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A Library Marketer Shares Her Simple but Strategic Secret for Retaining 70 Percent of Her New Cardholders!

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

When Mary Short was little, the local public library was just a block from her school and regular childhood destination.

“My favorite memory is going to the library with my best friend, Nancy, and being able to pick out whatever books I wanted. I felt so grown up,” recalled Mary.

Now Mary is grown up, and working for that same organization, the Grosse Pointe Public Library, as Marketing and Programming Coordinator. She landed the job five years ago after working in communications for a large, international company.

“Before joining I had no idea all of the fabulous services the library provides,” said Mary. “I’m still learning about them. And I love sharing all the great programs and services we offer.”

Mary’s initial lack of knowledge of the full breadth and depth of the library is not uncommon. But here is a vital fact to keep in mind whenever you land yourself a new cardholder.

It costs 5-7 times more to get people to sign up for a library card than it does to get people who already have a card to use it more.

Harvard Business Review

So, it makes good sense for libraries to get their new cardholders to use their cards and keep using them! And the way to do that is through intentional, strategic library marketing. An onboarding email series works, as Mary will tell you.

“When I first started working at the library, I made my brother get a library card,” explained Mary. “He hadn’t had one in years. And he mentioned to me that he didn’t know what the library offered besides checking out books. And I realized we had no way of introducing the library to new cardholders. So, that was one of the primary goals I had was to develop an onboarding series of emails.”

Mary’s email onboarding series consists of six emails in total. The first email is sent 14 days after the patron has received their library card. It’s a welcome to the library from the library director, personalized with the recipient’s first name.

That first email includes an overview of the library’s services. The language drives home the message that the new cardholder is now a member of the library, an idea she borrowed from another library.

“Being a member is so much more meaningful than just being a cardholder,” suggested Mary. “Membership has benefits and you feel more a part of a team, more invested when you’re a member.”

After that, new cardholders get an email every two weeks until the series is complete.

“Each following email focuses on one service,” explained Mary. “Like downloading or streaming music with your library card for free, getting magazines for free, using our special collections such as the tool library, seed library, Wi-Fi hotspots, and book discussion kits. The final email is 10 totally free things you can do with your library card.”

Using this strategy, Mary’s library now has a new cardholder retention rate of 70 percent, a phenomenal success. Even with that great rate, Mary occasionally tweaks her messages.

“After a few months, I check to make sure the messages are still relevant and update some of the images or add a new service,” explains Mary. “It’s important to keep the messages current.”

When Mary isn’t celebrating her onboarding email campaign success or doing the other library promotions, she is looking for inspiration… from you!

“I signed up for a ton of email newsletters from a variety of libraries including the New York Public Library and the Oak Park Public Library in Chicago,” shared Mary. “I also visit libraries whenever I travel, and I take their materials and see how they position their signage.”

“One of the first ideas I borrowed from a library was from the New York Public Library. They did a promotion as a take-off on Black Friday. They created great graphics around that theme and said everything is 100 percent free at the library. I loved it. I contacted them to make sure it was ok for me to steal the idea and they said, of course, you can use that. That was before I knew libraries are wonderful about sharing ideas.”

“I also go to the Library Marketing and Communication Conference and participate in several Facebook groups, like The Library Marketing Book Club. I attend every free marketing, social media, and email marketing webinar I can and of course subscribe to Super Library Marketing.” (😊)

And Mary considers herself fortunate to do this library promotional work for Grosse Pointe.

“I never would have dreamed I’d be working for my local library,” said Mary. “I feel so honored to have this job. I learn something every day and am so proud of all that our library does for the community.”

More Advice

8 Secrets to Writing Irresistible, Must-Open Library Email Subject Lines PLUS 6 Free Tools To Ensure Success!

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8 Secrets to Writing Irresistible, Must-Open Library Email Subject Lines PLUS 6 Free Tools To Ensure Success!

Photo courtesy Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

Your subject lines play a significant role in the success of your library email marketing campaigns. They’re the first thing your recipients notice about your emails. 

And a good subject line is crucial because you can’t get email recipients to take an action, like registering for a program or downloading a book, unless they open your email.

