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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion

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Good Marketing is Good Customer Service: 5 Cruise Industry Secrets to Steal For Your Library

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

My husband is an optimist.

In April 2020, about a month into the pandemic, we learned that our planned family cruise was canceled.

โ€œNo problem,โ€ said my darling spouse. โ€œWeโ€™ll rebook for August. Certainly, this will all be over by August.โ€

You know the rest of the story.

Our cruise was rebooked a total of FIVE times over the course of the next 18 months. We finally set foot on a ship this year. And despite what you may have heard about the state of the cruise industry, our latest trip was wonderful. Thatโ€™s due in part to the customer service on the ship.

And what I realized, as I was sailing through blue waters with a drink in hand, was that the marketing on the ship enhanced the customer experience.

So, I started writing down what I was learning to share with you. Here are the five big marketing lessons I learned while sailing.

Make it easy for your community to find the information they need.

It was easy to book on the company’s website. The cruise line walked us through each step of the pre-boarding process, with multiple touchpoints including videos, emails, and fliers mailed to our home. Any time we had a question, we could find the answer by heading to the cruise line website.

Your library’s website is as important a marketing tool as the sign on the outside of your physical location. In fact, I would argue that your library’s website is another branch of your library. Make certain your community can find what they need, when they need it, on your website.

If you have trouble figuring out how to organize your website, ask your front-line staff to make a list of theย questions your community asks. Track questions for one week to one month, depending on the size of your library. Then arrange your website so your community can find the answers to the most asked questions on your website. ย ย 

Handholding makes the experience smoother.

Once we booked our cruise, the company we sailed with began sending us a series of email onboarding messages. They walked us through the process of finishing our paperwork, reminded us to get our passports and vaccinations, relayed important safety information, and gave us advice on packing and navigating the port on embarkation day.

Mind you, this was not our first cruise. But this onboarding made our vacation run more smoothly. We didnโ€™t have to think about anything! We knew the company would give us the information when we needed it.

Show your community your library cares about the customer service experience of your organization by using onboarding email messages. Send new cardholders a series of emails designed to introduce them to services that your library has to offer.

And send current cardholders an onboarding series too! Once a year, re-introduce them to your select services. If they sign up for a program, send reminder emails in the days leading up to the event. For summer reading or other big initiatives, send periodic emails to encourage participation and remind them of incentives they can earn.

Repeating messages stick.

Remember the Marketing Rule of 7? The average person needs to hear a message seven times before it really sinks in.

On the ship, important announcements were repeated over the loudspeaker, on digital signs, in the daily calendar, and in automatic notifications from the cruise line app. Even on vacation, when I didnโ€™t have 1000 things at work and home competing for my attention, I needed to hear messages more than once to absorb them.

Repeating marketing messages result in something called the mere-exposure effect. This phenomenon finds that people show an increased preference for a stimulus as a consequence of repeated exposure to that stimulus.

In other words, the more you repeat your library marketing messages, the more likely people are to remember them and do the thing you want them to do! You may notice that I often repeat advice on this blog. Why? Because of the mere-exposure effect!

This doesn’t have to involve a lot of work for you, the library marketer. When youโ€™re creating your next promotion, focus first on what you will say. That’s your base message. Try to use as few words as possible. Write as if you were in conversation with your community member.

Example: Our Summer at the Library celebration begins May 31! Win prizes by completing reading goals and fun activities. Get ready by signing up for our digital tracker. Have any questions? Email us at mylibrary@mylibrary.org.

That language is short and direct. It can be repeated on social media platforms, email, digital signs, and posters. It wonโ€™t overwhelm readers. And it clearly tells community members how to participate.

One note: for some promotions, you wonโ€™t need to repeat your message on ALL channels. Think first about your target audience and where they are most likely to want to interact with your messaging.

For some programs, like summer reading, with a huge target audience, you may want to market on all channels. But for other, more niche promotions, you can focus on target platforms. This approach saves you time too!

People read signage when it’s done well.

The cruise shipโ€™s wayfaring signage was placed in key public areas and was simple and direct. And that was the only kind of signage! We knew when we saw a sign, it meant something.

