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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion

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Your Community Is Treating Your Marketing the Same Way Journalists Treat Bad Pitches. Here’s How to Fix That.

Historic black-and-white library reading room with patrons focused on books at a large table, surrounded by shelves. Text overlay reads: "How to Make Your Library Promotions MORE RELEVANT!" with the words "MORE RELEVANT!" emphasized in yellow.
Photo courtesy Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library

In this post, you will learn:

  1. Relevance matters more than frequency. Libraries don’t need to send more messages. They need to send more relevant ones.
  2. Data makes library marketing more newsworthy. Statistics and outcomes can transform promotions into compelling stories.
  3. Trust is a strategic asset. Libraries can stand out by being a reliable source of information and expertise.

I recently downloaded Cision’s State of the Media Report so that my library could adjust our media strategy to get more positive press. But I found myself looking at the report as a larger lesson for my library marketing.

Cision surveyed nearly 1,900 journalists worldwide about how they work, the challenges they face, and what they need from public relations professionals. At first glance, it might seem like a report intended for public relations agencies and large, well-funded corporate communications teams.

But as I read through the findings, I kept thinking about libraries (of course!) That’s because the challenges journalists face look surprisingly similar to those library marketers face every day when reaching our communities. 

People are overwhelmed with information. They’re short on time. They’re sorting through more content than ever before. And they are constantly trying to determine which messages deserve their attention.

The things that cause a journalist to ignore a pitch are often the same factors that make a community member ignore a library marketing message.

Here are the top five things I learned from the report about making my library’s message stand out.

Takeaway #1: Relevance Beats Volume

The report found that the number one factor that makes journalists respond to a pitch is relevance. Nearly 80 percent said they are most likely to consider a story when it aligns with their audience and coverage area. Likewise, more than 80 percent said they reject pitches that aren’t relevant.

That should sound familiar. Libraries often assume that getting attention is a volume problem.

  • “We need to post more.”
  • “We need to send more emails.”
  • “We need to promote this event harder.” (What does that even mean, really?)

But attention isn’t usually a volume problem. It’s a relevance problem.

The question isn’t whether your community saw your message. The question is whether they immediately understood why it mattered to them.

A generic announcement about a program might get ignored. But a message that clearly connects to a person’s needs, interests, goals, or challenges has a much better chance of breaking through.

Takeaway #2: People Are Drowning in Messages

Most journalists in the survey reported receiving more than 50 pitches every week. Many receive more than 100! Yet most say only a small percentage of those pitches are actually relevant.

That sounds familiar too! Your patrons are also sorting through dozens of emails, social media posts, text messages, videos, advertisements, flyers, signs, and notifications every day. They don’t have time to figure out why something matters. They need clarity and connection.

I recently implemented a new messaging strategy for my team to address this issue. I told them that we are going to stop leading with what we are doing and start leading with why our community should care. We are now going to be focusing less on announcements and more on why our work matters and the problems it solves for our community. 

Here’s a simple way to reframe your library’s message to focus more on the value.

Instead of: “The library is pleased to announce…”

Try: “Parents looking for free summer activities can now register for…”

Or: “The Library is proud to offer resume workshops and mock interviews” becomes “Get the tools and support you need to actually land the job.”

One messaging strategy starts with the organization. The other starts with the audience.

Takeaway #3: Data Makes Stories Stronger

One finding that really stood out to me was that journalists said they want more data and research. Why?

Because data provides context. It helps explain why a story matters.

Libraries have access to more useful data than we often realize.

  • We know what people are reading.
  • We know how technology is being used.
  • We know what programs are growing.
  • We know where community needs are emerging.

Yet many libraries continue to market programs without sharing the larger story behind them.

So, don’t just announce Summer Reading. Show how participation has grown. Don’t just promote your digital resources. Show how community usage has changed over time.

Data transforms promotion into storytelling. And storytelling is more memorable than push promotions because it activates emotions, which makes the story stick in a person’s mind.

These data stories are particularly impactful for messaging aimed at elected officials and donors.

Takeaway #4: Trust Is Becoming More Valuable

One of the biggest concerns journalists identified was accuracy and misinformation. Credibility matters.

This is an area where libraries have a tremendous advantage. Libraries remain among the most trusted public institutions. But trust is only valuable if we actively use it.

That means sharing accurate information, citing sources, providing context, and helping community members make sense of an increasingly complicated information landscape.

Takeaway #5: Make People’s Lives Easier

Perhaps the most important lesson from the report is that journalists want sources who make their jobs easier. They want clear information, quick responses, and they want their subjects to respect their time. So do our community members!  

The best library marketing doesn’t demand attention. It earns attention by being useful.

When your content helps people solve a problem, answer a question, save money, learn a skill, or improve their lives, your library marketing stops feeling like marketing. It becomes a service.

Final Thoughts

The State of the Media Report wasn’t written for library marketers. But it contains an important reminder for all of us.

