Library System of Lancaster County
Traditional & Digital Campaign Strategy
Reintroducing the community to the library and all it provides with just one card.
The Library System of Lancaster County (LSLC) is a federated system serving residents of Lancaster County, PA. It’s made up of 18 member libraries, including two branches and a bookmobile, and provides services and programs to help with community needs.
Don’t Judge a Library by Its Books
What do you picture when you think of the library? Shelves of books. Quiet. Many adults still hold on to dated images of a library they experienced growing up, instead of what public libraries have grown into — valuable third spaces with more resources than just reading material.
The Challenge
A lot of the adult population in Lancaster wasn’t aware of all the other services outside of books. The LSLC system offers anything from free printing, career help, and tech support to a library of things featuring local museum passes, seeds, instruments, and much more. Plus, their libraries have become gathering spots for groups of all kinds, from Tai Chi to DIY craft nights.
Our Goal
Increase awareness of lesser-known services LSLC provides as well as increase the number of library cardholders, visits, and use of helpful Lynx online digital tools.
Writing the Playbook
Our team created 3 different potential campaign themes, each leaning into a slightly different focus. Ultimately, what resonated most was our aspirational campaign “It Starts at the Library.”
The campaign’s visuals and storytelling tapped into the exciting ways that the library can help anyone become who they want to be. Its key tagline played off the stereotypes many hold about the library — pushing the audience to “think beyond the shelves.”
Tactically, we developed a detailed plan based on market research to put a plan in place that would support this campaign. In this, we recommended a mix of marketing efforts that would help LSLC maximize its marketing budget and reach in the community.
Our Execution
- Custom-designed landing page
- Billboards
- Stickers
- Internet radio
- Social Ads
- Pay-per-click (PPC) ads
The Results?
During the campaign’s 5-month run, the digital ads brought in the highest amount of success. Across all campaign efforts, we saw 596 key events taken directly on the landing page as users took action to either find their local library or start the steps to getting a card.
PPC ads in particular helped LSLC compete in auctions against Amazon and Audible to redirect interest toward local libraries. And paid social activated library supporters online, who shared personal stories on ads and reshared the campaign to their own followers, extending its reach.
