Analysis of YouTube Videos of University Libraries in terms of Promotion and Marketing
Canan ErgünThis study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Turkish university libraries’ YouTube videos with regard to library promotion and marketing. The videos found on the YouTube channels of universities and libraries have been listed and grouped according to their purpose and promotionmarketing perspectives. Next, the findings were analyzed by converting them into figures and tables on Microsoft Excel. The research is revealed to have examined 936 YouTube videos from only 120 of Turkey’s 207 university libraries. When considering the purposes for which the videos were prepared, 353 were determined to have been prepared for training, 333 for events, 128 for general library promotions, 34 for entertainment, 32 for service or collection promotions, 30 for orientations, and 26 for news videos. From the point of view of promotion and marketing, the name of the library was determined to have been mentioned in the title of 192 videos, with university or library logos being found in 744 videos, librarians taking part in 205 videos, 437 videos having music/jingles, 197 videos having voiceovers, and 49 videos having personal scenarios. In the analysis made with respect to year of publication, the number of university libraries’ videos on YouTube has been determined to increase daily. However, when examining the videos’ contents and features, the need to create them using a strategy and planned with the understanding of promotion and marketing can be mentioned. The fact that no study has been previously conducted on evaluating YouTube videos from a promotional and marketing point of view adds originality to the study.
Üniversite Kütüphanelerinin YouTube Videolarının Tanıtım ve Pazarlama Yönünden Analizi
Canan ErgünBu çalışma ile Türkiye’deki üniversite kütüphanelerine ait YouTube videolarının kütüphanenin tanıtım-pazarlamasındaki etkinliğinin değerlendirmesi amaçlanmıştır. Üniversitelerin ve kütüphanelerinin YouTube kanallarında tespit edilen videolar listelenerek, amaçlarına ve tanıtım-pazarlama bakış açılarına göre gruplandırılmıştır. Ardından bulgular Microsoft Excel üzerinde şekil ve tablolara dönüştürülerek analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada incelenen 207 üniversite kütüphanesinden sadece 120’sine ait 936 YouTube videosu olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Videoların hazırlanma amaçlarına göre bakıldığında; 353 eğitim, 333 etkinlik, 128 genel kütüphane tanıtımı, 34 eğlence, 32 hizmet veya koleksiyon tanıtımı, 30 oryantasyon ve 26 haber videosunun olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Tanıtım ve pazarlama bakış açısından bakıldığında; 192 videonun başlığında kütüphane adının geçmekte olduğu, 744 videoda üniversite ya da kütüphane logosunun bulunduğu, 205’inde kütüphanecinin rol aldığı, 437 videonun müzik / cıngıla sahip olduğu, 197’sinde seslendirme yapıldığı ve 49 videonun özel senaryosunun bulunduğu belirlenmiştir. Yayınlanma yıllarına göre yapılan analizde üniversite kütüphanelerinin YouTube üzerinde bulunan video sayılarının her geçen gün arttığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Ancak videoların içerikleri ve özellikleri incelendiğinde tanıtım ve pazarlama anlayışı ile bir strateji ve plan dâhilinde oluşturulmasına ihtiyaç olduğu söylenebilir. Tanıtım ve pazarlama bakış açısıyla YouTube videolarının değerlendirilmesine yönelik bu tür bir çalışmanın daha önce yapılmamış olması çalışmaya özgünlük kazandırmaktadır.
Since its establishment in 2005, YouTube has been one of the fastest growing social media platforms. It is also one of the most visited sites among digital sharing environments. The high number of daily users has caused YouTube to be preferred by many individuals and institutions for promotional and marketing purposes. YouTube has advantages such as customization, ease of making and uploading videos, the ability to find whatever is searched, offering the versatile content it offers, and accessibility features, and these have caused it to rank high. For this reason, an increasing number of individuals and institutions on YouTube can both promote themselves, their products, or services by sharing content as well as perform their marketing and maintain effective interactions with their customers. Because YouTube gathers content producers and content consumers on a single platform, it enables institutions to learn customer comments about their products, services, and applications as well as share their videos containing their thoughts if necessary. This causes YouTube to stand out as the most preferred platform for customer/user communications, interactions, and participation. Research also indicates that YouTube ads are already overtaking TV ads. Due to the advantages, (economical, interactive environment, opportunity to reach customers from all groups, access to ads regardless of time and place or device, etc.) YouTube use for advertising purposes has increased and it is estimated that TV commercials will be replaced by YouTube ads movies.
Today’s university students are university libraries’ most important service group and are accustomed to being involved in screen-based media through personal computers, tablets, mobile phones, or other tools that support a video display. An abundance of information and entertainment environments are also found in numerous formats and in competition with each other. Students use YouTube a lot for both educational and entertainment purposes, and individuals can access information through different media or platforms. Libraries are no longer the only place where users can access information and information resources. For this reason, libraries have to constantly compete with other institutions and digital environments for their time. University libraries frequently use YouTube because it allows libraries to create original videos, offers cost advantages, and provides an effective environment for transmitting videos containing audio and video. YouTube enables libraries to reach their target audiences and to get to know the library and its services closely through videos that can be accessed from almost any device. In addition, the facts that videos can explain what is wanted to be told quickly and allows users to see the library, understand its corporate personality, and feel the library’s atmosphere has led libraries to prepare and publish YouTube video content. Libraries that know the characteristics of their target audience, will be more successful in both determining and presenting content (e.g., blog, website or other media). Video content has been an effective way for libraries to communicate with and attract young users who spend more time online.
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the YouTube videos of university libraries in Turkiye with regard to library promotion and marketing. This research study will first discuss the use of YouTube for promotional and marketing purposes based on the literature and then attempt to explain the reasons why university libraries prefer YouTube, its advantages, and its usage areas based on scientific literature. The research identified YouTube videos for 120 of Turkiye’s 207 university libraries, grouped the 936 YouTube videos of the 120 university libraries according to their preparation purpose, and analyzed them from a promotional/ marketing point of view. When considering the purposes for preparing the videos, 353 trainings, 333 for events, 128 for general library promotions, 34 for entertainment, 32 for service or collection promotions, 30 for orientations, and 26 for news videos. From the point of view of promotion and marketing, library names were determined to have been mentioned in the title of 192 videos, 744 videos had the university or library logo, librarians took part in 205 videos, 437 videos have music or jingles, 197 videos have voiceovers, and 49 videos have personal scenarios. Libraries that prepare effective videos (e.g., focused on a specific topic) according to their users’ needs offers their users who were born and live in a visual culture the chance to communicate with libraries, to understand the communication tools they will use before coming to the library, to hear the library explain itself (e.g., introduce the opportunities and resources), to inform the library, and to have their attention drawn. As a result, university libraries in Turkiye are thought to use YouTube more and more but creating and managing videos from a promotional and marketing perspective would be beneficial for increasing their effectiveness. Although the domestic and foreign literatures have much research on libraries’ use of YouTube and the technical aspects of video content preparation, the absence of any study evaluating the effectiveness of YouTube videos prepared by university libraries in Turkiye with regard to library promotion and marketing makes this study stand out from the others.