to measure its immediate effect.
So how much time should a bookseller spend on social media? Anderson said the store's owner asks her that "on a regular basis." Getting started in social media takes a little time, Anderson admitted, but "it becomes like using your phone on a work day."
Stockton-Bagnulo measures her social media efforts in intervals of seconds. "It's not like a chunk of extended time," she said. Finding someone on staff (that may or may not be the manager or owner) who enjoys communicating through social media is key, the panelists agreed, because they will do it effectively and efficiently.
Anderson mentioned Green Apple Books in San Francisco, Calif., which is noted for its YouTube videos and online presence. Co-owner Pete Mulvihill, who attended the session, said the videos did not come out of some strategic plan. "We just let the Sunday night crew make a goofy video for the book of the month," he said. "When we do a book of the month video, we sell more copies than when we don't." Letting the store's personality come through, he said, was important.
Anderson suggested that booksellers already have a community that is invested in its success and should tap into the resources of customer bloggers and social media mavens to help spread the word of their stores. When it comes to PR, she said social media turns "the whole thing on its head."
At the end of the session, Smith said she wished she and the panelists had come up with 10 social media tips that work instead of suggesting booksellers try things and see what sticks, like throwing spaghetti against a wall. But perhaps that is a most apt metaphor in a medium that it still figuring itself out.--Bridget Kinsella