The subject line is also the most difficult part of the email to create, at least for me! So today I’m going to share the tricks I use to write better subject lines. I’ve shared these tips with the libraries I’ve worked as well as my own staff at NoveList. We’re using these tips to increase open and click-through rates.

And I want to issue a challenge.

I want to see your best library marketing subject lines! When you write a great subject line, just forward the email to ahursh@ebsco.com.

At the end of every month, I’ll recognize the best subject lines from libraries in the Kudos section of The Library Marketing Show.

Here are 8 tips to help you create those irresistible library marketing email subject lines. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for 6 free online tools to help you make sure your subject line is the best it can be.

Tip #1: Write the subject line AFTER you create the email.

If you write the body of the email first, you’ll have the tone, the graphics, and the call to action decided by the time you get to the subject line. Those elements will help you write a subject line that works well for the email. By the time you get to it, the subject line might write itself!

Tip #2: Be personal.

Many libraries don’t have the budget for the automated personalization of emails. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still add a personal touch to your subject line.

Email marketing expert Jay Schwedelson says open rates increase when you add a personal touch. According to Jay’s research, here are some specific examples of exactly how much open rates increase when you add this bit of personalization.

  • Geography: 26 percent. Example: Join other readers in Smithville and take the Winter Reading Challenge.
  • Life Event: 31 percent. Example: High school seniors get an extra boost of confidence with the library’s online college prep course.
  • Hobby or interest: 22 percent. Example: Knitters… we want to help you create your next project!
  • Generation: 25 percent. Example: Gen Xers—get a dose of movie nostalgia with Kanopy!

Personalization signals to your community that a real person was thinking of them when they sent this email.

Tip #3: Say something urgent. 

Urgency can create the “fear of missing out”(FOMO) effect in your emails.

For example, you can use urgent language to promote the Big Library Read promotions from Overdrive. This is a limited-time offer and using urgent language in the subject line is appropriate. Phrases like Hurry, Limited time offer, and Ending soon will increase participation.

You can also use urgent language to promote programs with a registration cap. Phrases, like Grab your seat now, will prompt people to open your library’s emails and increase registration and attendance.

Tip #4: Start with an “alert” phrase.

Using words like Alert, Sneak peek, First look, and Hey there to stop email recipients from scrolling past your message in their inbox. You might think they’re so overused by big brands that there is no way a library cardholder will engage with that language. You’d be wrong.

Cardholders are honestly accustomed to very serious library emails which avoid alert language. So, when you do use it, it grabs their attention.

Tip #5: Use sentence case.

Your library emails should be written to connect with people. For everyone but the President of the United States or the King of England, that means a more conversational tone.

Sentence case will make your library email seem like it’s coming from a friend. For example: Do this one last thing for your library in 2022 or If you love free books, you’ll want to open this email.

Tip #6: Use emojis.

Emojis work because the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. More than 90 percent of the information that we process is visual.

The emoji drawing stands out in a line of letters. And if your recipient is using a device that adds color to the emoji, that also makes your subject line pop.

For example, 🎵 Now THIS sounds like a fun Tuesday night! Or Best 👏 book 👏 ever! 👏

Tip #7: Attempt alliteration.

Alliteration can break the monotony for someone scanning through their inbox. It’s catchy and memorable.

And you don’t have to do it for every word in your subject line. Use it on two or three keywords and watch your open rate increase. For example, Fast fixes for the winter reading blahs or Grandparents get groovy at the library’s new exercise class.

Tip #8: Use a subject line analyzer.

There are lots of free choices. Each has its own method for predicting the success of a subject line.

A good rule of thumb is to run your subject line through two or three analyzers. If you consistently get a good score, you’ve got a good subject line!

Here are six free options.

More advice

The Emoji Experiment: The Pros and Cons of Adding Emojis to Your Library Marketing Email Subject Lines

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

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

Courtesy Cincinnati Public Library

First impressions are important.

The subject line of your library marketing email is your first chance to communicate the value of your email to the person receiving it. It may be your ONLY chance to get someone’s attention to engage with the promotional content you’ve worked so hard to create.

A good subject line will drive people to open the email, read what’s inside, and take action. That will lead to an increase in the use of your library. And that’s the whole point, right??   

