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Is Your Library Struggling With Program Attendance? Here Are 4 Proven Ways To Focus Your Marketing and Boost Your Numbers

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

On my first day working in a library, I was handed a calendar of library events. “Here is everything that happens during the library year. You’ll learn what to expect pretty quickly and how to plan to market each of these events as they rotate in the library calendar.” 

My first thought was, “Holy cow, that’s a lot to promote. There are multiple events happening nearly every day of the year.”

And there was one other potential problem that I didn’t dare say aloud.

While I’ve been a voracious user of library collections all my life, I had never attended a library program outside of taking my kids to storytime when they were little. How was I going to convince someone else to go to one??

Programs at any library, whether public, academic, special, or school are considered a core service. Every library strategic plan includes some language pledging to provide programming to fill a gap in the needs of the community.

In my work at NoveList, the amount and variety of programs I’ve seen promoted each year is astounding. There is something for everyone. So…

Why do libraries struggle so much trying to get people to attend these programs?

Here’s what I’ve learned.

The libraries that get a lot of people to attend their programs focus on providing high-quality programs that meet specific community needs at a time and place most convenient for their patrons. They require registration, and they go out of their way to remind registrants to attend.

Many of you are worried about program attendance. For most libraries, it just has not returned to levels seen before the pandemic. In fact, many of you mentioned in the latest Super Library Marketing survey that you particularly struggle to promote adult programming.

So how do we increase program attendance?

I work with a lot of libraries. The ones that are successfully driving program attendance are doing three specific things.

  • Fewer overall programs
  • More quality, community-focused programs
  • More efficient and effective marketing

Your target audiences respond more to your marketing when you are promoting fewer, high-quality programs that meet their needs. And your marketing will be more effective with focus and a little help from friends. It’s truly that simple.

Take these four steps to boost library program attendance.

Ask cardholders what kinds of programs they need.

Conduct a two-question survey to ask your cardholders what they want to do or learn at the library. Resist the urge to ask more questions! You can always conduct a larger survey later.

This survey has a singular focus: to give you a sense of what interests the community.

  • Ask your community members to choose categories of programs that would be valuable and interesting to them.
  • Ask your community members about the format: How long do they want your programs to be? And where do they want it to be?

You may learn that programs at a certain branch would be more convenient for your community. You may discover that the weekdays are inconvenient for your community members. You may learn that your adult community members want you to schedule adult programs at the same time as your children’s programming so they don’t have to get a babysitter.

Research events at related organizations in your community.

Avoid creating programs at your library that compete with other organizations for time and attention.

For instance, if your branch is near a community center that’s already hosting a bunch of knitting and crafting events or groups, then your knitting and crafting programs will be in direct competition.

Instead, create programs that complement what other organizations are doing.

For example, your library might start a knitting or crafting-themed book club where participants read books related to knitting, crafting, or fiber arts. Then you can approach the community center and ask them to help you promote that program to their knitting program attendees!

Gather email addresses and send attendance reminders.

Walk-ins for programs are great. But, requiring registration allows your library to ask for an email address. Then, you can send program reminders like this one from Iredell County Public Library.    

Remind your attendees twice, once one week before the program and once within 24 hours of when the program is going to happen.

Partner to create and market your programming.

My library partnered with a local organization to teach workforce development skills to single parents. We also partnered with a local brewery to do a program on home brewing techniques. Both programs filled up fast (the brewery actually ran out of tables!)

Later, my library created a set of programs with an organization that teaches young girls how to do computer coding. And guess what? Registration was full!

I confess I did a bare minimum amount of marketing for all three programs. The partner organizations did most of the heavy lifting. You’ll get more people to attend (and have less promotional work to do yourself) because your partner organizations can and will share your marketing materials.

Need more help with program attendance?

Will Anyone Come to Library Programs Ever Again? Eight Ideas for Reimagining Programming in the Age of “The Next Normal”

P.S. You might also find this helpful

Passport to Success: How One Intrepid Library Marketer Hatched a Plan To Bring People Back to the Library

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Library’s Spectacular Success: A Day-Long Cardholder Event Draws Crowds in Record Numbers – Unveiling the Secrets Behind the Triumph!