If your library puts too many signs in too many places, youโ€™ll make it confusing for community members,ย who eventually tune out all that visual overload. Choose your sign placement carefully and strategically, and when in doubt, minimize. If you’re worried that people will get lost, then remember the next lessonโ€ฆ

Staff members are your secret weapon.

Every staff member on the ship was apparentlyย trained to answer any question, from how to find the bar, to how to reserve seats at the nightly show. ย If we needed any help, all we had to do was ask. What a treat!

This easy, comfortable staff interaction made the day so much better. We knew if we had any problems, the staff would have our backs.

With all the digital tools at our fingertips, it turns out that front-line library staff are the key communicators and customer service ambassadors. Train staff to understand that customer service is everyoneโ€™s job. They should be able to answer any question (or find the answer to any question) about any service, program, or department, even if they have never worked there.


More Advice

Libraries Have a Huge Competitive Advantage: Customer Service! Here Are 3 Promotional Tips To Drive Home That Message

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My Boss Said โ€œNo!โ€ How To Get Buy-In From Senior Staff for Your Library Marketing Decisions

Watch this video

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 186: One of my viewers is facing a conundrum.

They have been tracking data on posts on one social media platform. The data tells them that viewers are NOT responding to posts about events. They want to drive attendance at events. So, they want to switch tactics. But…

Their boss said “No.”

So, now what do they do?

I’ve been in this situation before. I’ll share my tips in this episode.

Plus we give away kudos! Watch the video to find out which library is being recognized.

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

Thanks for watching!


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

Marketing Your Libraryโ€™s Annual Report: How to Get Staff to Help and Make Sure Everyone in Your Community Understands Your Value

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Barbara Swinn knows what sheโ€™s doing.

Sheโ€™s worked with libraries for 40 years, most recently as manager of the flagship library for Explore York Libraries and Archives ย Sheโ€™s been awarded the British Empire Medal for her work with the library.

You may remember her from this interview last year. I spoke to Barbara about her work turning a stodgy, boring annual report into a storytelling masterpiece.

One thing I love about Barbara: she is always looking for ways to improve.

Hear about Barbara’s approach to the annual report this year

A few months ago, she sent me an email with a link to her current annual report. It is also amazing.

And this year, Barbara decided to take it a step further and promote her report, activating staff to help. So of course, I wanted to know how she did it.

Barbara told me she first spent time thinking about the emotional impact she wanted her annual report to have on the community.

โ€œWhat do we want our audience to think, feel, and do,โ€ said Barbara. โ€œWe wanted to make sure that people can see that we were relevant to their lives, and the lives of the communities. So that’s how we want them to feel this is for them. This is something they are excited about and want to be involved with.โ€

โ€œWe want them to actually reach out and be involved in what we’re doing, to become a volunteer, to become a community member, to bring their skills to work with us, or to actually just come in and enjoy what we do. and just participate and get the value of for them in their lives of what libraries can bring.โ€

Hear Barbara talk about the goal of this year’s annual report.

Barbaraโ€™s first step in this new mission was to focus on the many target audiences for her annual report.

โ€œThe audience could be people who are library users but they’re probably people who aren’t library users,” explained Barbara. “They may be potential funders or sponsors, local government officers, and the people who provide our funding. We needed to advocate the value that we have, and that we bring to the city.โ€

Barbaraโ€™s team tried something new this year: a social media campaign to expand the reach of the stories her library is telling. And if you think people arenโ€™t interested in social media posts about an annual review, you would be wrong.

โ€œWe had a series of five posts over five days, which were highlighting those key details from the annual review,โ€ explained Barbara. โ€œOn Twitter, we had a 4.9 percent engagement rate compared to 2.5 percent, which is the average for the month.โ€

โ€œThere was a particular post that had a 6.5 percent engagement rate on Facebook. That usually averaged 2.5 percent for the month. So, it did engage with people. People were commenting on it, people were sharing it, and the engagement rate was higher than the normal engagement rate. We’re really pleased with that.โ€

And this year, Barbara and her staff got the rest of the library staff involved. Staff linked to the annual report in their email signature.