Whether you’re pitching a reporter or communicating with your community, success doesn’t come from sending more messages. It comes from creating messages that are relevant, trustworthy, useful, and easy to understand. 

Want more help?

How Libraries Can Get Better Press Coverage: Real Tips From Former Journalists

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The Clever yet Simple Trick One Library Marketer Uses To Remind Her Community of All Her Library Offers Every Day of the Year!

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

When Donna Forbis graduated from the 8th grade, her parents gifted her a 10-speed bike. Her mother decided she was old enough to ride to the Peoria Public Library‘s Lakeview branch. 

“Back then, kids were not allowed in the adult stacks, so I was limited to my ‘side’ of the library,” remembers Donna. “I was very short (under 5′ tall), so even as a teen, I still looked like a kid. My ventures into the adult stacks would sometimes draw ‘looks’ from other patrons, but the library staff knew I was in search of mysteries I had not yet read!”

Donna’s love of the library never abated. She now works for the Illinois Prairie District Public Library. The library is small, with rural and suburban areas covering a service population of about 25,000 residents.

“We have fewer than 25 staff members (including our Director) servicing our six branches,” explains Donna. “Many staff members do double- or sometimes triple-duty.”

“My official title is Marketing & Events Coordinator, but I am also the branch manager for our Germantown Hills branch. I oversee all adult programming at our branches, and I coordinate with our Youth Services Librarian/Assistant Director on teen programming. I am responsible for creating nearly all of our promotional materials. What I don’t generate myself is usually shared with me to make sure it fits our style and brand before being shared with the world.”

It’s a lot of work, and Donna’s library still struggles to reach community members, especially regarding their programs and events. But Donna’s library is doing something that seems old-school yet innovative: A wall calendar!

“The idea for the wall calendar came from our Director,” explains Donna. “Several area outlets like banks and stores used to offer free wall calendars to their customers, but the practice has dropped off in recent years. While the world might be more comfortable with digital calendars, many patrons still want a wall calendar. Since the banks were not offering free calendars anymore, we decided to fill that void.”

“With a wall calendar, we can promote the library every day for a full year inside our patrons’ homes. We want our patrons to think of us as their go-to for research and resources, educational and entertainment opportunities, and a central community gathering spot. The calendar is a daily reminder that we are here for our neighbors.”

Donna and the rest of the library staff spent about three months working on the format and layout for the 8.5″ x 11″ wall calendar.

“The first version was nothing more than a stack of stapled papers, with notes on each page of a suggested layout,” recalls Donna. “Then I created an initial mock-up of the calendar in MS Publisher and shared it with our Director for critique. From her feedback, I shifted some photos around, added, and subtracted date-specific holidays, and determined what other information we wanted to include.”

“One topic of discussion was whether to have the library info pages at the beginning of the calendar or the end. My logic was, that if the info pages were at the end, behind the December calendar, they would be accessible to users all year long without taking the calendar off the wall.”  

The final calendar is a mix of fun content and library news. You can see it here.

“Our calendar is set up to highlight our branches, reading challenges, and some of our evergreen programming,” says Donna. “We also provide ways to connect with the library through a page filled with links and QR codes to get to our website, catalog, calendar, reading challenge platform, and social media channels.”

The library printed 725 copies and distributed them beginning the week before Christmas. Calendars were available at each branch and through some of the library’s community partners, including nursing homes and daycare centers.

Donna also promoted the availability of the calendars through the library’s regular marketing channels. And until just a few weeks ago, she posted a notice of the calendar’s availability in every library email newsletter. They managed to hand out nearly all their copies.

“We are very pleased with how it came out, and our patrons have been very appreciative,” remarks Donna. “When looking at it from a cost-benefit analysis, we spent a little under $2300 (plus shipping) for the calendars. That equates to roughly $200 per month in advertising spread across our community for a full year. And it is in a form that our patrons want and need. Even on a tight marketing budget, the expense was worth it.”

If Donna does the calendar again for 2025, she says she’ll have the final design done by Thanksgiving, so patrons have a longer window of time to pick one up.

And where will her next great library marketing idea come from?

“Inspiration can come from anywhere,” declares Donna. “I maintain connections with other library marketers through the Library Marketing Book Club, the regional Heart of Illinois Library Marketing networking group, and professional groups like the Illinois Library Association’s Marketing Forum.”

“One of my all-time favorite pieces of library marketing came from the Invercargill (New Zealand) City Library back in 2017, which was 2 years before I became a library marketer! They did a parody of a Hollywood Reporter magazine cover featuring the Kardashian clan at the height of their Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame. When I look at it today, I still laugh!”  

“I keep an eye on what advertisers in other industries are doing through organizations like Adweek, HubSpot, and other marketing tracking organizations. If someone on one of those platforms is writing or commenting about a particular piece of advertising, it may be worth noting.”

