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⏱️7 Time-Saving Tips for Anyone Looking To Create High-Quality Library Marketing Emails That People Will Read!

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Last week, we discussed the pros and cons of email marketing automation. If your library chooses a program that requires a more hands-on approach to email marketing, this post is for you. These time-saving tips will let you create high-quality emails that resonate with your audience without spending all day on your emails. (Although, how fun would that be?!)

Time-saving Tip #1: Use templates.

This is the most effective way to save time when creating library marketing emails. If your email program doesn’t offer templates and you must make them yourself, here’s how to do it.

Decide on your buckets.

What kind of emails does your library need to send? Look at your library’s overall strategic goals and your marketing goals. Then, break your emails down into categories, like this:

  • Promote programs
  • Promote the collection
  • Promote services that bring people into our physical branches
  • Announcements like holiday closures, new services, renovations, service outages, etc.
  • Email to donors and legislators

Create one template for each category.

The ideal template will have sections with space for text, an image, and a call to action button. Here’s a great example of a library marketing email from Eisenhower Public Library made from a template.

Populate and send.

When it comes time to send the email, make a copy of your template. Insert the copy, images, and appropriate call to action, and hit send!

Time-saving Tip #2: Keep your emails short.

Emails that include no more than 4 topics perform best. If you have more to say, you can always send another email!

Keep the text in your email to a minimum. Think of your text as a tease. You want to write 1-3 enticing lines that compel your recipient to do something, like register for a program or put a book on hold.

Time-saving Tip #3: Target your messages to specific audiences.

It takes time to write copy that’s generic enough to appeal to everyone in your community. By comparison, it’s easier and faster to write text and find images when you know exactly what your audience is looking for in your library emails.

And, by targeting your message, you are more likely to say something that matters significantly to your cardholders, which makes them more likely to act, which makes your email more successful!

Targeted email marketing for libraries is effective because it serves the right message to the right group of people. And it works for all kinds of messages.

Also, your library should make your emails opt-in. This ensures your emails are going to community members who want your content.

Time-saving Tip #4: Let the robots help you with your subject line.

You should never rely on Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT to do all the work for you when it comes to library email marketing. But they are a great starting point! Instead of staring at the wall trying to brainstorm ideas for the best subject line, ask the AI to get you started.

To show you, I ran this example using Microsoft’s Copilot.

Once you have a place to start, you can tweak the subject line to match the tone of your library. Move, change, or remove the suggested emoji. And then, run the subject line through one of the free analyzers below. Each has its own algorithm for predicting the success of a subject line. But all will help you get to a subject line that works for your target audience.

Time-saving Tip #5: Plan as much as humanly possible.

Plan your email campaigns in advance using an editorial calendar. This helps you stay organized and maintain consistency.

And, if you know ahead of time when you are sending emails, you can set aside time in advance to create them and get them approved. Have a few spare minutes at the beginning or end of your shift? Work on emails coming up in the next few months!

Time-saving Tip #6: Reuse and repurpose.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you create an email. If you wrote a social media post or a blog that did really well, steal the text you’ve already written and insert it into your email. Use the same image or graphics, sized correctly for your email of course, and hit send!

Time-saving Tip #7: Watch your metrics.

If you take an hour each month to analyze the performance of your library emails, you’ll soon start to get a clear picture of what works for your audiences. That will make you more efficient as you create your emails. You won’t waste time creating emails that your recipients won’t read.

Did I miss any tips? Let me know in the comments!

P.S. You might also find this helpful

Library Marketer Shares Her Ingenious Trick for Making Sure Her Community Sees Her Social Media Posts

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Is It Possible for Your Library to Overcommunicate? 🛑 Here Are 4 Ways To Tell if You Are Flooding Your Community With Too Many Promotional Messages

Watch this video now

#LibraryMarketing Show, episode 239

You may wonder, is it possible to over-communicate with my patrons?

