Promoting a library’s vast array of eContent to an entire customer base can be challenging due to the numbers and variety of content (e.g., eBooks, magazines, online classes, specialized research tools, music, movies, eAudio). Howard County Library System (HCLS) created a targeted multimedia advertising campaign to brand and promote its eContent – and highlight staff. The campaign’s name, HCLS Now!, conveys its on-demand and self-directed nature in a fun and intuitive way. The tag – Stream. Download. Learn. – calls customers to action. Monthly ads feature different tools and give customers practical examples of how to use them.

Upon creating the name for the campaign (HCLS Now!), we distilled eContent into three easy-to-understand actions: stream, download, learn. We then restructured web pages, developed a monthly calendar and ad plan, and recruited staff to model. Ads included promotion of cooking magazines to bakers; streaming music to people in gyms; online classes to professionals; travel magazines and online foreign language classes to people preparing for spring break; and movies, music, and eBooks to summer vacationers. The multimedia campaign is featured on HCLS’ web site, in branches, in print ads, and on social media via organic reach and targeted ads.

The goals of the campaign were twofold: increase awareness and usage of eContent and highlight HCLS staff. The campaign has been successful on all counts. Each month features a different staff member, reflecting the diversity of HCLS’ team. eContent usage has increased by as much as 20 percent since the campaign’s launch. Social media ads targeted people who were not followers, increasing those numbers by as much as 17 percent. Social media reach increased by an average of 365 percent, engagement increased by an incredible average of 1,381 percent, and clicks rose by an average of 269 percent.