“As far as other libraries go, I am awed daily by my peers! Because of my ‘solo marketer’ limitations, whenever I see a library with a catchy video on TikTok, Reels, or Shorts, I am completely jealous! There are not enough hours in the day for me to learn how best to shoot and edit videos, get them uploaded, and do it regularly to build and maintain a following and get all my other stuff done!”

Donna has a piece of advice for anyone working on library marketing.

“Regardless of the situation, whether you have a program or promotion you want to try, need money or materials, or anything else – If you don’t ask, the answer will always be ‘No.’”   

“People generally want to be helpful and be of service, but often they don’t know the best way to do it. Tell others what you need and ask them for their help, and you might be surprised at the answer, even for the ‘impossible’ ask!”

P.S. You might also find this helpful

What’s It Like To Promote a Library With a Non-Circulating Collection? Marketer at a Cultural Institution Takes Us Behind the Scenes

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

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Click on the image to visit their digital library.

For most libraries, the end of the fiscal year is here. I think this is the perfect time to implement two new areas of focus for library promotions.

As discussed last week, libraries are at a critical moment. As we emerge into the post-pandemic world, we should not go back to doing things the way we were doing them before the crisis. That includes the way we do marketing and promotions.

Libraries need to start thinking beyond simply churning out flyers, posters, emails, and social media posts. We must devote time and energy to two primary areas of marketing focus: customer service and content marketing.

Here’s why.

Excellent customer service as marketing

We can create the truly engaged library cardholder by offering consistent, personal support.

Customer service is an extension of marketing because nothing compares to the first-hand experience of a real person having a great experience with your library, and then sharing that experience with their friends and family.

Customers are comparing you to every other customer experience they have. Expectations are high.

A library with frontline staff who are friendly, courteous, and dedicated to personalized assistance will hold the key to customer retention. You want to retain cardholders because it’s less expensive and takes less resources to retain engaged and active patrons than it takes to get new cardholders.

The good news is that most libraries excel at customer service. There are two ways to take those excellent, basic skills to the next level so you can create those loyal customers.

Respond as quickly as possible to patrons, wherever they interact with your library

Customer service consultant STELLAService released a report a few months ago that found that 62 percent of companies ignore customer service emails. The average wait time for a customer service email is 12 hours! And only 20 percent of companies follow up to see if their original answer was satisfactory for the customer.

This is an area where libraries can do better than for-profit brands.

  • Make it a priority at your library to answer every email, phone call, and chat request in a timely manner.
  • Institute a policy to send a follow-up email or make a follow-up phone call to ensure that the original answers you gave to the patron are satisfactory.

For instance, if a parent requests a book bundle for their child, be sure to send them an email or call them a few days after they’ve picked up their hold to see if their child is enjoying the books you provided. Keep a spreadsheet where you can make notes about what the patron liked and disliked.

The next time that person calls the library for help, your front-line staff can consult that database and provide more valuable help to that patron.

That kind of deeply personal customer service is the best kind of marketing you can do because it builds a relationship with the patron that is meaningful and shows that you are deeply committed to creating the best library customer experience possible.

Listen to your community

To provide the most meaningful services, collection, and programs, we need to know exactly who is using the library and how they are using it. We must also anticipate our community needs.

You can do this by enlisting front line staff to ask three simple questions during every patron interaction for a three-week period.

  • How could the library better help you this year?
  • What services do you love?
  • What services do you need?

The answers will give you valuable insight into the services your library can provide that will truly create an engaged community.

If you notice a service that isn’t mentioned by patrons in these interactions, consider dropping that service, even if it’s been something you’ve been doing for a long while. You want to provide what your community wants and needs.

You can also survey patrons by email. If you’ve never created a survey before, this post will help you.

Content marketing deepens community relations

Content marketing is promoting your library, not through advertisements or push promotions, but through education.

By providing answers to your community’s main questions, your library builds trust and loyalty. People will come to see your institution as a valuable resource with services that can’t be replicated by other institutions.

Content marketing breaks through the noise and the clutter by providing compelling, useful information for your cardholder. It addresses whatever pain points your cardholders have. It positions your library as the go-to place for information. It builds trust.

And through content marketing, your library gets a better and deeper understanding of your cardholders. You can use that understanding to do an even better job of addressing your cardholders needs. It’s a constant circle of giving. It carries more weight for a longer period than a flier or a poster.

You don’t have to be a trained marketer to understand how content marketing works. In fact, my contention is this: since more library marketing departments are run by trained librarians, you’ll do better at implementing a content marketing strategy at your library than most people with a marketing degree.

You tell stories. You read stories. You review stories. You love stories. You’re the perfect person to tell stories about your library, its staff, and its users.

Stories stick. A good story will stay in your brain longer than a good ad. And once you’ve told a great story, your cardholders will remember your brand. Stories build a connection which leads to customer loyalty, which leads to customer action.

Next week: Content marketing basics for libraries: easy ideas about how and where to tell stories about your library to deepen community loyalty.

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