โ€œWe really emphasize the fact that this was an opportunity for them to not necessarily have a conversation, but through their email, they’re connecting with people, and people can see that annual review,” said Barbara.

The library has one main organizational social media account and branch accounts. Barbara and her staff worked to get all the administrators of the branch accounts to help in the social media promotion of the annual report. Her team provided context and made the ask very simple.

 โ€œWe talked about what we’re trying to achieve,โ€ said Barbara. “‘We really want you to share those posts through your social media.’ And that’s what they did.โ€

The plan to involve staff to help spread the message worked so well, Barbaraโ€™s team now uses it for every major campaign. She explains the impact her library hopes to have by marketing and shares examples of posts with high engagement garnered with staff support.

โ€œWe give examples of the posts that really made a difference because they got behind it,โ€ revealed Barbara. โ€œFor example, our summer reading challenge that we do for children every summer, that absolutely by staff getting behind that campaign really made a difference. We’re starting to build that. It’s gaining momentum. And the staff are seeing the value of that engagement, they’re seeing the value of the fact that they can amplify the message and by amplifying influencers as well. โ€œ

Barbara hopes her annual report does more than inspire her community to act and support her library. She hopes it inspires you, her fellow library marketers.

“You’ve got your story,” said Barbara. “The people use your libraries, your volunteers, your staff, they know the story too. And there are so many nuggets to choose from. Think about the beginning, the middle, the end, what you’re trying to do, and what you want people to do. It really, really works. It’s the story of the people that’s really important.โ€

Hear Barbara’s advice for your library’s annual report

More Advice

An Academic Library Increased Their Instagram Reach by 1149% in a Year! Learn Their Secrets for Success

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Nightmare Scenario: No One Shows Up for Your Library Program. ๐Ÿ˜จ Here Are 3 Ways To Make SURE That Never Happens Again.

Select this to watch the video

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 182: I recently saw a Tweet that broke my heart.

A library staffer put together a great program but… no one showed up. I know how much work goes into those programs.

How can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? I’ve got three tips to use right now before you plan any more library programs.

Plus we’ll give away kudos to Loutit District Library.

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

Thanks for watching!


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

How to Promote Your Library’s Next Event in Just 5 Minutes a Day!

Select this to watch the video

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 181: You are a solo librarian. You have only five minutes every day to promote your library. WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU DO?

That was a question submitted by one of you in the Super Library Marketing survey a few months ago. The answer to this question is the focus of this episode.

Plus we’ll give away kudos to public libraries in two states.

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 please subscribe to this series on YouTube or follow me on LinkedIn to get a new weekly video tip for libraries. Thanks for watching!


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

Libraries Have a Huge Competitive Advantage: Customer Service! Here Are 3 Promotional Tips To Drive Home That Message

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

The best customer service experience I ever had was with a cell phone provider. No kidding.

I was having issues getting my contacts to transfer to a new phone. The providerโ€™s website offered no solutions. So, with great trepidation, I called the customer service line.

The woman who answered was a delight to work with. She welcomed me in a friendly manner and assured me she wouldnโ€™t hang up until sheโ€™d solved my problem. She was patient with me as I explained my issue. She was friendly, asking me questions about my day as she worked. And she thanked me with sincerity when our call is over.

A successful and delightful customer service interaction is rare. And itโ€™s increasingly difficult for people to contact a human customer service agent. Earlier this year, Vox published a story about the death of customer service lines. Companies like Frontier Airlines, Facebook, and Amazon are cutting costs by eliminating their phone-based customer service lines in favor of email forms and chatbots.

When I read that, I thought, โ€œThatโ€™s a huge opportunity for libraries!โ€

Our community is our customers. And our unique value proposition is that we offer personalized service provided by a real-life person, always.

Library staff is not chatbots. Weโ€™re not email forms.

We listen, and we help solve problems. In fact, weโ€™re proud of our problem-solving skills.

So why donโ€™t we spend more time marketing our unique, valuable customer service experience?  

Good customer service is a competitive edge for libraries. We can build a reputation as a warm and inviting space. When was the last time you heard Amazon or Best Buy described in those terms?

