The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has a very large database containing 1,181,880 customers, but the largest groups are Inactives (72%), who have not used their card in 1 year or more; and Occasionals (15%), who have not used their card in three months. As early adopters of a new customer messaging tool called Savannah, the Library’s Marketing & Communications team developed a playbook for using Savannah to engage customers at different points in their Library relationship. While doing so, the team also had to carefully consider and respond to concerns about customer privacy; frequency and number of emails; and content.

The Library’s Marketing & Communications team worked closely with professional library staff to develop and implement the email program. A welcome email for new customers, plus monthly recurring emails to customers who dropped into Occasionals or Inactives, touched them at key points in their Library relationship. A series of marketing messages targeted to specific customer demographics, usage patterns and branch audiences, was refined over time, yielding increases in program attendance and usage. Finally, a test of the messaging showed that customers receiving messages did more activities than those who did not, proving that the strategies were effective.

Of the customers who received either an Occasionals or Inactives message, 49,000 are now again active customers as of June 2016. In a side-by-side test of customers who received a message about OverDrive versus no message at all, the OverDrive message recipients circulated 32 percent more materials, used computers 11 percent more, and used OverDrive 100 percent more. Additionally, anecdotal feedback from branch managers and programmers indicated increased participation in programs and events among customers receiving the targeted messages. Many public libraries around the country are now looking to Charlotte Mecklenburg Library as leaders in targeted email marketing.