A bad subject line can lead your email to be marked as spam, which will affect your sender reputation. In fact, according to the marketing agency Convince and Convert, 69 percent of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line.

That’s why I think your subject line might be the most important part of your library marketing email.

I want you to spend the most time thinking about that section. Be very intentional about what you say in the subject line.

There are five best practices to help you create engaging subject lines. Scroll down for some more free tools to help you to test your subject line before you hit “send”.

Tip #1: Use brackets or parentheses in your subject line.

You want your emails to stand out in the inbox. The easiest way is to use these two punctuation symbols as part of your email subject line.

Worldata is a company that analyzes email marketing campaigns and provides free industry metrics based on that data. Their data shows using either brackets or parentheses in your subject line boosts open rates by 31 percent.

That’s because these punctuation marks subconsciously draw the eye to whatever is within the brackets. And that small detail can be enough to entice them to open the email.

Some examples are:

  • “Welcome back to the library! (We missed you.)”
  • “Your Library Giving Day donation will be doubled with a matching gift. (Today only!)”
  • “Homework is hard. We can help. [FREE VIDEO].”

Tip #2: Try using all caps on important words in your subject line.

World Data says that including words in all caps in your subject line can increase your open rate by as much as 14 percent.

You should, however, make sure that you use this technique sparingly. Pick one important word to capitalize. It should be a word that you know will call attention to your email when someone is scrolling through their inbox.

Some examples are:

  • “Fans of James Patterson have the chance to talk to the author IN PERSON next Thursday.”
  • “Your resume needs some SERIOUS help. Let your library make it irresistible.”
  • “Being stuck inside on a rainy day with the kids is TORTURE. Get some museum passes from the library and go exploring!

Don’t capitalize your entire headline. You’ll risk making your email recipients feel like you’re yelling at them.

Tip #3: Don’t spell out numbers. 

Yesware, a business communication company, analyzed 115 million emails and found that email open and reply rates are higher when a number is present in the subject line. (For example, “5” instead of “Five”.)

World Data’s surveys back up that claim. They found that putting a number in the subject line can increase your open rate by as much as 21 percent.

Numerals in your subject line will get your emails noticed. It also saves you in the character count.

For more of a boost, start your subject line with a number. (Example: “5 Great Ways to Get Free Homework Help from Your Library”). Doing that can increase open rates by as much as 18 percent, according to World Data.

Tip #4: Use the “F” word (I mean… Free!) and other power words. 

World Data says spam filters no longer filter out emails with the word free in the subject line.

Their study shows that including the word in the subject line can increase open rates by 37 percent. Plus, there is data to suggest that “free” produces an emotional charge in us. 

Speaking of emotion, there are lots of other words you can use in your subject line to get a response. Data shows email recipients respond to subject lines that convey urgency, curiosity, excitement, and joy.

Here is a starter list of words that World Data says are proven to do well in email marketing. Challenge yourself to add one of these words to the emails you send to your library community.

  • Amazing
  • Ultimate
  • Important
  • Challenging
  • Surprising
  • Best
  • Secret
  • Exact
  • Last Chance
  • Now
  • Final
  • Official
  • Free

Tip #5: Use words your audience will understand. 

Drop the acronyms and library industry jargon like periodicals, database, interlibrary loan, reference, serial, audiovisual, abstract, or resource. Use words that regular people understand–magazines, music, online classes, and helpful information.

Avoid reference to a vendor service like Overdrive, Hoopla, Freegal, BookFlix, Zinio, etc. As far as your cardholders are concerned, all material comes from the library.  

If you are using email to promote one of these services, like Overdrive, your subject line could say, “Free e-books are now available at your library!” You can mention the vendor in the body text of the email.

Free tools to make your headlines irresistible

When I craft an email, I spend a lot of time thinking about the subject line. Sometimes I think about it for days.

I use a couple of online headline analyzers. These free online tools all work pretty much the same way. You put your headline in and you get a score, plus tips on how to improve them. My favorites are:

The higher the score, the better your chances of getting people to open the email. I always shoot for a score above 70

I ran the headline for this post through the three analyzers, as if it were an email subject line. Sharethrough gave me a 71, Advanced Marketing Institute gave me a 73.3, and Subject Line gave me a 75. Those are good scores, so I would likely use this headline as a subject line in an email.

