Library Cooperatives of Michigan Session 3

Trenton Smiley

Peter Velikonja

Maggie Carson

Mary Short

Lisa Spicko

April Jo Harder

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Agenda

• Team Introductions
• Client Overview
• Google Ads
• Email Marketing
• Outreach
• Service Promotion
• Question & Answer

�Library Clients

• Gloria Coles Flint Public Library, Jean Waterloo Lenox Township Library, and Ionia Public Library
• Class 4 and higher
• Current marketing methods include a printed materials, social media, community outreach, website, and some media place
• Obstacles are lack of knowledge regarding marketing tools, lack of a marketing budget, lack of staff time, and no email marketing platform
• Focus on improving current marketing methods, better promotional mix (services vs events), and employing a more outward approach.  

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Email Marketing �Facts

• 90 percent of Americans over the age of 15 use email.

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• Rural residents have seen a nine-percentage point rise in home broadband

adoption in the last five years.

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• 72 percent of rural Americans have high-speed internet access.

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• Smartphone ownership also rose nine percentage points among rural residents in the past three years. (Pew Research 2021)

Email Marketing �Best Practices

• Compelling subject line
• Capitalize one word -- Suddenly, Now, Easy, Introducing, Quick, Urgent
• Learn, Remind, Find Out, Chat
• Use emojis
• Add parentheses or bold in your subject line
• Subjectline.com (Jay Schwedelson)
• Use a real email address for replies – email comes from a person

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Email Marketing �Best Practices

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• Include a clear Call To Action (CTA) Get people to click – In the first person
• Use mobile friendly email template
• Send personalized emails
• Maintain consistent branding
• Send targeted emails
• Send email NOT on the hour. (85% go out on the hour)

Email Marketing �Measurement

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• Email marketing expert Jay Schwedelson says your email open rate provides direction for your strategy
• Use trackable links inside the body to see what people click on and  then measure
• Measure what they do after they click.

- Do they register for a program?

- Do they put a book on hold?

- Do they log into a database?

• These are the true measures of the effectiveness of your email.

Email Marketing �Romulus Public Library

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• Simplify
• Use brand colors
• Less copy
• Photos

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Email Marketing (Original)

Top of Newsletter

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Middle Portion

Email Marketing (New)

Top of Newsletter

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Bottom OF==Half

Email Marketing �Ionia Public Library

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• Audience segmentation will improve engagement

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• Align delivery frequency with list membership

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• Extend newsletter reach with forwarding

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• Adjust the design to group similar content together

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• Reduce use of flyers in favor of text and interactive elements (buttons and CTAs with corresponding links)

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Email Marketing �Ionia Public Library

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• Promote more than the event calendar

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• Analyze click through data to learn what content resonates most

Email Marketing (Original)

Top of Newsletter

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Middle Portion

Email Marketing �Lenox Township Public Library

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• Unique is providing a FREE year subscription to MessageBee
• Getting signups
• Frequency
• Audience/distribution list segmentation

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Email Marketing (Example)

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Community Outreach�Lenox Township Public Library

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• Market your library as the place where the community can come together
• Partner with village staff to share library news
• Storytimes in the parks, book discussions in senior homes, or trivia night at local bar
• Engaging teens and tweens in volunteerism/leadership

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Service Promotion �Flint  Public Library

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• Achieve a balanced promotion of services and events
• Develop monthly themes
• Utilize Google Ads to create awareness of library services and events
• Highlight success stories and testimonials from patrons

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Service Promotion �Flint  Public Library

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• "Discover with DeDe" feature
• Service Soundbite
• Service Spotlight in E-Newsletter
• Track social media interactions, email open rates, website traffic, and Google Ads performance.

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Questions?

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