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Mike Paulus had a career path like many library marketers I know.

The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native earned a degree in creative and technical writing. He planned and wrote educational video games for the speech-language pathology field. Then he worked at an arts and culture magazine.

But just before the pandemic, Mike saw an opening for a new position at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library in marketing and digital systems.

“My wife had already worked here for a few years in Youth Services,” explains Mike. “So, I jumped at the chance. I’m still downtown, working a block away from that magazine, trying to have a direct impact on this community. Pretty lucky!”

Mike and his four co-workers in the Programming and Communications Services department oversee all digital and print promotions. They also do a good chunk of the library’s event programming, managing all adult events that use outside presenters. (Sound familiar to anyone?!)  

Last year, Mike was given the task of coordinating cross-departmental, library-wide events. The most successful of those events was a Card Crawl.

“Our building recently underwent an $18.5M renovation,” remembers Mike. “We’d just moved back in and reopened the doors in October of 2022. So, the library had a lot of new rooms and amenities, including all these cool outdoor spaces.”

“In spring 2023, we held our ‘Outdoor Open House’ to showcase the new patios, the terrace, the plaza, and whatnot. Just a few hours one afternoon, with free ice cream, free fresh-cut flowers (my wife’s idea), and light activities. We had 750 people show up. This became the model for the Card Crawl.”

As Mike explains it, the Card Crawl is a more robust version of past cardholder appreciation days, held in September during Library Card Sign-Up Month. The library previously had a prize drawing and offered patrons free candy if they showed their library card.

But last year, they expanded with a full-day event on a Saturday in late September.  

“We decided to upgrade the cardholder appreciation day using the Outdoor Open House’s basic concept of having activities and giveaways stationed all over the library, near all the cool, new stuff,” says Mike. “The idea of showing your library card to get free stuff (and have fun) was a no-brainer, leading to the ‘Card Crawl’ name.”

“We just wanted the public to get in here and wander around. But showing appreciation for current cardholders and making new ones was the most important part. We wanted to help people feel proud of having a library card, foster those vibes.”

Besides building a lasting relationship with cardholders, the Card Crawl had another big benefit.

“We used the Card Crawl as a way to get different departments working together and excited for a common goal, something tangible of which we all had ownership,” explains Mike.” This included our Friends of the Library group. We also used the event to strengthen some community partnerships, working with Eau Claire Transit on free bus rides, and a local chain restaurant for free ice cream.”

Mike and the rest of the L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library marketing team used the landing page as a hub and promoted the event on all their available channels, including:

  • Press Release(s)
  • Facebook posts and Facebook event
  • Instagram posts and Reels
  • Email newsletter features
  • A dedicated email newsletter
  • In-house posters
  • Partner promotions
  • Day-of directional signage and flyers

“For about six weeks before the event, we just feed the new copy and graphics into those channels whenever possible,” remembers Mike. “We also made three HUGE library cards. Before the event, we used them for some fun Instagram stuff. During the event, we set up two selfie stations so people could pose with them, post, and tag us. And now we have these fun, massive library cards to use for whatever.”

Mike says the biggest challenge the marketing team faced was “reigning in all the ideas.”

“Our library’s slogan is ‘So Much More,’” says Mike. “But staff jokes that it should be ‘Too Much More.’ Everyone has such great ideas, and they all want to dive into them. So, my job was to try and keep things doable and sustainable without too much stress. Our committee’s motto was ‘big impact for little effort.’”

“That said, we still had A LOT of moving parts to promote, and you can’t promote everything all at once in every little Facebook post, etc. or it becomes white noise. I had already dealt with this at the magazine I’d worked for, with some large, festival-style events we’d staged.”

“You need to choose a small handful of things (or just one thing) at a time, and then decide the best channel and tone. But when you promote, you’re always pointing back to the landing page for full details.”

