Comic Sans and clip art, though popular in libraryland, are not often to be found in successful marketing campaigns (about as frequently as monkey’s brains in Washington, D.C.*).
Whether it’s cringe-worthy signage in the branches or social media posts just blasting out program information rather than engaging with their communities, libraries don’t tend to grok marketing. This inability to get library messaging out into the world allows misconceptions about our work to flourish, because our communities are simply not hearing anything from us that contradicts the stereotypes. When libraries are written about in the press, more often than not it’s with a variation on the shocked “This isn’t your grandfather’s library!” headline.
Angela Hursh, Manager of Engagement and Marketing for NoveList, author of the blog SuperLibraryMarketing.com, and host of the YouTube series The Library Marketing Show, wants to help change this trajectory by providing marketing advice that you can use for your library, no matter your budget or staffing levels. In Circulating Ideas, Episode 232, we chatted about her path from television journalism to libraries, how libraries can do better marketing without spending a lot of money, her work at NoveList, and a special online project from her past.
As always, a transcript is available for better accessibility!
In addition to her ideas to supercharge your library marketing, Angela talks about some new services coming down the pike from NoveList, which makes this something of a sequel to Circulating Ideas, Episode 146 from 2018, where I spoke with Danielle Borasky, Vice-President of NoveList at EBSCO.
At the end of the day, good marketing is essential to the long-term health of your organization. If your community doesn’t know what you do, why should they support your mission? Listen to Angela and learn how to better engage with your community!
* this footnote is just a red herring
CI232 Show Notes
Angela Hursh is Manager of Engagement and Marketing for NoveList. She helps libraries create effective and engaging ways to market their collection and reach readers as part of the team of expert instructors for LearnwithNoveList.com. Before her job at NoveList, she led the content marketing team for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. She is the author of the blog SuperLibraryMarketing.com and host of the YouTube series The Library Marketing Show. She also has more than 20 years of experience as an Emmy-award-winning broadcast TV journalist.
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