Can you send too many emails, do too many social media posts, and put up too many posters and flyers in your library?

There are some telltale signs that you’re overdoing it! I have four tips to help you determine if you are flooding your community with too many messages in this Library Marketing Show episode.

Plus kudos go to a library that received press coverage for the return of a long overdue book with a funny note inside!

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

Miss the last episode? No worries!

Will I see you soon?

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll 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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Automated Email Marketing Is a Time Saver for Your Library but It May Also Be a Terrible Experience for Your Patrons! Here Are the Pros and Cons.

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

My maternal grandfather was small (he stood about 5 feet 3 inches tall) but mighty.

He returned from World War Two to a wife and four children. He made ends meet by farming, driving a milk delivery truck, and working on a road construction crew. He taught me to build fences, crack walnuts with a vise, and drive a tractor and a car.

My grandfather

When he died in 2016, I decided I wanted a bouquet of flowers at the funeral as a symbol of all that he meant to me. I ordered an arrangement online.

Imagine my surprise when a few months ago, I received this email.

A screenshot of an email showing a photo of flowers and the tagline, "The reasons are endless" urging me to send flowers to my grandfather again, "just because."

I admit, at first, I was shocked and baffled. But I work in marketing, so I understand this email was created using automation. And then, this email made me think about the pros and cons of automation for library email marketing.

The advantages of email automation

Automated email has one big advantage for library staff: It saves time.

Automated onboarding emails, reading suggestions, and program announcements will free up your time for other work. You can create a campaign, set it, and forget it.

Experts also say that open and click rates are higher for automated emails because they are more relevant to the recipient. 

The disadvantage of email automation

There is one big problem with automated emails, in my opinion. The personalization isn’t personal. It’s inauthentic. And there’s a chance it can go very, very wrong.

The email from the flower company is a perfect example. It has negatively impacted my feelings toward the flower company. If they really cared about me, and not just my business, they would have looked to see that I’d sent flowers to a funeral home. And they wouldn’t have tried to sell me another bouquet to send to my dead grandfather.

Here’s how this snafu relates to library marketing: Most automated email programs created for libraries automatically segment your audience into groups based on factors like previous card use. Those programs use algorithms that look at past card usage or reading history to predict future behavior.

But, as happened with the flower company, those algorithms are not always correct. They don’t allow for changing tastes or lived experiences. And they won’t expand a cardholder’s use of the library by introducing them to new services.

The bottom line is that past library card usage does not always predict future library card use.

For example, in the last year, my library card use has changed drastically. I’ve switched from mainly print fiction books to audiobooks. I’m now a heavy user of downloadable magazines. I’ve also recently discovered the joy of using my library card to read newspapers online (goodbye paywall!). And I’ve used my library’s Makerspace several times this year.

My life and my habits have changed. But, my home library, which uses automated email, has not sent me any emails that show they’ve noticed my changing habits. They send emails based on my pre-pandemic use of the library.

What do libraries do best? Personalized service!

Libraries don’t focus on transactions. We don’t rush our visitors. We listen and work until we get them the answer or the service that best solves their problem.

This is particularly true when it comes to book recommendations.

A reader’s interests are never set for life. And the things that are interesting about a book—the tone, pace, setting, and characters, cannot be managed by an algorithm. Reading suggestions and collection marketing can’t be replicated by robots.

So, as library marketers, we must be cautious to balance our need to save time, with the need to create a connection with our readers. And that means, if you use automated email marketing, you must always be evaluating the emails your library sends.

Ask yourself: Is this email serving my recipient with the content they want and need?

Two more potential pitfalls of automated email marketing

Irrelevant automated emails may be marked as spam by your recipients, hurting your sender reputation. Read more about how that can impact whether your email gets delivered to your recipients here.

Many programs that offer automated emails don’t allow you to add design elements that are specific to libraries. And that can be detrimental to your library’s brand. You want your community to recognize the promotional materials you make, including emails.