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Attention! Here’s How to Write Headlines That People Simply Can’t Ignore for Any Piece of Content

6 Super Easy Tricks to Make Your Library Emails Stand Out in the Inbox AND Get Great Results

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“You Can’t Be Serious” by Kal Penn

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6 Super Easy Tricks to Make Your Library Emails Stand Out in the Inbox AND Get Great Results

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Last week, I wrote about the new email marketing data that changed the way I think about email and libraries. This week, I wanted to share more new tips to help you improve the chances your email subscribers will act.

Some of these come from Nancy Harhut, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of HMT Marketing. Nancy is an expert on behavioral science and consumer behavior. She studies how and why humans behave the way they do when they interact with marketing.

Nancy spoke at Content Marketing World. Her talk included a list of tricks to improve the effectiveness of your library promotional emails. I’ve combined her advice with new best practices I recently discovered while doing some deep research on email marketing.

And there’s a bonus in this post! Scroll down for a special free tool you can use to check the “spamminess” of your emails and get suggestions for improvement.

Tip #1: Make your community the focus of your email.

There’s a common mistake we make in library marketing. We often tell our community what we want them to hear.

But your email recipients are interested in how the library can help them. They have needs and wants that are specific to them.

@nharhut says your email recipients are not interested in everything you want to tell them. They want to know about the one thing they are looking for that will improve their lives.

Here’s a quick exercise you can do every time you create an email. Instead of making a list of items your library wants to promote, ask yourself these four questions about the person who receives your email.

  • What are their needs?
  • What’s driving their decision-making?
  • What are their goals?
  • What are they feeling?

This exercise will help you to focus on the way your library can help your community member. Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to include text in your email that makes it clear your library puts your community member first. It’s easiest to explain this using an example.

  • Library-focused readers’ advisory message: “We can recommend great books for you to read.”
  • Customer-focused readers’ advisory message: “You love to read. You’re busy. Leave the searching to us and get your reading recommendations fast.”

A few simple tweaks in wording put the patron first.

Finally, the images you choose for your email play a big part in making your community members feel that your library is focused on them. Be sure to choose images that reflect your community.

Here’s a real-life example: A library was creating an email to promote a yoga program. They chose a photo of a young, physically fit white woman in a yoga pose as their accompanying image.

But when they talked a bit about who actually comes to their yoga programs, they realized it’s attended by older, more diverse members of their population. Some of those attendees have physical challenges.

So, they found a new image that more accurately reflected their community. The image change helped drive more attendance to their yoga program!

Tip #2: Use first and second-person pronouns in your call-to- action button.

In all your library marketing text, you must connect with your community and make them feel seen, welcome, and invited. Using first and second-person pronouns like “me” and “my” or “you” and “yours” will help your email recipients to imagine themselves using your library.

In fact, using a first- or second-person pronoun for your CTA can result in as much as a 90 percent increase in clicks, according to market research conducted by two content marketing companies, Unbounce and ContentVerve.

Again, this is a simple tweak in wording that can lead to big results. Some pronoun-centered CTAs are:

  • Download my book
  • Claim your seat
  • Reserve your spot
  • Get my library card
  • Make your donation

Tip #3: Pair your calls-to-action.

Library emails tend to include many offers. But, according to Harhut, we should put our calls-to-action together, in pairs!

Why? Giving your email recipients a choice between two options will increase the likelihood that your subscriber will take an action, according to Harhut. In fact, she told us that researchers at Tulane University found pairing calls to action will quadruple the chance that someone will make a choice between the two options at the moment.

Here’s an easy example. Let’s say you are sending an email to promote new books in your collection. Simply pair them together, like this:

Pair book covers together to improve the chances that someone will click on a jacket and place a hold.

If you are promoting databases or events, use the same pairing trick. Put two options side-by-side. Doing this will create a “this or that” decision for your email recipient and increase the chances that they will choose one of the two options.

Tip #4: Try a tiny dose of negativity.

Our library promotional emails almost always emphasize the benefits or advantages of using the library. But Harhut says people are twice as motivated to avoid the pain of loss as they are to reap the benefits of gains. 