The marketing team’s careful balance worked out. The Card Crawl brought in about 1,800 people, three times the library’s normal Saturday attendance.

“We did a week’s worth of card signups, renewals, and replacements in a single day,” recalls Mike. “Checkouts and circulation were through the roof. Culvers scooped 630 scoops of free, frozen custard. Our Friends group had one of their most profitable book sales. We gathered a few hundred emails in a prize drawing. And Eau Claire Transit gave a ton of free rides all over the city to cardholders.”

“We’re lucky enough to have a great Library Board and some big supporters on our City Council. So, we invited those people to come volunteer at the Card Crawl giving away prizes, and to just be a part of the day. It gave the ‘powers that be’ a nice, close-up look at what we do. They got to see our customers all being happy. They got a little ownership of what we do for the community.”

“The day had a great energy with both kids and adults excited to roam the library and bust out their cards for prizes. My wife and I were ‘Card Crawlers’ who snuck around the library with special prize wagons, waiting to be found. Since I don’t work a desk, this gave me an amazing chance to interact directly with customers, which really doesn’t happen that often.”

The prize giveaway the team ran during the Card Crawl not only collected emails for the library’s subscriber list, it provided a little post-event promotion when the library announced the winner in a video.

Mike will do a few things differently for the 2024 Card Crawl. For example, he wished the team had taken more photos of the event.

“Our Youth Services desk pulled double duty as a prize station, in addition to setting up a few different activities,” explains Mike. “That was just too much for the staff we had on hand. Next year, we’re planning on adequate staffing and extra hours.”

“The other big thing was the event’s end time. Things really tapered off in the last two hours of the day. We only had passive activities happening during that time. So, we either need to end it earlier or plan more scheduled events.”

But until September, Mike and the team at L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library have plenty to do.

“Sustaining our annual events, programs, and promotional cycles is enough to fill our days,” exclaims Mike. “The challenge (as always) will be figuring out how to do new stuff while maintaining the old. Maybe letting some stuff go.”

“Right now, our video work goes in phases. We do a lot more videos during promotional downtimes. So, we’ll go from weekly videos for a few months to no videos at all. Finding a better balance is big on my list.”

“We’re also hoping to make time to develop general library marketing campaigns. So more of the ‘Hey! We’re cool! And you’re cool when you use the library! Tell your friends!’ type stuff.”

“If we’re not careful, all we do is fill the promo channels with upcoming events after upcoming events, which gets boring for people pretty fast. We need room for more fun, brand loyalty stuff.”

“Oh, and we also need to top last year’s April Fool’s Day video.”

When he needs inspiration, Mike looks to the work of other libraries.

“The Southern Adirondack Library System’s Facebook account is an absolute meme machine. Slam dunk upon slam dunk. I have no guilt in this: I steal their stuff all the time.”

“I have to mention the Milwaukee Public Library, right? We’re all Sconnie-proud of them. If they could stop being so cool, that’d be a big help.”

“The Joliet Public Library is another favorite on TikTok.”

“I like following libraries with cool or interesting events and services and thinking about how I’d market their events if we were the ones doing them. This usually gives me ideas on how to handle our own stuff. It helps to jump-start your creativity, like a thought exercise.”

PS You might also find this helpful

The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How One Library Marketing Team Executed a Grand Opening of Epic Proportions for Their New Library Building

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Library Marketing Year in Review: The Top 10 Pieces of Advice for Library Promotion

On this holiday week, I wanted to let my loyal readers catch up on the most popular Super Library Marketing posts you may have missed.

Top Posts of 2023

#1: A Major Research Study Sheds Light on the Reading Habits of Millennials and Gen Z: What the Results Mean for Your Library Promotions

#2: 5 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Write Email Subject Lines That People Actually WANT to Read

#3: Putting ChatGPT to The Test: Will It Help Your Library With Promotions?  

