Many small-town public library administrators and board members struggle to keep the doors open. Competition from an incredibly accessible and user-friendly internet and inexpensive portable devices like tablets and e-readers has resulted in fewer people relying on libraries for research and reference purposes or to check out books or other entertainment media like DVD and Blu-ray discs.
However, growing budget cuts and grant reductions along with steeply decreased foot traffic have forced these libraries to expand their service offerings to better promote themselves, attract patrons and recoup financial losses. If you experience days when only a handful of people visit your library, it’s time to consider how promotional drinkware, such as custom mugs, tumblers, water bottles and glassware, that has been printed with your library’s name, logo, community message and contact details can improve the situation:
Thinking outside of the box…
At Waterbottles.com, we recognize that to increase foot traffic and revenues, modern small-town libraries typically offer extra services that local community members might not otherwise have access to without traveling far outside of town. Beyond normal office services like black and white and color printing, your small town library probably offers faxing, photo scanning, high-quality photo printing or even business double-sided printing and document collation services. You might also charge a fee for cups of coffee or tea or the use of your meeting room. You probably rely heavily on a variety of fundraising activities, such as sales of books, homemade baked goods, event raffle tickets, thrift and flea market items and spots in craft and other classes held on site.
Yet rarely do small-town libraries continuously promote themselves while offering these services like other for-profit or even many non-profit businesses. For example, the sales receipts for financial transactions conducted in most small-town libraries lack a business header. A lot of these libraries also don’t give patrons, community members, and visitors their business cards or branded bookmarks with every transaction so that they’re always engaging their target market and providing people with reminders to “visit again.” For those who do promote in these ways, the engagement is short-lived since these items are often quickly set aside or lost.
On the other hand, people use mugs, tumblers and water bottles on a regular basis. By selling custom drinkware daily and also at events, you’re offering a product that many people use and value enough to buy on impulse. You’re also laying the foundation to promote your library via custom design elements on a regular basis in a passive fashion that can ultimately save you time and money typically spent on promotional and advertising activities like posting on social media or putting up flyers around town. And there’s no reason you can’t have a bit of fun with your design, such as having some famous literary quotes from a range of books printed onto your waterbottles – this will help attract the attention of patrons who align themselves with a particular literary genre or text and will be eager to use the bottle on the go, at work and at the gym.
But that’s not all.
Giving back to the community…
Since most small-town residents love to support local businesses, your library can corner the market in this area by offering drinkware that certain locals would normally buy in big box retail stores or online. For example, local school coaches might go normally to a grocery or big box store to buy generic water bottles for their athletes before a game. When you start offering library-branded water bottles, they’re more likely to decide to buy bulk orders from you as needed to show their support of the library.
Local organizations, educational institutions, and clubs might also want to support your library by offering to use your promotional casual drinkware or formal beverageware, such as cups, stemless and stem glasses or steins, at upcoming events, especially if their own budgets are tight and they can’t afford to make a huge financial donation as in previous years. With every use of your branded beverageware, more people become aware of your library and then remember it fondly enough that many will turn to it when they need certain services.
At Waterbottles.com, we know that there’s no one perfect method in today’s world to help a small-town library flourish. Yet libraries need to attract and engage the public more than ever before to stay afloat. We believe that promotional drinkware is one of the best ways to increase foot traffic, repeat sales and donations and spread awareness. Let us prove this belief to you. Call our experienced team today to find out how an inexpensive upfront investment in library-branded drinkware can help you overcome many challenges at your small-town library and increase revenues over time.