This happens because of the Loss Aversion Theory. It was formulated by Nobel Prize-winning psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

Their research found that people value a loss more than an equivalent gain. Losses are unpleasant and evoke emotions like fear, guilt, regret, and anger. People will do pretty much anything to avoid those negative emotions.

We can take that fear of losing and use it to strengthen our library. How exactly does this work?

Let’s say your library is creating an email to promote your graduate school test preparation resources. You might try some text that says, “More than 50 percent of the students who don’t study for the LSAT can’t get into law school.” (A fact I looked up for this example… feel free to steal!)

Or, for your next ticketed event, emphasize the need to register before all the seats are taken.

These are just two examples of the way you can work a subtle hint of negative emotion into your marketing. For more ideas, I recommend this well-written research article from the Open Journal of Social Science: When and Why Negative Emotional Appeals Work in Advertising.

Tip #5: Include a good testimonial.

Your library emails shouldn’t just include promotions for products and services. Testimonials can help people to make decisions about whether to use your library. They help people to imagine themselves using your services.

Harhut says we should always be collecting and sorting testimonials so that we can use the best of them in our emails. It’s another great way to show that your library is focused on your community.

Use this list to help you pick your best testimonials.

  • Does the testimonial include details?
  • Is the testimonial focused?
  • Is the language natural and conversational?
An example of a great testimonial courtesy of the Oregon Public Library.

Include a few lines from the testimonial in your email. Try putting it at the top of the email, before your promotions. This is especially effective if the testimonial is from someone who benefited from the program, service, or collection item you are promoting in your email.

Tip #6: Proofread. Then do it again. And again.

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors will damage the trust your community puts into your library.

Have a process in place for proofing your emails.

  • Use Grammarly.
  • Copy and paste your email text into Word, then run the editorial review.
  • Ask your co-workers to read through your email.
  • Read your email out loud. You’ll be surprised how many mistakes your brain will gloss over when you read silently.

Bonus: Free email testing tool.

There’s a new free tool I just learned about that can help your email. It’s called Mail Tester.

It was designed by software engineers who wanted a way to test the quality of their own email newsletters. So, they built their own tool and made it free to anyone who wanted to use it.

Here’s how it works.

Take an email that you plan on sending to your community and send it to Mail Tester first. They generate a random email address every time you go to their website.

Next, you click on the “check your score” button and wait for your results. You can see your results for up to 7 days.

I tried it using an example email I created for a presentation. Here are my results:

Pretty cool, right?

Now read this: LOTS of new tips on how to make your email subject line irresistible!

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Try These Two Fun Tests To Improve the Effectiveness of Your Library Promotional Emails!

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The Library Marketing​​​​​​​​ Show, Episode 94

In this episode, I’m sharing two fun tests you can do that may lead to more effective email marketing messages for your libraries.

Kudos go to the Chicago Public Library for their initiative to include affordable housing units in the renovations of their library buildings. Check out the video for links to read more about this work.

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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Take Your Library Email Newsletter to the Next Level with These Eight New Topic Ideas!

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

This week, I heard a truism about email marketing.

Marketing expert Ann Handley said, “Email is the only place where people, not algorithms, are in control.”

When the pandemic struck, email became the only reliable way libraries had to communicate with their patrons. More libraries are sending email newsletters. And they’ve gotten good at the basics.

So, it’s time to take the power of email newsletters to the next level.

Focus less on the news, more on the letter

Handley has one of the best newsletters I’ve ever seen. It stands out because she focuses less on the news part… and more on the letter. Sign up, and you’ll see what I mean.

What I’ve learned from Handley is that your newsletter is your opportunity to directly connect with cardholders in their inbox. What does your community need? What can you provide for them? And most importantly, how can your library demonstrate the way it is different than any other organization?

Ann recommends you lose the marketing voice for your newsletter. Instead, write as you would if you were trying to convince a friend or family member to use the library. Be personable and relatable. Your authentic voice will connect to your readers.

New topic ideas for your library email newsletter

Your library newsletter can and should contain more than book recommendations and announcements about programs and services. Here is a list of ideas that go beyond the typical library information.

Send simple how-to instructions for using your library.