#4: You Don’t Have To Be Cool To Promote Your Library to Teens! Here Are Seven Seriously Easy Ways To Connect With Gen Z

#5: The Dreaded Library Annual Report: How to Create a Masterpiece that Showcases Your Library’s Value and Inspires Your Readers

Top Episodes of The Library Marketing Show of 2023

#1: A Former TV Star May Use Your Library as a Publicity Stunt: How To Prepare Now Through Promotions 

#2: Is This the Beginning of the End for Social Media Marketing at Your Library? 4 Ways To Prepare Now! 

#3: Controversial Opinion: Why Your Library Should Stop Using the “R” Word in Your Promotions (Please!) 

#4: The Best Advice From the Top 4 Library Marketing Professionals

#5:  Be More Like Walmart! How To Build Library Marketing Success Like a Giant Retailer

I hope you are looking forward to 2024 as much as I am. We’ll be tackling new library marketing and promotion subjects. I welcome your suggestions.

Special note: there will be no post on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. 

PS Want more help?

Two Key Areas of Marketing Focus That Will Deepen Your Community’s Loyalty to Your Library and Create the Truly Engaged Library User

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One of the Best Minds in Marketing Says There Is a Way To Turn Your One-Off, In-Person Library Events Into Effective Marketing and Outreach

Watch this video now

#LibraryMarketing Show, episode 219

Fact: the effectiveness of social media in promoting your library’s programs, services and collection is declining.

But that is not a reason for despair. One of the best minds in marketing says there is a way to turn your one-off, in-person library events into effective marketing. The idea is brilliant and pretty easy to pull off.

Get the scoop in this episode of The Library Marketing Show. Plus, we’ll give away kudos to a library that did something spectacular and innovative using its Maker Space!

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.

Thanks for watching!

Miss the last episode? No worries!

Will I see you soon?

Subscribe to this blog to receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:

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2 Secret Tips To Build FOMO and Excitement for Your Next Big Library Event🎈

Watch this episode now

#LibraryMarketing Show, episode 218

One of my viewers has big plans for next summer!

No, it’s not summer reading. They are planning a giant event at their branch. And they want to know how to get the community excited enough to attend this event in droves. We’re talking a filling-the-parking-lot and running-out-of-chairs-level excitement!

🥳It’s a mashup of marketing and party planning in this episode of the Library Marketing Show. Plus we’ll give away kudos to a deserving library doing great marketing work.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know here.

Thanks for watching!

Miss the last episode? No worries!

Will I see you soon?

Subscribe to this blog to receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:

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Paid Partnership for the Win! How a Library System Turned a Holiday Tradition Into an Opportunity To Reach New Library Marketing Goals

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Trenton Smiley’s job in a library is what you might call a full-circle moment.

At the age of 21, Trenton went to the library with his future wife to research careers. While inside the library, he decided to study communications in college.

Years later, he is working in communications for a library, specifically as Director of Marketing and Communications for Capital Area District Libraries (CADL). Located in Lansing, Michigan area, the library encompasses a service area of approximately 230,000 residents.

Every year, CADL does something extraordinary to reach new audiences. Beginning in 2020, the library launched a Christmas Eve Radio Storytime in partnership with 99.1 WFMK, one of the top radio stations in the Lansing market, especially among female listeners. During the holiday season, the station switches to an all-Christmas Music format, which provides a nice fit for storytime.

“We decided to read Clement Moore’s 1837 poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas because it was part of the public domain,” said Trenton. “Each year, we select one of our youth librarians to read the poem over a wonderfully produced music bed (done by the radio station) that also included special sound effects.”

“A holiday greeting from our executive director Scott Duimstra is always included along with a message from a special guest. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared in 2020 and 2022, while a cast member of Disney’s Broadway Show Frozen appeared in 2021 to promote the show, which was coming to our community a couple of weeks after the storytime aired.”

The radio storytime, which is about six minutes in length, aired twice on Christmas Eve. Listeners could also hear the storytime on sister station 1240 WJIM every hour until midnight. To become more inclusive, CADL launched a Spanish version of the storytime which airs on two NPR radio stations and a Spanish podcast owned by WKAR.

