Using SMS to Increase Attendance with Nicholas Jackson

Be a Marketer with Dave Charest

Libraries are often the heartbeat of the communities they serve — and Parsippany Public Library in New Jersey is no exception, offering much more than just reading materials.

Head of Information Services Nicholas Jackson has been using Constant Contact for several years, both to distribute the library’s newsletter and to text workshop registrants.

Before Constant Contact, the library had a problem: People would sign up for workshops and then forget to actually attend. So the library enabled attendee text messages to send reminders the night before and the day of the event. While not everyone checks their email constantly, most people check their texts immediately. Attendance problem solved.

Above all else, Nicholas’s top marketing tip is to stay consistent. That consistency applies to the look and feel of your graphics — like fonts and color schemes — as well as to your marketing plan and analysis of what’s working and what’s not.

On this episode of Constant Contact’s podcast, Be a Marketer, Nicholas and host Dave Charest, Director of Small Business Success at Constant Contact, discuss all the ways that Constant Contact has helped spread awareness and drive foot traffic into Parsippany’s libraries.

👉 Get started with SMS marketing in Constant Contact.

Additional Resources:

• Insert Canva images into your Constant Contact campaigns
• Get started with SMS marketing in Constant Contact
• Creating accessible emails with Constant Contact

Meet Today’s Guest: Nicholas Jackson of Parsippany Public Library

☕ What he does: Nicholas is the Head of Information Services at Parsippany Public Library in New Jersey. Nicholas oversees marketing and PR, plus programming, technology, collections, books, ebooks, and media. He also manages the the Library of Things program where people can borrow items like hotspots, Chromebooks, tabletop games, sewing machines, and more.

💡 Key quote: “Our newsletter is the most powerful advertising-marketing-PR tool. We noticed this when we did an author talk back in 2022. We asked when people signed up, How’d you find out about this? And over 40% said, In the newsletter. We realized that we need to make the newsletter, inviting, helpful, and friendly.”

👋 Where to find him: LinkedIn

👋 Where to find Parsippany Public Library: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | TikTok

If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to RateThisPodcast.com/bam and follow the simple instructions.