The advantages of manual email marketing

Good patron experience means that you encourage your email recipients to choose the content they want to receive from the library.

Your library should make your emails opt-in. This ensures your emails go to community members who want your content, which protects your sender reputation.

The opt-in model allows you to add the content to your emails your audiences have indicated they are interested in, giving your recipients control over what they receive. It also allows for flexibility to account for changing use and taste.

Finally, opt-in emails allow you to send when it’s best for your users, not for your library. All email programs offer scheduling. When you schedule your own emails, you can look at reports to see when your target audience responds best to your emails. You can adjust accordingly.

The disadvantage of manual email marketing

Time is the number one disadvantage of programs that require you to create emails manually. It takes precious time to write copy, choose images, and schedule your emails.

So, next week on Super Library Marketing: Time-saving techniques for creating library marketing emails. These tips will work whether your library chooses automated or manual email marketing!

P.S. You might also find this helpful

4 Simple Ways You Probably Haven’t Thought of To Boost Signups to Your Library’s Email Newsletter 

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Don’t Panic but… BIG Changes Mean Your Library Emails Might End Up As Spam. Here’s What You Can Do.

Photo courtesy of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

If you send emails for library marketing, you may have been scared by recent articles on X, LinkedIn, and other marketing blogs that predict doom and disaster for email marketing in the coming months.

Last October, Gmail released this blog post, outlining changes coming to the algorithm they use to determine whether incoming emails make it into the regular inbox or go to the spam or promotions folder. Yahoo soon followed suit.

The response in the marketing world to these announcements took on a somewhat frantic tone.

“Are our emails going to be delivered?”

“What changes do we need to make to ensure we don’t end up in the junk folder?”

The short answer is that with a few small changes, your library emails will be delivered. Yahoo and Gmail want you to:

  • Authenticate your email
  • Enable easy unsubscribe
  • Reduce unwanted emails

Let’s go through each of these steps, beginning with authentication. Authentication means that your library’s email sender reputation is sound.

What is email sender reputation?

Email sender reputation is a score that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigns to any organization that sends an email. The higher the score, the more likely an ISP will deliver emails to the inboxes of recipients on their network.

Like any algorithm, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and other email providers use ranking signals to determine the folder in which your email lands—or if it’s delivered at all.

Here is what we know about those ranking signals, according to my research. Sources I’ve used for this post include marketing expert Michael Barber, Mailmeteor, and my co-workers in product management at NoveList.

Sender Authentication and IP Address Reputation

Sender authentication involves verifying the authenticity of the sender’s domain. The email providers are looking at past sending behavior coming from your IP address.

The bad news is that your library has very little control over either the sender authentication or the IP address reputation of your emails.

For example, MailChimp’s website says their customer’s emails, including those from many libraries, are sent from an IP address that is shared by multiple customers. If one or more of those customers send emails that negatively impact MailChimp’s overall IP address reputation, your library’s emails could be affected. Your library can purchase a dedicated IP address from MailChimp for an additional monthly fee.

Domain Reputation

Email service providers also consider the reputation of the domain name in the email address. The domain is the part of your email address behind the @ symbol.

The email providers look at past sending behavior and the overall quality of emails from that domain. Specifically, they are looking at 3 factors.

Spam complaints

Email recipients click the spam (or junk) button for three reasons:

  • They don’t realize the email is coming from your library.
  • They can’t remember signing up for your library’s emails.
  • They can’t find the unsubscribe link.

Get ready for a shock, because I’m changing my position on a major part of my email marketing advice.

In the past, I was a proponent of opt-out emailing for libraries. But because of recent changes in the algorithms used by Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo to sort messages…

Your library should make your emails opt-in. This ensures your emails are going to community members who want your content, which protects your sender reputation.

You can also reduce the likelihood that someone will mark your library emails as spam by making sure your “friendly from” line includes your library name. Add a first name to the friendly from (it doesn’t have to be a real person!) like “Angela from The Central Library.”