The cost is about $500 to air the storytime, but the station helps promote the special through free commercials and placement on the website and social media.

In addition to promotion on the radio, CADL began working with a local TV station WILX TV-10 to promote their reindeer visits and other holiday events.

“In addition to on-air ads, we also run homepage takeovers of WILX.com,” said Trenton. “A homepage takeover allows us to have 100 percent share of voice by using all available ad positions for a 24-hour period. We use this practice often to generate a great deal of web traffic over a short period of time.”

The library has taken that one step further by sponsoring the station’s broadcast of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 5 More Sleeps Til Christmas. It’s a fantastic opportunity to reach people who never interact with the library.

“The idea to sponsor the holiday block of specials is really based on the homepage takeover concept,” explained Trenton. “We would secure all the available local ad positions during the hour block of holiday specials, which translated to two minutes. We would use this ad time to air 2, one-minute segments featuring a duo of librarians demonstrating a craft that was related to one of the holiday specials.”

It only took one day for the library to receive clearance from station management. The station also offered to help produce the library segments and promotional ads, as well as help create awareness of this special program the week leading up to the air date. It took another hour to shoot the segments and promos for the event.

Trenton said his library had specific goals for this paid partnership: to find ways to share the library experience. Specifically, Trenton had three main goals.

  • Increase marketing reach and frequency. “We focus on a more outward approach to our marketing. The larger pool of people we can engage with the greater chance we have to convert them to users of the library. The same is true of how they are seeing and hearing our messages and content. “
  • Strengthen brand awareness. “These programs provide us with an opportunity to highlight our expertise, create awareness of CADL, and position the library differently in the minds of the viewers and listeners.”
  • Expand promotional inventory. “Creation of programs like these provide CADL with content in which to promote other services and generate sponsorships.”

“Since the specials aired during primetime on Friday evening, December 23, we were confident that there would be a large viewing audience and worthy of the $800 price tag,” shared Trenton. “The total planning time on our part was about an hour.”

The television and radio events were marketed via email, social media, branch digital signage, press releases, a holiday guide, and promos on radio and television stations. “All the tactics helped spread the word about the specials,” said Trenton. “But I favor the digital ones because they provide real-time reporting on engagement.”

And, the partnership was indeed a success. “Based on the audience sizes of both our television and radio programs, we were able to accomplish our goal of increased marketing reach,” shared Trenton.

“Through the partnerships with both the television station and three radio stations, we received free promotional ads which helped with our goals of increased frequency, strengthened brand awareness, and more content in which to use to cross-promote services and use for sponsorships. Discussions have also begun about expanding the number of radio stations airing our special storytime.”

Trenton says his library marketing inspiration comes from the for-profit world including Disney and retail outlets.

He has advice for library marketers looking to leverage events to promote their libraries.“Negotiate from a position of strength,” he said. “Libraries have so much they can leverage including their expertise, content, goodwill, footprint (digital & physical), and customer base.”  

More advice

The One Question Your Library Staff Should Ask Every Single Guest To Unlock Promotional Success!

Building Advocates and Allies: How One Library Marketer Used Storytelling To Improve Promotions and Unify His Library

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the “Follow” button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

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Passport to Success: How One Intrepid Library Marketer Hatched a Plan To Bring People Back to the Library

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

There’s nothing wrong with tooting your own horn.

A few months ago, I received an email from a library marketer nominating her library system for recognition in the “Kudos” segment on The Library Marketing Show. This particular project was so good, that it deserves an entire post.

Rebecca Kilde is the communication and marketing coordinator for IFLS Library System in western Wisconsin. She’s been with the system for five years and has a background in graphic design.

IFLS Library System covers ten counties with 53 libraries, mostly small, rural libraries. The libraries she served were facing a problem.

“My librarians were telling me that their visits weren’t bouncing back up to pre-pandemic levels,” recalled Rebecca. “There was some general confusion about whether libraries were even open.”