Building your library’s reputation for customer service will increase visits and use of your library. And for many of you, that can be valuable in budget and funding discussions.

And delighted community members are more likely to spread the word to their friends and family about our system and the services we provide. They are compelled to talk about us positively on social media, give us great reviews on Google Business, and support our work through donations or volunteerism.  

Here are 3 ways to use your libraryโ€™s customer service as a marketing tool. Scroll to the bottom of the post for a great real-world example of customer service guidelines for staff from the University of Illinois.

Make it incredibly easy for people to contact you.

Your libraryโ€™s address, phone number, and email address should be easy to find on our website. Iโ€™d recommend adding it to your pageโ€™s footer, as well as your โ€œaboutโ€ section. You might also add a โ€œContact usโ€ page to your website.

Itโ€™s okay to have your contact information in more than one location! Don’t make your community members jump through hurdles to reach you. Remember, your competitive advantage is the ease of using the library.

You must also keep your libraryโ€™s information updated on Google. And add your contact information to your bio or โ€œaboutโ€ page on all your social media accounts.

Finally, consider sharing your contact information at the top of your email newsletters, at the beginning of each video you produce, and even at the beginning of each program you hold. A simple statement like, “Our library is here to help you! Ask us any question, anytime by calling 555-5555 or emailing us at questions@mylibrary.org” is sufficient.

And if you do this anytime you interact with a group of community members, over time your concerted and consistent effort to share your contact information will convey the message that your library is a place where community members can seek help.

Promote your library as a place that helps people solve problems.

In your marketing, emphasize that your library is on the communityโ€™s side.  

Your promotions should drive the following messages:

  • That your staff works collaboratively with users.
  • That you take your time to listen to problems and find the best solutions.
  • That your community members’ problems are your problems!
  • That you care about the outcome of your interactions. 

One way to do this is to collect stories of the library solving patron problems. You might have to get out of your comfort zone to ask after a casual conversation but itโ€™s worth it. Most people will be more than happy to allow you to use their feedback as a jumping-off point for a story. People love to talk about themselves. Use that to your advantage! 

Youโ€™ll likely need to train your staff on how to do this. It sounds complicated, but here is an easy framework for staff to keep in mind.

If you think there is an opportunity for a patron to share a story with you, donโ€™t wait until the end of your interaction to ask. Ask questions when the moment presents itself, even if thatโ€™s toward the beginning of your interaction. Listen for the community member to say something like, “Oh that was helpful!” That’s your cue to ask permission from the community member to share the story of your interaction.

Avoid broad questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no, like โ€œWould you recommend the library to friends and family?โ€ or โ€œDid you benefit from our work together?โ€

Instead, ask the patron specific questions that require a bit of engaging explanation.

  • โ€œWhat are some reasons youโ€™d recommend the library to your friends and family?”
  • โ€œHow is your life different now that youโ€™ve received help from the library?โ€

When you ask these more specific questions, youโ€™re setting up your patron to offer a bit of narrative and a back story. Remember that hearing more about another personโ€™s journey can help a potential library user visualize the difference their life could have if came to the library for help. 

Look for stories everywhereโ€ฆ in emails to your library, in social media comments or messages, and of course, in person. When you actively look for stories, it will get easier and become second nature.  

Finally, create a story bank. Collected stories have little value if they canโ€™t be molded into something you can. Use whatever technology your budget will allow.

You can keep track of all the major details with a simple spreadsheet in Excel or Google Docs. Some libraries even use Trello, which is free, to gather and share patron stories. 

Promote your staff as problem solvers

Other companies have employees. Libraries have experts who truly care about the work they are doing and the impact they have on the community.

Thatโ€™s why your staff is one of your most valuable resources. They are what makes your library stand out from your competitors. ย Augusta Public Library did this in a fantastic Facebook post.

And when you highlight specific staff, your community members will begin to feel as if they know the employees. They’ll be more comfortable coming into your physical buildings because they’ll recognize the face at the desk or in the stacks. They’ll feel more open about asking you for help!

Bonus: Here is a great set of customer service guidelines for staff from the University of Illinois.


