8 Ways to Impress Your Customers With Your Own Bookmark Design
by Chelsea Camper | Last Updated July 19, 2019Is your library getting into printing their own bookmarks? Sell books on Amazon and what some more returning customers by printing your own bookmarks? If so, that’s great! It’s an awesome and affordable way to market your library or online store in an informative and useful manner. The only question is: What do I put on the bookmarks?
Want to learn how to create your own bookmarks? 
Check out our Pratte’s Pies How to Create Your Own Bookmarks post for a bookmark how-to.
Now, here are four great ways you can use your bookmarks to advertise your library or book store:
Advertising Your Library
Make Your Own Unique Library Bookmarks
Whenever someone checks out a book at your library, slip in a bookmark with your library’s unique information on it. Address, phone number, web site, Facebook page, etc. Put a list of your up coming events or visiting authors. Let people know that your library is the best out there and that they should always use you.
You can even leave an area open for the book’s return date so that they can always have it on hand while they’re reading. Information about how they can extend their rental of the book would also be quite handy to include!
Use Quotes and Testimonials From Your Library Users
Do you have some frequent library users who constantly rave about the tidiness and service at your library? Ask them for a quote to go on the bookmarks so that new comers to your library can see just how much people love you.
If you can get a quote or even a testimonial from a visiting author, that would be great as well! You don’t have to have the same quote or testimonial on every bookmark; switch them up so that people can get different ones every time they come to your library.
Print Out Fresh Bookmarks for Special Events
Does your library have special craft and book events for kids? Or how about a teen book reading challenge? Start handing out bookmarks for these special events a couple months ahead.
On one side of the card you can list start and end times of a specific event along with any detailed information people might need to attend. On the other side you can have a small abbreviated calendar listing upcoming events that people might be interested in that relate to the main event.
Let the Kids Help Design the Bookmarks
If your library does a lot of events for children, why not let them help create the bookmarks? Ask them to use crayons, colored pencils, markers, etc. to create a bookmark. You can then scan and print their bookmarks to pass out.
You can print out enough of each child’s bookmarks that they can take them to school or church to pass out to their friends who might also attend your event. When you let the kids get involved in getting word out about an event they’ll generally be more interested in it as a whole.
Adverting Your Book Store
Add a Coupon to the Bookmark
If you’re looking for more returning customers (and who isn’t!), you can send out bookmarks with coupons for your store with each book you sell. However, not everyone can afford to give a discount, no matter how small, to every customer. In that case you can create a loyalty bookmark where they have to buy X amount of books from you before they can get the XX% discount.
They can use the bookmarks to keep track of how many books they buy and once they’ve got enough, they’ll be able to ask for a coupon. Just make sure the coupon and the amount of books they have to buy before they get it are worth each other.
Advertise a Special Sale
Run a special sale near the holidays? Let people know! A lot of people start shopping for Christmas in July! Give people several months notice about your specials and when they can start getting them.
Maybe your specials are only for people who are in your loyalty club? Start notifying people far enough in advance that they can follow the steps needed to get your special deal as soon as it comes out.
Run a Contest Integrating the Bookmarks
Maybe you sell a lot of photography or art books? Run a contest where people use your bookmarks as the centerpiece for photographs and put the best one up every week (or month) on your website or Facebook page.
If your books aren’t quite so art oriented, you could have a “collect them all” contest where you give out an awesome prize to people who have collected all 10 of your bookmarks. Don’t forget that in order for them to get these bookmarks they’ll have to buy your books, so make the prize at the end pretty nice!
Hold a Contest For Custom Bookmark Designs from Loyal Customers
Have some customers who are always in your store or buying your books? Ask them to design some bookmarks for you to be sent out to new customers. The designs should help new customers understand why people love your bookstore and why they should keep buying books from you.
You could ask your customers to vote on their favorite bookmark designs and the winner could receive a coupon or free book. Let your customers get involved and make sure you recognize the loyal buyers!
Not sure how to get started? We have some bookmark templates to help:
4UP Bookmark Template for Microsoft Word
5UP Bookmark Template for Microsoft Word
Also check out our How To blog post for bookmark templates:
Image: Happy Batatinha
Not affiliated or endorsed by any of the following: AMAZON is a registered trademark of AMAZON. MICROSOFT WORD is a registered trademark of MICROSOFT.