Rebecca Kilde, IFLS Library System

“Our libraries were open during almost all the last two and a half years and were important resources for some people in our communities. We didn’t want anyone to miss out on getting support from the library. We wanted our funding bodies to get that message as well.”

In the fall of 2021, Rebecca and her colleagues decided to explore a passport program system-wide. This program’s goal was to get people back into the library after the pandemic as well as educate people about the scope of their consortium services and benefits. 

The idea was simple. All the libraries in the system had to have passports and entry forms available and a staff person to stamp passports and collect entry forms.

Setting a goal for any type of promotion is incredibly important to success. Rebecca had three things she wanted to accomplish.

First, Rebecca wanted patrons to experience the benefits of a library card firsthand. “We wanted to show how easy it is to check out and return items throughout our system,” she said. “We also wanted to send a clear message: Libraries are open, and libraries are fun!”

“Our app is new and includes navigation to all our locations in one handy spot, so this was a good opportunity to promote that. For our libraries, we wanted to increase circulation and engagement. A significant factor in support for library funding is having interacted with a librarian, so we built that in. We wanted people to engage with one of our wonderful librarians.”

Rebecca put her background in graphic design to work, creating a logo, a public-facing landing page on the system website, the passport, and marketing collateral.

“We printed enough for each library to get 25 passports,” explained Rebecca. “(We) sent them through courier as a kit that included a little rubber stamp, a stamp pad, signage, and a master sheet to make entry forms.”

Rebecca worked diligently to provide direction, content, and encouragement to her libraries. Each month, she emailed a marketing toolkit to all the participating libraries. The toolkit contained everything the libraries needed: a focused message; four social media posts with suggested messaging; updated posters; ideas from libraries, and comments from participants.

Some of the libraries took the passport program idea and ran with it. “Ellsworth handed out a water bottle with a bag of fun things that included a goat-milk soap sample from a local producer,” said Rebecca. “Clear Lake created prizes and a drawing of their own for their cardholders; Somerset ran out of their fun swag bags. Lots of libraries created great displays.”

The program was an outstanding success. Rebecca told me that over the course of the program, which ran from April 4 to July 15, participating libraries handed out more than 1500 passports and recorded more than 2800 stamps. Each of those stamps counts as one visit to the library. Nine people visited all 52 libraries!

Participating libraries saw robust circulation of travel-related items featured in library displays. Most libraries invited passport visitors to participate in other activities, like a scavenger hunt for kids in River Falls or library bingo in Menomonie. And they were able to identify some library super fans, who may become influencers in a future campaign.

Rebecca credits several factors for the success of the program, including timing and collaboration. “People were ready to go out and explore,” she explained. “And this was NOT a top-down promotion. It was library-driven the whole way.”

Rebecca has one final piece of advice for libraries looking to put together a successful program. Simplicity is key, she said. “We’re looking for ways to expand what the program offers without requiring a lot of extra work.”

You May Also Want to Read These Posts

Promoting Library Programs on Social Media: How Far in Advance Should You Start Posting?

How To Write Great Program Descriptions To Drive Attendance for Your Library!

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How Authors and Libraries Can Work Together to Promote Book Talks!

Watch Now

The Library Marketing​​​​​ Show, Episode 91

In this episode, ​I take a question from an author, who asked about how she can work with libraries to promote her appearances and book talks at the library.

Kudos in this episode go to the Vancouver Island Regional Library for their innovative e-sports competition.

Do you have a suggestion for a topic for a future episode? Want to nominate someone for kudos? Let me know in the comments. And subscribe to this series to get a new video tip for libraries each week.

Thanks for watching!

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The Secret to Forge Library Loyalty: Stop Holding Programs and Start Creating Experiences

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Anytime I hear anyone talk a new marketing trend, I must consciously remind myself not to roll my eyes. Marketing trends tend to be nonsense created by agencies hoping to generate buzz.

So, when I first learned about a trend called experiential marketing a few years ago at a conference, I listened politely, and filed it away in the back of my mind, along with my skepticism about whether this truly existed.

