Following the pandemic, our library saw a decline in visits and library card applications. Inflation was rising and families’ budgets stretched. This provided the opportunity to execute a marketing campaign promoting a variety of value propositions, highlighting how a FREE library card is the Best. Deal. Ever. The campaign used traditional and non-traditional tactics to share the value of a library card and all that’s available with it.

With rising inflation, saving money was top of mind for customers. We leveraged the value and cost savings of a library card. We incentivized the campaign, providing an opportunity for new card applicants to win one of 23 $50 gift cards. Our strategy included engaging Columbus-born Guy Fieri, who interacted with several of our social media posts, ultimately resulting in national coverage on TMZ. The campaign was also produced in Spanish to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month.

The four-week campaign resulted in substantial growth in all KPIs:

• 10,271 new library cards issued, a 65% increase over the previous month
• 367,373 customer visits throughout our locations, a 43% increase over Sept. 2021
• 6,778,942 paid media impressions
• Tens of millions of earned media impressions, including national attention on TMZ
• 69,202 individuals reached across four social media channels
• 41% email open rate, highest of the month
• 19,330 visits to our new card webpage, making it the second most visited page