Significant Increase in New Cardholders and Renewals
St. Louis Public Library Increases Awareness with Targeted Integrated Marketing Campaign
Approach
Orange Boy’s strategy team identified multiple ways that SLPL could increase the library’s awareness, reach communities that are the hardest to reach, and re-engage lapsed users.
Email communication is one strategy the library utilizes to engage cardholders but what if a cardholder did not have an active email on file? With that in mind, SLPL sent a “We miss you” postcard to lapsed cardholders without a valid email address. To reach non-card-holders, postcards were sent out addressed to “Future SLPL Cardholder” highlighting community-specific needs that were determined based on data from Savannah. This included information such as wifi availability, language services, and children’s resources SLPL complimented the direct mail campaign with billboards, bus tails, and radio ads. Furthermore, everyone received at least one email and one postcard to reinforce the message.
Results
Soon into the campaign, branch staff reported people bringing the postcards into the library to get a card. Given the extremely targeted nature of the campaign, the library saw new cardholder sign-ups higher than what they were experiencing pre-COVID and were able to identify areas within their service for continued growth. In fact, the campaign was so successful that the library is currently targeting a new area.
“You need the frequency that an integrated marketing campaign provides to actually change a customer’s behavior.”
Cathy Heimberger, Director of Marketing & Events, St. Louis Public Library.