Make sure your reply address is a real email address as well. Let subscribers know how often you’ll be sending emails. And don’t send so few emails (yes, you read that right!) that subscribers don’t remember signing up!

Recipient inaction

When your email recipient either deletes your library’s email without opening it or leaves your library’s email sitting unopened in their inbox, that’s recipient inaction.

You can reduce recipient inaction by making sure your library emails are targeted to the audience that most want that information. Create interest groups and an opt-in page like this one from Delafield Public Library.

Letting your community members choose the information they wish to receive by email from your library will reduce recipient inaction and spam complaints against your library.

You can also reduce recipient inaction by spending time making sure your email subject line is as good as it can be.

Engagement metrics

Open rates and click-through rates play a significant role in email reputation. Higher engagement indicates that recipients find your emails valuable and relevant, leading to better deliverability. Low engagement metrics tell the email algorithms that that your emails may be unwanted or irrelevant.

One-click unsubscribe

The biggest change is that Gmail and Yahoo are asking marketers to add one-click unsubscribe. Most email marketing providers are addressing this issue and have plans in place to include one-click unsubscribe this year.

A fun tip to improve your sender reputation

Ask your library email recipients to reply to your emails! Marketing expert Ann Handley says this is actually the one important email metric you need to track.

To encourage your library email recipients to reply, ask for their feedback on a service within your email. Or ask recipients to reply with the name of a book they think should be included in your next booklist or book display. This is a chance for you to be creative!

You don’t have to respond to every email reply. But it is an opportunity to improve your sender reputation while gathering information that will help you to better serve your community.

PS You might also find this helpful

4 Simple Ways You Probably Haven’t Thought of To Boost Signups to Your Library’s Email Newsletter 

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Award-Winning Library Marketing Team’s Advice for Promotional Success: “Try New Things. Fail. Try More Things.”

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

A few months ago while at a conference, Meghan McCorkell,  got the email of a lifetime. The chief of Marketing, Communications, and Strategy for the Enoch Pratt Free Library, she called back to Baltimore and put her team on speaker phone.

Meghan was delivering great news: her team won the coveted Library Marketer of the Year award from Library Journal.

“We all jumped around excited (them in the office and me in a hotel lobby),” recalled Meghan. “More than anything I am so proud that we won as a team. We had to keep it a secret for about two months. So that was challenging.”

Meghan’s road to award-winning library marketer began in the 7th grade when she volunteered to shelve books for her hometown library, the Brielle Public Library on the Jersey Shore. Little did she know that years later, after a successful career as an Emmy-award-winning television journalist, she would assemble a team and lead the marketing for the vibrant Enoch Pratt Free Library.

“I love being surrounded by creative people, who all think differently than me,” explained Meghan. “I’m constantly blown away by the ideas that bubble up from our team. Six years ago, the Pratt didn’t have a marketing department. With support from the CEO, we built it.”

“The Print & Design studio was originally part of the Programming department, with four talented designers, Katherine Marmion, Eric Archibald, Jamillah Abdul-Saboor, and Jack Young. The studio was reorganized into a new marketing department.”

“We hired Andrew Klein to oversee the robust work that department does, as well as to lead the revamp of our Compass magazine. Our social media manager, Vianey Becerra, was made full-time, and translation duties were added because Vianey is bilingual.”

“A few years in, as we built out our email marketing strategy we brought on Ashley Barnes, a digital marketing strategist. And finally, I advocated for a photographer/videographer position. John Cassini was a former news photographer, so given our skill sets together the Pratt now has its own full-service production studio.”

Like many libraries, Enoch Pratt really had a challenging time communicating with patrons during the Covid lockdown because of the digital divide. Nearly 40 percent of Baltimore residents had no access to a computer or Wi-Fi at the time lockdown began.

“When we knew we’d have to close library doors, we started working nonstop to figure out how we’d serve the customers who rely on us,” remembered Meghan. “We started trying new things to see what worked.”