There are all kinds of opportunities to share instructions. Write simple steps for using one of your services. Or share instructions on how to complete a task outside of your library, like fill out an absentee ballot form or make a COVID-19 vaccination appointment.

Step-by-by-step instructions shared in your newsletter will help you build a relationship and form trust with your community. It demonstrates your library’s ability to find solutions to your community’s most pressing problems.

Answer frequently asked questions.

Ask your front line staff, your chat service operator, or the person who handles your library’s main email inbox to share the questions they get most frequently from the public. Then, answer them in your newsletter!

Your email audience will learn new things about your library. You’ll make your library more accessible. And you’ll build trust with your community by proving your library is a place where answers are found.

Promote blog posts.

Use your newsletter to promote your blog and get more views.

Take the first few lines of your post and use them to tease your newsletter audience. Include a photo or graphic from the post to tie your newsletter into your blog. If you send one newsletter a month but post several blogs, tease each post and include a link. 

Your newsletter audience will be introduced to a new way to interact with and get news from your library. It will also give you valuable information about which blog posts your newsletter audience is interested in.

For instance, if you see that your newsletter audience always click on links for blog posts about genealogy and history, then you’ll know to write more posts on that topic and include them your next newsletter.

Promote your videos.

If your library is creating and posting videos on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or another platform, your newsletter is the perfect place to give those videos an extra boost. As with the blog posts, share a sentence or two to entice your audience to click on a link to the video.

One note: Include a link to the video on the original platform to which you published. Don’t embed the video in your newsletter. Many email services view embedded video code as suspicious, and will mark your email as spam.

Create lists.

There’s a reason Buzzfeed articles are so popular… they contain listicles, which are articles that feature a numbered list (Hey, this post is a listicle of sorts!) A list is easy for your audience to digest and remember.

Create a top ten list of anything: your staff’s book picks, the ten things a patron can create in your Makerspace, the best albums to download from the library… the possibilities are endless. Your email readers will love it. You can even ask your readers to suggest a topic for a list in your next email newsletter!

Share social media content in your newsletter.

If you library had a popular social media post, you can replicate it by adding it to your newsletter.

For instance, if your library posted a book review that got a lot of comments, likes, and shares, put that post into your newsletter, along with a link so your patrons can visit the social media platform, see the original post, and interact with it.

Likewise, when your library gets a great piece of user-generated content, share it in your newsletter as well as on your social media audience. 

Share testimonials and reviews.

We know that trust is built between your community and your library through social proof: namely, other community members talking about how they’ve used and loved your library. So, when you get those reviews and testimonials, insert them into your newsletter.

You should also ask your email readers to share reviews and testimonials of your library. Include an easy way for them to send you feedback on what they love about your library. Then share those in your next newsletter and on social media.

Advocate your library.

As a library staffer, you likely know about all the good work your library is doing. But your community has a very limited understanding of the value of your work.

Your newsletter is a great way to begin to share examples and stories of how your library works to make your community a better place. Share short tidbits or an infographic to explain your library’s value.

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Targeted Email Marketing for a New Era: The Pros and Cons of How Most Libraries Segment Their Audiences

Photo courtesy Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Bond Hill Branch.

This is the first in a two-part series on email marketing for libraries. Part two is here.

If there is one thing that I know about library promotion, it’s this:

If you want to be successful in library email marketing, you must target your messages.

This isn’t just my personal belief. It is a method which worked, with impressive results, during my years at a public library. And I see it working now for hundreds of libraries around the country and around the world in my day job at NoveList.

Why are libraries hesitant to do targeted email marketing?

There are two big reasons that libraries fear the idea of segmenting their email audiences.

First, libraries are worried about email marketing in general. They feel it’s too promotional and that email messages from the library will be received as spam. They may even believe that people don’t want to receive email marketing from anyone, even a library.

This is not the case. The average consumer is accustomed to giving out their email address in exchange for marketing messages targeted specifically to them. Opt-in Monster research shows 99 percent of people with an email address check their inbox at least once a day.

Why? Because they are looking for messages from friends, family, and places they love. They love the library. Your cardholders and community members feel excitement when they receive an email from you.

Libraries worry that, by sending targeted messages to segmented audiences, they will miss out on the chance to get a message to all their cardholders. 

Many libraries are sending the same message to every cardholder, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people in one burst. It feels like the natural thing to do. “Everyone needs to know about this!”

The problem with that approach is that your cardholders are individuals. One message never fits them all.

This is particularly true if your service area covers a range of incomes and demographics. The needs and interests of your cardholders vary greatly.

By targeting your message, you are more likely to say something that matters significantly to your cardholders, which makes them more likely to take an action, which makes it more likely that your email will be 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 kind of messages.

Do not let your fears about email set you up for failure. Your cardholders want to hear from you. There are not very many industries which can say that. Let’s take advantage of it and give the people what they want!

Libraries who do segment their audiences tend to use three main methods. There are benefits and drawbacks for each.

Segmenting by library card use

Some libraries group their cardholders by the type of material they most frequently check out: kids’ books, print books, e-books, etc. Then, they send targeted email messages about those formats or collection types to those specific users.

This was the method we used when I worked a public library. For example, we would send an email promoting three new e-books every month to people who appear to favor e-books.

Benefits: This method is great for collection marketing. Most libraries will notice holds and checkouts increase, sometimes exponentially, when they send messages about items to people who have shown a previous interest in those items.

Drawbacks: The way a person uses their library card may not correspond to their true library interests.

For instance, an adult who frequently checks out children’s books for their kids may also love to read e-books. By focusing solely on the fact that they more frequently check out children’s books, a library may miss a key opportunity to market e-books to that cardholder.

A second drawback is that your library will want to promote things besides your collection, like programs, big events, and advocacy messages. Segmenting audiences solely by their favorite collection format gives you no clue as to your cardholders other potential interests.

Finally, this kind of segmentation often requires sophisticated email marketing programs that are expensive and time-consuming to manage. Smaller libraries without a dedicated marketing department and libraries with limited budgets may find these programs cost prohibitive.

Letting people self-select

Many libraries have an opt-in page on their website listing email interest groups. Visitors can self-select which emails they prefer to receive.

Benefits: When a person chooses to receive an email from you about a certain subject, they are also likely to open and engage with that email. They have already indicated their interest by selecting it.

Most library email opt-in pages do not require a person to be a cardholder to sign up. So, a second benefit of this method is that you can send marketing messages to people who aren’t in your cardholder base but can be enticed to use your library. That’s a fantastic way to expand your cardholder base!

Drawbacks: A library using this method must commit to intentionally market the marketing lists. They must make sure the community knows the opt-in page exists and convince people to sign up.

Segmenting by cardholder location

Some libraries have sent messages to people who have indicated a certain branch is their home branch or to people who live in a certain portion of the community.

Benefits: This is a great method for in-person program promotion. People are more likely to attend events that are near their home. Segmenting your audience by their location is an efficient use of your time for program promotion.

Drawbacks: There is a certain set of library cardholders who are willing to travel to attend programs and events at branches far from their home. They may be interested in hearing from your library about certain types of events, no matter where they are held.

In addition, the branch a person most frequently uses may not actually be near their home! Many people frequent the library branch near their workplace or some other important and frequently visited location.

You may also find these posts helpful

Three SUPER Easy Ways to Get More Results from Your Library Email Marketing!

Are My Library Email Metrics Good…. or Bad?! Here Are the Latest Stats to Help You Figure It Out.

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Three SUPER Easy Ways to Get More Results from Your Library Email Marketing!

WATCH NOW

The #LibraryMarketing Show, Episode 43

In this episode, Angela shares three very simple ways you can add punch to your email subject line and header text. Doing one of these three things every time you send an email will increase the chances your recipients will open and engage with your emails. Here is the article with all the fantastic magnet or trigger or power words Angela mentions in the video, broken up into charts that will help you create an emotional reaction in your readers.

Also Kudos to all the libraries creating backgrounds for Zoom and Teams meetings using photos of their libraries. Library Journal has a great list of them. Here’s another great list from the Library Land project.

If you have a topic for the show, kudos to share, or want to talk to me about library marketing, contact me using this short form.

Want more Library Marketing Show? Watch previous episodes!

Check the Upcoming Events page to see where I’ll be soon. Let’s connect!