It’s clear to me now that experiential marketing isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a legit marketing option for libraries everywhere. And it could be the trend that permanently cements the bond between your library and the community it serves.

What is experiential marketing?

Experiential marketing is sometimes also called event marketing. It can be a pop-up library or program. It can take the form of a special day long library event, an immersion experience, a conference, a workshop—there are limitless possibilities.

But this isn’t just an ordinary event. An experiential marketing event is a program that includes a way to create an experience, to engage the attendee’s senses, and to create a personal and memorable interaction with your library.

It’s about sparking positive emotions in the people who attend. Those emotions become imprinted in the minds of the attendees. They associate that positive emotion with your library.

See why it sounded a little hokey to me the first time I heard it?

But here’s the thing. While most marketing interrupts and forces itself on the community, the experiential experience is voluntary. Your community or cardholders are choosing to interact with your library. Those experiences create beautiful memories. Those beautiful memories become a part of the overall library experience for your community. A loyalty is formed.

Libraries tend to think about their programs and events in simple terms. The program is a way to offer something to the community that is in line with the library’s overall strategic plan. It may also help to fill a community need like literacy or workforce development. These reasons are all valid and valuable.

But there is a clear marketing value in expanding our understanding of what a program or experience can be for our community–and what it can do for our libraries.

And we need to do so because our younger cardholders are at stake. Experiential marketing appeals to younger people. A study by Harris Group found that 72 percent of millennials would rather pay for an experience than for material objects.

This can be a differentiating factor for libraries. We should jump at the chance.

Why experiential marketing is so appealing

It all comes down to the fear of missing out, or FOMO. We see our friends and family posting on social media as they engage in exciting events. We feel anxious because we are missing out on these amazing experiences. And we feel compelled to resolve that anxiety by attending.

Think FOMO isn’t real? Check out the Twitter feed anytime the ALA or PLA conference is in full swing. The number of librarians who lament about missing the conference is pretty astounding.

What are the benefits of creating library experiences?

Experiential marketing forges a personal connection with your library. As younger generations increasingly value experience over tangible items, they’ll patronize and visit libraries that have taken the time to get to know them and offer them experiences that they can learn and grow from in a deep and meaningful way.

  • 85% of consumers say they were likely to purchase after participating in events or experiences.
  • 91% of consumers say they had more positive feelings about brands after attending events or experiences.

Examples of experiential library marketing programs

Challenge yourself to go beyond the normal crafting groups, story times, and passive programs. Instead, push your library to nurture the relationship between the library brand and your community.

You can create all kinds of innovative programs that foster a love and joy of reading. Try a TED talk style book talk. Invite readers to give a compelling talk under a time limit,  say 60 seconds, to convince people to read one of their favorite books. Or schedule book dates, where readers talk one-on-one with under a limited time deadline about their favorite books.

At the Edge 2020 conference in Edinburgh last week, the head of Library and Information Services at East Renfrewshire Libraries in Scotland talked about programs they hold called “Come Complete Your Bucket List at the Library.” Visitors use virtual reality sets to visit places and have experiences they’ve only dreamed about. That is an amazing example of experiential library marketing.

Other great experiences for library customers include:

  • Escape rooms
  • Interactive STEM programs for adults and kids
  • Interactive activities between patrons and in-residence programs featuring authors, entrepreneurs, makers, and artists
  • Interactive programs in your MakerSpace
  • A conference connecting readers and authors interacting in sessions, workshops, and one-on-one experiences
  • Interactive and immersive library exhibits
  • Interactive activities at outreach events
  • Library sleepovers

Experiential experiences are any kind of program that creates a lasting, emotional experience that will bond your community to your library. This is not a one-off kind of event. This is something memorable.

You’ll notice the word “interactive” is used frequently to describe these events. Experiential marketing events require that attendees to do more than sit, listen, and absorb. If they are playing a part in the activities, they’ll remember them.

Experiential marketing is not a quiet kind of marketing. It’s often noisy, literally and figuratively. It might be messy. It might take more planning. These events are not what people think of when they think about what libraries look like.

And that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

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