Periodically, I profile a different industry from the perspective of the customer. I detail my experience and talk about how that industry could improve the customer experience. Retaining customers is a key business function, enabling organizations to grow and reach their goals. It also affects the bottom line: it costs four to 20 times as much to acquire a new customer as it does to retain an existing one. View all Customer Experience Spotlight posts.
The Christmas Tree Lot
Every year for the past decade, I’ve taken my kids to the same Christmas tree lot. How did they get my business, and how have they held onto me as a customer for so long? They have a simple, but perfect, two-pronged marketing strategy: customer acquisition and customer retention.
Customer Acquisition
How do they get new customers? Simple: they know their audience, which is primarily made up of drive-bys and families. To attract that audience, they put out a giant inflatable snowman next to their lot. Not only is it visible from miles around, but it’s highly appealing to kids. Every year as we drive by, seeing that snowman reminds us that it’s time to get a tree. And we always have to get a picture with it.
The lesson for libraries? Know your audience and make your presence impossible to ignore. Whether it’s a welcoming storefront display, a visible presence at community events, or a consistent social media rhythm, the goal is the same: make sure the people you want to reach see you, remember you, and know what you offer — before they even walk through the door.
Customer Retention
They only see their customers once a year, and that’s a long time to lose a customer’s loyalty. That’s why their retention strategy is so simple and brilliant. When you go in to pay for your tree, they have a box of pre-printed post cards with a 10% discount coupon on the back. As you pay, they have you fill out that post card with your name and address, and they put it in another box. The following November, they mail out the post cards. It’s that simple. I never fail to bring my post card in to get my discount. This is the simplest of customer loyalty programs, and it is highly effective. It also helps that the trees are high-quality and reasonably priced.
How This Applies to Libraries
I don’t work at a Christmas tree lot, and it’s likely that you don’t either. But if you’re in library marketing or communications, you’re probably concerned with the same two things: getting new patrons through the door and keeping them coming back. Why not do what they do, and start with the basics?
Who is your audience? Do you know who’s in your service area — families, students, older adults, new residents? And do you know what they actually need from their library, not just what you assume they need?
How are you reaching new patrons? Are you visible where they already are: community events, schools, local businesses, social media? What’s your equivalent of the inflatable snowman — the thing that makes someone think, “Oh right, I should go to the library”?
What’s your patron retention strategy? Libraries don’t have a natural “once a year” touchpoint like a tree lot does — you have the opposite problem: people may come in frequently or not at all, and nothing reminds them to return. What’s your version of the post card? A seasonal email, a text reminder when holds are ready, a “we missed you” card after a lapse in visits, a children’s program that keeps families coming back month after month?
Does your service deliver on its promise? The tree lot succeeds because the trees are good and fairly priced — the post card alone wouldn’t hold a decade of loyalty. For libraries, that means the programs, collections, and services have to be worth returning for. Retention starts with quality, not just reminders.
The Takeaway
Sometimes it’s the simplest, not the most complex, strategy that works the best. You don’t need a sophisticated loyalty platform to keep people coming back — you need to know your audience, be visible, make it easy to return, and deliver on your promise.
(And it helps if you don’t drive into your garage with the tree still tied to the roof …)
One place where libraries share their best customer engagement ideas is the Library Marketing and Communications Conference! Check it out:
