Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion

Whenever I am handed a survey, I answer it.

As a marketer, I understand the value of surveys. For the respondent, they are a rare chance to voice their opinion about a product, service, or organization. For the organization, they are a way to gather valuable information and create a better user experience.

For the past 9 years, I’ve sent out a survey once a year filled with questions that help me better understand who you are, and how this blog and The Library Marketing Show can be as helpful to you as possible. The posts and videos directly respond to the questions and concerns you share. For example, the 2025 Social Media Guide to Libraries was planned and published based on the results of this survey.

The struggles and goals of libraries shifted in some major ways this year. As we begin 2025, here is the state of library marketing. 

Basic methodology

The survey was conducted for two weeks in September 2024. The survey was a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. There were 109 responses.

Type of library

Respondents to the survey consist mainly of public library workers.

• 84.4 percent of respondents work in a public library.
• 11 percent work in an academic library.
• The remaining 4.5 percent of respondents work in school, special, military, or state libraries.

Size of library

Respondents to the survey come mainly from small and medium-sized libraries.

• 33 percent serve a population of 25,000 or less.
• 19.3 percent serve a population between 25,000 and 50,000.
• 20 percent serve a population between 50,000 and 100,000.
• 14.7 percent serve a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
• The remaining respondents work at a large library.

Marketing experience

Most of the respondents are experienced marketers.

• 79 percent of respondents say they’ve managed promotions for a library for 3 years or longer.
• 16.5 percent have worked in library marketing for 1-2 years.
• 4.5 percent said they have worked for less than 12 months in library marketing.

Time spent on library marketing

Half the respondents to this year’s survey say marketing the library is their primary job function. The other half say marketing is just one of many responsibilities they must complete.

Top five most pressing questions or concerns

#1: Staff and library leadership buy-in

The survey respondents this year identified struggles with other staff members as the most common issue. Library marketers specifically report having difficulties in getting their supervisors and co-workers to understand their roles. They find it challenging to communicate the value of their work and their expertise in library promotions.

“I have to provide a lot of education/context for them to understand why they should take marketing seriously,” said one respondent. “I suspect that, because we are a small library/community, they feel it’s not necessary.

Another respondent asked, “One of the biggest challenges is staff expecting the level of marketing for something will dictate how successful it will be. Everyone (including the library board) has their opinions about how marketing should be handled and are constantly pulling us in different directions with their own priorities. We end up spending a lot of time doing things we don’t think is a good thing to focus on, leaving us little time to work on what we think or know will be better.”

And yet a third respondent told me, “Staff expect us to create posters and Social media posts for every program but they’re also creating programs that the community didn’t ask for. So, when no one registers, marketing gets blamed. You have to have some tough skin to work in library marketing because everyone thinks they’re a better marketer and everyone is a critic.”

An academic library marketer said, “The university marketing department has completely shut down the library social media accounts and we cannot send mass emails. All print materials must be approved and abide by the campus brand book. We use a university portal to post announcements of library events and highlight a library database subscription or collection. We are cultivating advocacy efforts among library student workers to use their own dept/program email groups to share library information.” Great idea!

#2: Budget

I’m not surprised that this came up as a frequent problem this year. In my conversations with libraries, the budget has once again become a critical worry, as local, state, and federal lawmakers cut money from public services in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia. (Jerks!)

One respondent said, “It’s always a challenge to get experienced marketing/graphic design professionals to work for a library salary.”

Said another, “We’re a small library and most of our promotional efforts rely on us finding ways to do it without cost or coming up with sponsors for special promotional materials.”

#3: Time

We never have enough time to do all the things we need to do to reach our target audiences. And for those of you who work at a small library, this is especially problematic.

“I’m pretty much a one-person team, with one part-time assistant who does most of the print promotions,” said one respondent. “So, trying to do everything (website, email, social media, graphic design, etc.) solo is challenging. Really hard to do a really good job at all the things at once.”

#4: Reaching non-users

The age-old problem of how to reach people who don’t use the library continues to perplex library marketers. Said one frustrated respondent,” It’s easier for people not to attend programs, it’s easier for people to stay home instead of coming to the library. How can we motivate them to want to come?”

Another told me they struggle with… “reaching people outside of the building and convincing them that they are missing out on wonderful free programs and services, great materials, and saving money.”

#5: Social media

Respondents shared frustration with changing social media algorithms and the lack of engagement on the platforms where they post.

“Facebook is better at reaching patrons in our specific area, but fewer people are using it,” said one respondent. “Instagram isn’t working for us at all. I don’t have the bandwidth for more social media platforms at this time.”

Said another, “There are now way too many social media channels while traditional media is shrinking. We can’t be on every platform and do it well.”

A third respondent said, “I find social media to be less and less effective for promoting events and general information so I’m posting less often, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing since I can then dedicate that extra time to other, more useful tasks.”

Other concerns

AI, project management, fighting for relevancy, and keeping up with trends were also mentioned by respondents as topics of concern.

Social media use

Here is the percentage of libraries using specific social media platforms, according to the survey respondents.

• Facebook: 98 percent
• Instagram: 97 percent
• YouTube: 67 percent
• LinkedIn: 40 percent
• Twitter/X: 22 percent
• TikTok: 20 percent
• Pinterest: 7 percent
• Threads: 7 percent

Of note: The number of libraries using LinkedIn for promotion jumped 19 percent. The number of libraries posting videos to YouTube rose by 13 percent. And the number of libraries using X dropped by 15 percent this year.

Email marketing

I asked my respondents how often their library sends promotional emails.

• Once a week: 35 percent
• Once a month: 33 percent
• Several times a week: 14 percent

14 percent of respondents said their library doesn’t send any email at all. That’s an increase of 5 percentage points from 2023. I’m curious: If you are a library that doesn’t send email, can you share a little bit about why in the comments?

The most important library marketing goals

For this year’s survey, I made a list of the marketing goals I hear most often from libraries. I asked respondents to choose the one goal they most wanted to concentrate on over the next 12 months. Here are the top four answers with their corresponding percentages.

• Driving visitors to your physical location, website, or catalog: 27.5 percent.
• Reaching non-patrons: 23 percent.
• Getting current cardholders to use the library more often: 16.5 percent.
• Driving the use of services like databases, Makerspace, Library of Things, etc.: 9 percent.

Use of AI

This year, I added a question to see how libraries are using AI for marketing, if at all. Turns out that most library marketers are NOT using AI. Those who do use AI log on about once a month and get help with developing new ideas and producing or editing text.

Effectiveness of promotions

This year, I asked respondents to gauge how effective their library promotions are. Most respondents, 72.5 percent to be exact, rate their promotions as “Somewhat effective.”

When asked to give more specific answers about why their marketing is either effective or ineffective, I got lots of insightful and interesting responses.

Here is a sampling of answers from people who ranked their marketing as “ineffective.”

• “Social media marketing is pretty much the only marketing we’re doing and that doesn’t reach enough people.”
• “Timing of emails–too late for patrons to register for events because marketing is sent out the day before. Inconsistency in what is being promoted and what message is being given because of too many people on the team and no direction from leadership. Insistence on only using social media to market (to save money) even though most of our patrons don’t follow us online and many don’t even have internet access at home.”
• “There has never been a marketing plan before. I am trying to establish one, but it is not valued.”
• “Our Marketing Coordinator does not have a coordinated plan, use social media calendars, or know how to write for today’s audiences. We aren’t connecting with new or old patrons because there is no defined target audience for any promotions. They throw money at Facebook ads if things aren’t going well. We’re not sure how to teach that skill and keep them up to speed with the rest of the team, who come across as more experienced because they use social media daily.”

Here is a sampling of answers from people who ranked their marketing as “very effective.”

• “Persistence, having time, knowing which audience is where (email vs. Facebook).”
• “I think we are very intentional about our goals and how we are using our tactics to achieve those goals.”
• “Academic library: Our promotional is a mix of information and fun things. Students, faculty, and staff seem very engaged with our content.”
• “A highly skilled marketing professional leading all levels of communication is imperative to our success. We have a cash budget to purchase paid media and marketing placement.”
• “We have consistent messaging and branding and a very supportive community.”
• “We’ve been using special events to reach non-patrons. It’s been largely effective to just get them in the door, offering an experience, courtesy of the library.”

What to expect from Super Library Marketing this year

Readers asked for more examples of libraries doing effective marketing. I have a whole series of library profiles lined up for this year… so stay tuned!

Readers also asked for more profiles of libraries outside the United States. I will be looking to find those libraries. A reminder you can message me anytime with suggestions if you see a library outside the United States that would make a good profile.

One reader commented, “I’d love to see more ideas on how to translate general marketing strategies to fit library structures.” I will continue to try to do this during Library Marketing Show episodes this year.

A reader said, “I’d love for you to discuss WCAG 2.1 Level AA and the new ADA law that was passed. Like– how do we implement (beyond just alt text)?” I will be sharing information on that in the coming months.

And finally, someone said, “I always feel like I need to up my lip color game when I watch an episode of The Library Marketing Show. It’s inspiring!” Thank you! I wear Divine Wine #695 by Maybelline.

---

PS Want more help?

Library Promotion Mastery: Top 10 Tips You Need To Know for the New Year

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:

• YouTube
• Instagram
• Goodreads
• LinkedIn
• TikTok