Traditional Advertising; Merchandising & Hard-Copy Promotional Materials

Traditional printed advertising, branding and merchandising still have a place in a well-rounded and effective promotional mix.

Below are some promotional methods, vehicles and activities which are recommended to promote library services and collections through more traditional means.

Branding
Create a logo and a colour scheme and use it on letterhead, bookplates, memos, posters and the like, to create a concise and recognisable brand. Anything can be branded: all that limits you is your budget and imagination.

Business cards
First-impressions are important, and your business card provides tangible information about you, your organisation, and your brand. Keep business cards on you at all times and hand them out whenever possible and appropriate.

Direct mail
Although more expensive than a digital campaign, direct mail actually has a relatively high response rate and may be a good tool to utilise in order to establish a well-segmented audience, or as part of a larger campaign.

Free stuff
People like anything free, whether it’s a tote bag or a cupcake, brand it, lure them in and spread your message! Some examples of promotional giveaways include postcards, bookmarks, pens, pencils, water bottles, stressballs, calendars, wall planners, stickers, magnets, banners, post-it notes, USBs, coasters. Giveaways are a useful tool for re-enforcing other promotional activities. Play to the strengths of your collections: for example, the National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University produced promotional beer mats.

Magazines and Newsletters
Consider publishing a magazine or newsletter, or contribute to your organisation’s publication. Content could consist of repurposed material from press releases, annual reports, collection information, internal documents, blog posts, and upcoming events.

Merchandising
Particularly with visually oriented collections, consider merchandising products such as postcards, mugs, stationary, t-shirts, scarves and calendars. Merchandising can work well as a tie-in to exhibitions, and can also work well as part of a collaborative partnership, for example, encouraging artists and designers to use collections for inspiration.

Nostalgia
Several libraries and archives have had success in reproducing archival material such as old photographs or retro advertisements for nostalgic advertising campaigns.

Passive marketing
Passive forms of marketing reach customers through smart positioning, and include flyers, brochures, posters, and having an informative website. A good combination of both active and passive marketing will give continual results.

Publications
Any publication which the library, or its staff, publishes or contributes to is a promotional tool, whether it be a guidebook, history of the library or community, an academic paper, or a report. Consider publishing catalogues alongside outreach events such as exhibitions, and reports on specific projects. Low-cost publications such as colouring books are a good opportunity for visually oriented collections. Self-published eBooks or PDFs can offer the same level of intellectual content as a monograph but at a fraction of the price.

Signage
Signage is important for wayfinding and accessibility. It is important to have a consistent, attractive and effective signage system throughout the library.