BCL's Data-Driven COVID-19 Marketing Campaign
Broward County Library, Fla.
Innovation Synopsis
When Broward County Library shut down its physical locations due to the COVID-19 crisis, BCL’s marketing section moved quickly to adapt with a focused, data-driven marketing campaign that addressed the needs of the communities it serves and resulted in increased use of library e-resources.
Challenge/Opportunity
Before COVID-19, BCL printed marketing materials including flyers, magazines and signs to publicize library events and service, but all printing ceased in March 2020 when libraries closed their doors to the public. Additionally, as they dealt with new health economic and educational issues brought on by COVID-19, customers’ needs and wants changed overnight. Library marketing staff were challenged to find new and effective ways to market crucial library services virtually and assure customers that BCL was there for them.
Key Elements of Innovation
BCL launched a survey to gauge customer needs in relation to the crisis and used the results to create marketing personas. The personas formed the basis of a successful marketing campaign that used customer emails, digital magazines, social media and press releases to reach library customers, stakeholders and the community. The goals were to inform customers of library services that address issues surrounding COVID-19, increase usage of BCL’s online resources and position BCL as a vital community resource.
Achieved Outcomes
The marketing/communications campaign was a success, as evidenced by an increase in checkouts of Overdrive e-books of 25% from April 2019 to April 2020 and, in the same time, a 62% increase in checkouts of Axis 360 e-books for youth. Additionally, there were 13,814 new registrations for online e-library cards from March 5 through June 12, 2020.
