Embracing Digital Marketing but Keeping Traditions Alive

July 30^th is recognized as National Paperback Book Day. This got me thinking about the age-old debate of holding a physical book in your hand versus reading an e-book or listening to an audiobook. I was curious to see if the introduction of digital forms of reading has left the traditional way in the dust. After doing some digging, research shows that physical books are still doing well in sales. According to Association of American Publishers’ annual report in 2019, publishers made $22.6 billion on print books and $2.04 billion on e-books. Knowing this, I can’t help but draw a parallel to the digital marketing world in general. It’s rapidly changing and there’s always new trends to follow but there’s a way that we can embrace and utilize parts of the digital world that are convenient for our patrons, while not letting go of the traditional library.

There’s a reason people still like to hold a book in their hands, make annotations, crease the pages and put it back on their bookshelf to revisit at a later date. Many people have a sense of nostalgia or tradition for the way they’ve always done something and it can be daunting to try new things. However, trying new things doesn’t mean you have to leave the old ways behind. You can buy a new book for vacation and bring it to the beach with you, and still supplement that with listening to audiobooks during your drive there. According to the Pew Research Center, 28% of people surveyed consume books both in print and digitally. It’s ok to have the best of both worlds!

From Books to Digital Marketing

Keeping up with social media for your library can seem time consuming and scary. How do you maintain a digital presence while also catering to your patrons on a personal level? The answer is to let both approaches go hand in hand. No social media will ever replace having human connection, but it makes it much easier to connect and maintain that community long after they leave the building. As many libraries have learned throughout the pandemic, communicating digitally became necessary as doors were closed to the public. This brought out a lot of creativity in ways to get the same resources out to patrons without having visitors walk through your doors. For individuals that relied on the library for internet access, some libraries were able to set up a digital bookmobile service through grant funding that provided laptops, tablets, WIFI and other items for checkout as it traveled to more rural areas. Some libraries bundled children’s educational crafts or activities in a take-home kit available for pickup. Others expanded access to e-books and e-resources and encouraged patrons to sign up for a library card to find them. As mentioned in a previous blog, libraries continued to promote literacy by making story time virtual through video or phone calls. Implementing virtual programming, curbside pickups and extended reference services all allowed libraries to serve their communities in tough times. And without a great website, marketing and social media presence, these updated services would have never been communicated to the public. Sending out weekly or monthly newsletters with upcoming events or updates on library programming, and promoting them on social media, are vital to keeping lines of communication open.

The point of this blog is to keep ideas circulating when it comes to your marketing. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with new things or put social media on the back burner, but National Paperback Book Day serves as a nice reminder that when shiny new things come along, they’re not necessarily phasing out the old ways – but just making information more accessible.  That’s how libraries should approach their marketing. Trying out new techniques, whether it be posting a video or creating a weekly podcast, can serve as a more convenient way to be a resource to your community without losing the tried-and-true methods that patrons can also rely on once we begin to open back up.