“We used census data to send targeted postcards with QR codes and unique URLs in communities where internet in households was unreliable. We let them know about device lending and our free outdoor Wi-Fi. We geofenced those communities and pushed targeted ads that looked like those postcards.”

“We sent targeted emails based on location and library usage trends to customers. We were specific in how we reached people, who we were trying to reach, and measuring what was successful.”

“That all may sound pretty complicated and expensive, but targeting that way actually really cuts down on the cost. If you can mine the data and figure out who needs to hear your message, you can send 5,000 postcards instead of 50,000.”

Once the doors of Enoch Pratt reopened, the team faced a huge challenge: rebuilding cardholder usage.

“It was a daunting task,” admitted Meghan. “We define active cardholders as customers that used the library in the past year. During COVID we lost more than half of those cardholders. But we learned a lot of lessons along the way too, and we doubled down on what worked.”

“Pre-pandemic we sent around 5-6 emails a month. That expanded massively as we launched more regular campaigns and saw success.”

“Today, we send anywhere between 35-40 targeted emails a month to different audiences, have an unsubscribe rate of less than 1 percent, and regular open rates close to the 50 percent mark.”

“Our print publication, the Compass used to be a 16-page list of programs. Over the past 4 years, we’ve expanded to a 24-page magazine that tells the library’s story. Staff across the library also stepped up with dynamic programs and services responding to community needs. Last week, we hit 3,000 more active cardholders than our pre-pandemic high. So, we’ve climbed the mountain.”

Reflecting on the work, and her team, Meghan clearly gives credit for their LJ win to her team, whom she says make it a joy to come to work. They even came up with a creative approach to their award photo shoot.

“Library Journal let us take our own picture for the feature, and of course, we couldn’t give them something normal,” exclaimed Meghan. “The Brady Bunch style photo perfectly captures the spirit of everyone on the team. We shared a behind-the-scenes video on the Pratt’s Instagram page of our photo shoot.”

Though Meghan has a wealth of riches in her large and talented team, she still faces struggles in terms of budget. Many of the tactics her team uses to reach cardholders can be replicated by smaller libraries.

“My advice would be to look at low to no-cost tactics,” explained Meghan. “I think targeted emails can really change the game.”

“Start a sign-up list at your library for people interested in kids’ events. Create a really specific monthly email for that audience and keep an eye on how it performs and if it’s achieving your goals of getting more people through the doors. That’s how we started our email strategy. Then we were able to leverage the success of those lists to convince our Board that we could be more successful with fancy software.”

“I also think you should try things, and if they don’t work, let them go. Just because things have always been done a certain way doesn’t mean you should keep doing it. Try new things. Fail. Try more things.”

Meghan’s team is now focusing on cardholder retention and data collection.

“I don’t like throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing if it sticks,” said Meghan. “I want to run measurable marketing campaigns the whole way through.”

“We’ve got some fun upcoming projects like our Macy’s-style winter windows that have become a Baltimore tradition thanks to our amazing graphic design team. We’ve got some challenges too including messaging out a Master Facilities plan and a series of upcoming renovation projects. Our designer Eric is probably already stressing the design of next year’s Summer Break Baltimore shirt! His design this year has been directly cited by customers for a 36 percent increase in program participation. (no pressure, Eric!)”

When she needs inspiration, Meghan looks at the work of other library marketers.

“I’ve made amazing friends in library marketing. I send them emails and say ‘What do you think about this’ all the time. The environment is so collaborative.”

“For inspiration, I’m often looking at other industries and seeing how we could adapt ideas from there. Right now, I’m in love with our Library Card Sign-up Month video campaign. That was born out of a brainstorming session with our whole team. Our graphic designer Katherine said, ‘What about those annoying lawyer commercials?’ That idea led to a 3-video campaign that is becoming wildly popular on social media. We even have it running on a TV station and in a movie theater now.” (Here are the videos: Lawyer Commercial, Car Commercial, Pharma Commercial.)

