Four Easy Ways to Step Up Digital Magazine Marketing in Your Library

With over 1,200 magazines to choose from, Flipster has titles that appeal to a wide variety of ages, interests and research goals. While your library patrons may be aware of their access to digital magazines, they may not know the variety of digital magazines offered in your collection or how easy on-the-go access can be.  Check out our tips below on driving usage of your digital magazine collection both within your library and online.

Four Ways to Promote Your Library’s Digital Magazine Collection:

1. Drive usage with printed promotional materials

 Although in our current technological world many marketing efforts have moved online, utilizing printed marketing materials in your library is still a great way to promote awareness and usage. Promotional materials for Public, Academic, School, Corporate and Medical libraries can be found on the Flipster Promo Kit page on EBSCO Connect

• Posters – Download, print and hang our colorful posters in your library to remind or introduce patrons to the world of digital magazines and their benefits.
• QR Codes & Stickers - Does your library offer print magazines? Use Avery blank, custom sticker label sheets to easily print these ready-made stickers. Once printed, apply the stickers to your print magazines so patrons know about their ability to access the same magazine digitally. For even easier access, also try creating and adding QR codes to print magazines that link to your library's Flipster digital magazine collection.
•  Table Tents and Rack Cards – Table tents and rack cards are a great way to make sure patrons are aware of their access to digital magazines. Don’t forget to customize these with popular magazine titles or your library’s access information and logo.
• Bookmarks – No library is complete without free bookmarks for patrons! Navigate to our promotional site to choose the bookmark suited for your library market and provide patrons with an easy, practical reminder about their digital magazine access ability.
• Access Cards - Ensure patrons are not only aware of their access to digital magazines but also ensure they know how to access magazines through your library with printed access cards.
• Handouts - Customize these handouts with your most popular digital magazine titles and make available throughout your library to build interest and generate awareness.

2. Build buzz with social media

With the average American spending over two hours on social media per day, it’s no secret that social media is a great way to generate buzz.  

• Simplify creating social media content by pairing premade Flipster social media images with written copy from our Digital Promotions: Copy & Paste content sheets. Don’t forget to add your library's hashtag or other relevant hashtags to your social media posts!
• For more Flipster content, navigate to EBSCO Information Service’s social media pages and bring fresh marketing content to your patrons with the click of the share button.

3. Generate awareness on your library’s website

Your library’s website is the perfect place to market new content and help patrons find their next favorite digital magazine.

• The free Flipster carousel widget is an effective way to market Flipster to patrons by showing a rotating display of magazine covers that are in your library's collection. Since magazine covers are made to market themselves, the carousel widget allows your library to easily and continuously market your digital magazine collection. Learn more about the Flipster Carousel widget.
• Make sure to display the same handouts and posters you customized and printed for your library on your website so patrons can access easily and at any time. You never know when seeing the right magazine cover may prompt a new interest, reignite an old one or inspire a new idea!
• Have you added the new Flipster logo and Flipster product buttons to your website? These can be used to draw attention to digital magazines on your website and ensure patrons aren’t missing out.
• Blog writing is also a great way to engage patrons with interesting content and give them ideas on what resources your library currently offers. Check out EBSCOpost to find a wide variety of blog posts about all EBSCO resources including digital magazines. To share an EBSCO blog on your library’s social channels, navigate to the right hand, vertical tool bar on the blog for easy sharing.

4. Experiment with newsletters and email marketing

Email marketing can be a great way to engage patrons and remind them about their access options through your library.

• Monthly Newsletter: Does your library have a monthly newsletter? This is a great place to highlight new digital magazines you’ve added to your collection. 
• National Holidays and Monthly Celebrations: Holidays and National Monthly Celebrations are an great opportunity to connect with patrons and highlight new magazines they may be interested in.

With ready-made promotional materials, social content ideas and more, marketing digital magazines to your patrons does not need to be a challenge and can help promote usage in your library.

Choose from more than 1,200 digital magazines on a variety of topics or add to your existing collection using EBSCOhost Collection Manager (ECM). In addition to a variety of magazines and unique titles, Flipster is committed to high accessibility standards with the goal of providing a positive reading experience for everyone.