This blog consists of my own personal opinions and may not represent those of my employer. Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.   

 

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Email is Not Dead! Here are Eight New Ways to Help You Get the Best Results With Your Library Email Marketing

I have a thing for email marketing.

I think it’s fun. I like trying to figure out all the pieces. Which subject line is best? To emoji or not to emoji? How much text? What should it say?  What kind of photo or graphic should I use? What’s the best call to action? Who should I send it to? On what day and at what time?

I love experiments. I love sending the message and then watching the results. How many people opened it? More importantly, how many people clicked on my call to action? MOST IMPORTANTLY, how many people did the thing I wanted them to do?

Maybe I just like convincing people to do stuff.

Email is not dead, at least not for libraries. People want to hear from us. They love free stuff and that’s basically all we have to offer! I send tens of thousands of emails a week to my cardholders (I live in a large county service area with nearly a million residents). My unsubscribe rate is zero percent. No kidding.

Email marketing truly is the most effective method of digital promotion for libraries. I use it whenever I can at my library because it gives the best return on my investment of time and money.

And because it’s the most effective digital tactic at my disposal, I spend an awful lot of time researching email marketing. I read a ton of blogs. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I comb surveys for insights that will make my emails better.

I’ve started a document where I keep a bunch of statistics and insights gleaned. I realized that I needed to share these insights with you. Email marketing could be your most valuable asset too. So here are the eight newest things I’ve learned about email marketing that will improve the work you’re doing at your library.

How cardholders look at your emails

You’ve heard it before but I’ll say it again. You must make sure your emails are mobile-friendly and responsive. About 3 in 5 consumers check their email on the go. 75 percent of Americans say they use their smartphones most often to check email. (Blue Corona)

And you must assume your cardholders will use their phones to respond to your email call-to-action. 62 percent of email opens occur on mobile. Only 10 percent occur on desktop. That’s huge! (Adestra)

Your cardholders are checking their email literally everywhere. People admit to checking email while watching TV, in bed, on vacation, in the bathroom, while walking, during meals, during commuting, while talking, while working out, while driving, and while at a formal ceremony! (Adobe)

Your cardholders are spending more time reading emails. In the last decade, the amount of time people spent reading an email actually increased by 7 percent, to 11.1 seconds. (Litmus)

How to design the best library email

Your subject line is the most important part of your email. It gets your cardholders in the door, so to speak. Focus on sentiment by using emotional words. Use different words for different audiences. The subject line for a message you send to teens will be completely different from the message you send to parents. Make it simple and easy. However, length doesn’t matter anymore, so you can make your subject longer if you need too!

Write like a human and make sure everyone can read your text. For the text, speak conversationally. No industry-speak (words like periodicals are out!).You don’t have to convey all the information about your product or service or collection item in the body of the email. Get to the point and drive users to your website or another platform for more information. Avoid multi-colored fonts. Use fonts that are accessible, like Arial, Helvetica, Lucida Sans, Tahoma, and Verdana. (Bureau of Internet Accessibility).

Make your email design hard to ignore. Use a one-column layout so people can scroll easily. Make the text large! Headlines should be no smaller than 25 pixels, body text should be no smaller than 18 pixels.  Call to action buttons can be pretty huge– anywhere from 44 x 44 pixels to 72 x 72 pixels.

Images matter. Photos of real people, especially faces with emotional expressions, are best. But don’t be afraid to use gifs too!

Learn more about email marketing for libraries

The Step-by-Step Method for Figuring Out the Best Time to Send Library Marketing Emails and Why You Should Never Stop Experimenting!

The Tiny Little Mistakes That Ruin Your Library Marketing Emails AND How to Fix Them!

This Advice Will Boost Your Library Marketing Email Click-Thru Rates

Don’t forget to join us for the LIVE LIBRARY MARKETING TALK ON INSTAGRAM every Tuesday at noon ET. We’ll talk about library marketing topics for about 15 minutes each week. My handle is Webmastergirl. You can email questions and topic suggestions ahead of time. Just fill out this form.

And check out these upcoming events and webinars where we can connect and discuss library marketing. Registration links included.

Subscribe to this blog and you’ll receive an email every time I post. To do that, click on “Follow” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

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