Meghan wants my readers to know that, although she’s had a lot of success in her current role, there was a time not too long ago when she was uncertain. For support, she turned to you… the community of library marketing professionals!

“Six years ago, I felt like I was just figuring out what the heck I was doing in a new career,” remembered Meghan. “One of the things that helped was finding the community of people in this field.”

“Library marketers are really collaborative and we’re all facing the same challenges. I love hearing from colleagues who want more info on going fine-free, or major renovations. I reach out to friends in the field to talk about ideas. From this blog to social media groups, and conferences, there is a sea of people out there all rooting for each other to succeed. Go find them!”

P.S. Want more advice?

Plan for Library Marketing Success! How To Create an Effective Marketing Plan No Matter the Size of Your Library (Plus a Free Downloadable Template!)

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll 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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Email Click Rates and Send Times: What Are the New Best Practices For Libraries??

Watch this video

#LibraryMarketing Show, episode 206

We’ve already established that your open rate is not necessarily the best way to measure the effectiveness of your library’s email marketing. It’s your click rate. But…

What is a good click rate? And when are you supposed to send your library’s emails? You’ll find expert advice on both of those important points in this episode.

Plus a wonderful library video earns this week’s Kudos award!

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 last week’s episode? No worries!

Will I see you soon?

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll 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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The Top 7 Tips for Library Emails That Are Guaranteed To Appeal to Millennials and Gen Z Readers

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

I live with two members of Gen Z. Thanks to them, I know about trending TikTok audio, Temu, and K-pop. They’ve given me skincare and makeup advice.

And they use the library… not because I’m their mom, but because it has books and videos and music for free. One is working part-time while dealing with health issues, and the other is working two jobs to save for a house.

Like many young adults, they worry about their financial future. And they value institutions that build community.

Millennials and Gen Z combine to make up 53 percent of the world’s population. Born between 1981 and 2009, they’re the largest adult demographic.

And while I generally think it’s foolish to lump an entire group of people together for marketing purposes based on their birth year, there are some things we can say, based on research, that these two groups share.

  • They are readers.
  • They love BookTok, the special subsection of TikTok dedicated to readers.
  • They are more educated than previous generations.
  • They value experiences, like travel and entertainment.
  • They prefer shopping online to going to a store.
  • They do their research before buying products. 

Now, more research suggests your library can promote books and reading recommendations to teens and young adults using one main promotional tactic.

Email.

I know what you’re thinking: “Young people today don’t read email.”

Have I got some statistics for you!

Millennials and email

According to Pew Research Center, Millennials encompass anyone between the ages of 27 and 42.

  • 1 in 3 millennials check their email as soon as they wake up.
  • 73 percent of millennials prefer that companies communicate with them through email.
  • Nearly 51 percent of millennials say email influences their purchasing decision.

Now, of course, your library is not selling anything.

Or is it?

Most of the libraries I work with have two overarching goals:  increase circulation and increase visitors.

And while library users do not have to pay to participate in those activities, it makes sense for libraries to use the same strategies that brands do for selling products.

So here are four ways to finesse your email to appeal to millennials.

Design is important.

Millennials have a sophisticated eye for visual content. Whatever email marketing platform you use, be sure you follow the best practices for email design. That includes templates with beautifully designed graphics or photos, particularly of faces showing emotion.

  • Use as little text as possible, in a font of at least 14 points.
  • Keep your color choices within your brand… no glowing neon blue fonts!
  • Promote no more than 4 things in your email and add plenty of white space between the email blocks for a clean look.

Here’s a great example from Camden County Library.

Be friendly and as personal as possible.

If your email provider allows you to personalize your emails with a first name, do so. That’s a great way to capture the recipient’s attention in the inbox.