More Advice

You Donโ€™t Have to Choose Between Print and Digital Books: How to Promote Your Collection to Patrons Who Use BOTHย Formats

6 Simple Steps to Create the Most Important Asset in Your Library Promotional Arsenal: A Powerful Library Brand Style Guideย 

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

Click Here Now! How to Supercharge Your Calls to Action and Get People To Interact With Your Library

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 179: It’s time to work on your calls to action!

How do you motivate people to interact with your library promotions? It’s time to supercharge your call to action or CTA game! You’ll find tips to do that in this episode.

Kudos go to The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

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 please subscribe to this series on YouTube to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.

Thanks for watching!


Subscribe to this blog and youโ€™ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the โ€œFollowโ€ button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

๐Ÿ“น5 Easy and Surefire Ways To Decide What Videos You Should Create for Your Libraryโ€™s YouTube Channel


Click here to watch the video

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 178: A viewer issues a plea for help!

Grace wrote in with this request:

I am interested in working on our YouTube channel but I am really struggling with content ideas. In the past, no one held the only marketing position at my library so everyone made content (especially during the pandemic). This was good because subscribers were hearing book reviews, storytime programs, etc. directly from librarians and programmers.

Now that I am in the sole marketing position, I would like to do videos, but I don’t think folks want to get their book reviews, book recommendations, etc. from a marketer. And now, post-pandemic(ish), our librarians are back in-person doing traditional library roles and don’t have time to support much with content creation.

Any recommendations for the best approach to take to YouTube if a library marketer has limited access to our very busy librarians?

I’ll share five tips for coming up with great ideas for YouTube videos.

Kudos in this episode go to a school librarian named Lucas Maxwell.

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 please subscribe to this series on YouTube to get a new weekly video tip for libraries.

Thanks for watching!


Subscribe to this blog and youโ€™ll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the โ€œFollowโ€ button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

But Iโ€™m Not a Writer! 10 Free Tools To Help You With Library Blog Posts, Speeches, Emails, and More.

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

I do my best writing in the darkness.

I wake up most workdays around 5:30 a.m. I pour coffee and add enough creamer to turn the liquid from black to beige. Then my coworker Scarlett and I stumble a few steps through the backyard to my office to begin the day.

I turn on the twinkle lights. I scratch my coworker behind the ears. She crawls into her office bed for another two hours of snoozing (lucky dog).

And then I begin.

The early morning, when my brain is empty and uncluttered by the tasks of the day, is when I do my best writing.

Library marketing often means cranking out text for a variety of promotional pieces. Youโ€™re likely writing blog posts, emails, speeches, press releases, talking points, and more.

Writing is difficult. But clear, concise text is essential as your library works to position itself in a world full of content.

Maybe you have been thinking about posting less on social media. You may consider turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs and print newsletters. If that’s the case, youโ€™ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.

That’s where online writing tools come in handy. They can help your writing have more of an impact. They can help you craft sentences that are clear and concise, even when the subject matter is not. They can help you figure out a headline that will draw readers in. They can help you discover the right word to make your meaning clear.

And no matter what time of day you do your best writing, these tools will help you perfect your work. I use them every day on everything I write (including this blog post). Here are my favorites! They’re all free.

Before You Write

#1:Blog About

Sometimes the most difficult part of writing is coming up with an idea. This site has thousands of fill-in-the-blank prompts that can help you brainstorm your next topic. It’s a great place to visit when you’re suffering from writer’s block.

To demonstrate, I went to the site and typed in library marketing, then selected is an industry. Here are the suggestions it gave me.

You can save the suggestions and download them if you are willing to subscribe to their newsletter. And if you hit refresh, it will keep giving you ideas until you find one you like.

#2:Wordstream

This is a very simple tool that shows you new keywords and performance data to use in your text.

I typed in reading recommendations and then chose Education & Instruction and the United States for my search parameters. Here are the results.

Youโ€™ll want to use this tool to see what phrasing to use when you are creating content. So if you were looking to promote your libraryโ€™s reading recommendations, you may use phrases like โ€œBest Books of All Timeโ€ in your email and in your blog posts to drive lots of traffic to your libraryโ€™s website.

