Promoting Your Collections: Messaging, Merchandising and More 
Thursday, October 7, 2021
2:00pm-3:00pm

Collections are the mainstays of libraries. After spending lots of money and time curating, processing, and making them available, you may think the work is done. But there’s one more vital step --- promoting them! This webinar will help you go beyond basic book displays and posters. Marketing maven Kathy Dempsey will help you understand why you should actually talk less about your library’s items and more about why they’re wonderful. She’ll share sample messages that illustrate the concept of “WIIFM” –What’s In It For Me? This webinar will also touch on content marketing, cross-promotion, and using social media effectively.

With the knowledge you gain during this session, you will be ready to:
• Tie collections to activities and current events
• Use physical items to promote invisible, digital items
• Stop publicizing products, and instead, tout their benefits
• Promote collections outside of your buildings
• Use cross-promotion, alone or with partners, to share info efficiently
• Try simple merchandising techniques to boost circulation

This session features many colorful images of great signage, merchandising, and social posts from libraries around the world to get your creative ideas flowing. LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

Presenter: Kathy Dempsey wrote the how-to book The Accidental Library Marketer and founded her own marketing consultancy, Libraries Are Essential. Her work is dedicated to helping librarians and information professionals promote their value and expertise in order to gain respect and funding. Kathy has been the Editor of Marketing Library Services newsletter for 27 years, and was formerly Editor-in-Chief of Computers in Libraries magazine. She also blogs at The 'M' Word, and is a member of the New Jersey Library Association. She's the Founding Chair of the popular Library Marketing and Communications Conference.