Marketing Adventures Began at OUR City Library!
Salt Lake City Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
Our aim was to use our summer reading program as a unifying activity for Salt Lake City (SLC) residents and make The Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) a fixture of the summertime. The program was centered around a strong camping/adventure theme that particularly resonates with our community’s outdoor spirit. We launched a large-scale marketing campaign in May 2024. Using marketing materials designed in-house, we saturated the market with a cohesive, memorable and unexpected campaign that leveraged a tight budget to maximize value and impact. This led to a record number of signups, and solidified the Super Summer Challenge as a landmark event for Salt Lake City.
Challenge/Opportunity
SLCPL set a goal of 11,000 sign ups. Messaging emphasized the challenge is for all ages; why reading in the summertime is critical for children’s development; and how it can be fun for adults too!
The City Library will seek to pass a voter-approved bond in Nov 2026. Therefore, branding and differentiation is even more important to our future success. Geographically we are within a county library system’s boundaries (surrounded, like a donut hole) that is funded by separate tax payers. Since the County Library also hosts a summer reading program, it was the Marketing team’s goal to hit 5 million impressions to cement the distinction between the two systems. Going above and beyond on our Summer Reading Challenge is a way to make residents aware of the difference.
We allocate the majority of our yearly budget to SSC, saturating the market like an ad agency. Results help refine future campaigns and we plan to share data with other libraries to help them hone budgets and tactics.
Key Elements of Innovation
SLCPL has stood alone in our marketing efforts by hiring experienced marketing professionals to the in-house team. No library has ever gone so big and bold for summer reading.
Traditional advertising leveraging a limited budget: radio, transit, print, theater and public tv ads, billboards, earned media.
Digital tactics: proactive and consistent social media strategy, YouTube, weekly e-newsletter, paid YouTube and social media ads.
Decorations and backdrops at all 8 locations to seamlessly connect marketing efforts to our spaces. Patrons were wowed just by entering our libraries.
Combined, these marketing efforts solidify the Challenge as a landmark event for both participants and nonparticipants. Reach expands beyond regular library patrons and into the entire city. It places the Library on the streets, at the movies, and over the airwaves to make it part of the backdrop of Salt Lake City summers.
Achieved Outcomes
We surpassed our goals!
12,675 signups, an 18% increase from 2023 (10,760). Over 1 in 20 people in SLC participated in SSC.
9.99 million impressions across all channels, more than double 2023 (4M).
Patron feedback was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, especially from adults, who enjoyed participating and loved the theme.
Free tactic findings: we have a dedicated social media following and a large newsletter audience. Unpaid efforts saw a ~670k reach through engaging, thoughtful content. Weekly newsletter highlighted SSC and had an incredible 55% open rate.
Traditional media had a high impact in taking over the City.
Paid digital ads resulted in higher reach and engagement for less budget, making them more accessible to small Library systems, with less budget.
Staff feedback: “The decorations were excellent. I loved seeing the SSC ads on the side of the Trax trains. This has been my favorite SSC promotion, everything was beautiful. Branch Environmental Design = 10/10! Such cute decorations."
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