#3:Google Trends

This fantastic tool measures searches from Google, the most popular search engine. Youโ€™ll get to see if your ideas play well in terms of topic, queries, and regions. It can help you to decide if a certain topic is something your audience in your community is searching for.

I typed in Summer Reading and got this report.

While You Write

#4: HemingwayApp

This text editor is helpful for creating copy that is clear, clever, bold, and easy to understand. You can either write inside the program or you can copy and paste your draft into the site.

The Hemingway App highlights complex phrases and errors. It grades your text and prompts you to break up sentences and replace words to clarify your meaning.

For example, originally, the eighth paragraph of this blog post went like this: 

And if youโ€™ve been thinking about the advantages of ramping down your libraryโ€™s social media posts, and turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs, youโ€™ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.

The Hemingway App led me to change the paragraph to this:

Maybe you have been thinking about posting less on social media. You may consider turning to other, more content-rich and impactful tactics like blogs,. If that’s the case, youโ€™ll need to make sure your writing is readable, relatable, and memorable.

Thatโ€™s much easier to understand!

#5: The Up-Goer Five Text Editor

This tool is designed to help you write more conversations. It’s based on the premise that clear writing stays within the bounds of the ten-hundred most commonly used words in the English language. Use it to review the language you are using in any piece of text to make certain your writing makes sense.

Here’s how it works: You copy and paste a bit of text, or type directly into the tool, and then hit enter. The tool will point out all words you should change to be more conversational.

To demonstrate, I typed this sentence into the editor: Books help readers understand their place in the world. They can open new perspectives and new experiences for readers and enrich their lives.

Up-Goer suggested I replace these words: readers, perspectives, experiences, readers, enrich.

Obviously, you don’t have to change your text based on every suggestion. I changed several of the words in that paragraph for the final draft of this post and ignored the rest of the suggestions.

And even though I donโ€™t always take all of its suggestions, this tool forces me to rethink the way I write. It makes me consider whether my words are truly the best way to express my thoughts and feelings to my library marketing audience.

#6: Grammarly

I am not certain I would survive without this tool. It catches spelling and grammar errors, sentence structure problems, run-on sentences, and punctuation issues that are missed by the Microsoft Word editor.

Grammarly also lets you add words using the personal dictionary function, which is helpful for those quirky instances that may be part of your library style guide. For instance, I work for NoveList, and that capitalized L in the middle of the sentence always gets flagged as an error in other editors. But I’ve added it to my personal dictionary in Grammarly.

#7: WordTune

This browser extension is a mix between Grammarly and the Hemingway App. It gives you seemingly endless ways to rewrite sentences in a more creative fashion. It’s great for when you’re exhausted (hello Fridays!).

To demonstrate, I typed this sentence into the editor: Books help readers understand their place in the world. They can open new perspectives and new experiences for readers and enrich their lives.

The editor gave me more than six alternative ways to phrase that paragraph, including these:

WordTune integrates with Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, Facebook, Twitter, Web Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp.

There is a free version and a 30 percent discount for nonprofits and academia on paid plans. To take advantage of the discount, go here and scroll down to the point about discounts.

#8: Clichรฉ Finder

This tool highlights clichรฉs in your text so you can avoid overused expressions. If clichรฉs are your pet peeve (as they are mine), then this tool will be your new favorite!

Before You Publish

#9: Sharethrough Headline Analyzer

This is my favorite headline tool. Type your proposed headline in. You’ll get a score, and tips on ways to improve your headlines.

Every headline on this blog since the beginning of 2019 has been polished using this tool. I believe it’s one of the reasons traffic is up on my site.  

#10: CoSchedule Headline Analyzer

This free tool trains you to write clear, catchy headlines with powerful, uncommon, and emotional words. It also shows you how your headline will look in a Google search and in an email on a desktop or mobile device.


More Advice

The Secret to Writing Engaging Copy for Any Library Promotion AND Getting Results Starts With a โ€œKISSโ€!

How to Get Stuff Done Without Losing Your Mind: My Top 6 Time Management Tips for the Busy Library Marketer

Subscribe to this blog and youโ€™ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the โ€œFollowโ€ button in the lower left-hand corner of the page.

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