But for true personalization, focus on the content. Spend time thinking about what they want and need from your library. Then, create interest groups based on those wants and needs.

Follow Delafield Public Library’s example. Their newsletter signup is on their homepage.

That link leads to an opt-in page with Hobbies and Interests choices right at the top.

How are you supposed to know the wants and needs of your Millennial audience? Well, if your library does an annual survey, segment your results based on age. What are the aspirations and motivations of this group? For example, if they say they are looking for a place to network and find community, your email messages should focus on the services you provide that meet those needs.

If your library doesn’t do an annual survey, look at the statistics you have on hand, such as circulation or program attendance. You can get a sense of what your patrons in this age group want and need from your library.

You can also reach out to partner organizations that work with this age group for their input on how your library can serve and market to millennials.

Finally, you can use Google Analytics to see what users in this age group do when they come to your website. Use your promotional tactics to market those sections of your website.

Watch your language.

Remember how your high school and college English professors praised you for using big words and complicated sentence structures? They did you a disservice.

The most effective text in email for Millennials is conversational and casual. For your library emails, move away from formal language. Instead, talk to this audience as if they were real people, standing in front of you at the desk.

After you write your email, read it through slowly and check to see if there are any sentences or phrases that you could say more simply. Read it out loud. If your email sounds professorial, try re-phrasing your text to be more conversational.

Share stories of other Millennials using the library.

Millennials love social proof. They want to see people their age using the library.

I know you’ve been gathering stories to share in your marketing campaigns. You can share those stories in your emails as well.

Use a few lines from a story, with a photo in your emails. If you have a longer version of the story on your blog or in video form, add a call-to-action button that allows readers to see the full version.

Gen Z and email

According to the Pew Research Center, Gen Z encompasses anyone ages 14 to 26.

I’m just going to say this again because I know it’s hard for you to believe. But Gen Z does read email. In fact:

  • 58 percent check their inbox more than once a day.
  • 57.5 percent say they don’t mind if a brand sends them emails several times a week.
  • But here is the biggest statistic I want you to remember: According to Campaign Monitor, the average member of Gen Z gets only 20 emails a day.

That’s an advantage for your library because you don’t have to compete for attention in the inbox. Don’t make the mistake of most brands, who assume this audience doesn’t read email!

Here are three ways to create emails that appeal to this important age group.

Keep it short.

Gen Z members have spent their whole lives scrolling Instagram and TikTok. They are accustomed to short digital content, especially from brands (Yes, they do read and enjoy long books and movies). But their expectation from brands, including your library, is for shorter content.

  • Send more emails that contain fewer pieces of information.
  • Limit your text to 2 or 3 sentences.
  • Use images and white space to break up your text.
  • Have one call to action button.

Here’s a great example from Community Library.

Keep it visual.

Gen Z members love a good visual. Graphics work really well with this audience to convey information in a simple way that is accessible to many audiences.

And Gen Z brains are hard-wired for visuals. They’re used to glancing at a graphic and processing the information quickly. So try an email with a graphic to see if you get better engagement than with plain text.

Make it interactive.

Gen Z likes to have fun online. And that’s great for you because it means you get to have some fun creating your emails!

There are four ways to incorporate interactivity into your emails.

  • Create quizzes using free quiz creators like Slido or Quizmaker.
  • Add a GIF.
  • Add a poll or survey to your emails. Google Forms is my go-to for these and it’s free.
  • Add a countdown timer.

More Advice

How Taylor Swift, Pedro Pascal, and Other Trends Led a Library Social Media Marketer to TikTok Success

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Time for a Reality Check: Here’s the Truth About Your Library’s Email Open Rates

Watch this video

#LibraryMarketing Show, episode 201

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But your library’s fantastic email open rate may not be the cause for celebration that you think it is.

We’ll talk about that and what metric you should focus on for email marketing in libraries.

Plus we’ll give kudos to someone doing great work in library marketing.

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!

Will I see you soon?

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll 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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