Using an Email Template to Increase Library Class Registrations

Background: At this academic health sciences library, librarians teach an average of 12 classes each month. In Q1 2020, there was an average of 13 registrations per class. The library wanted to increase this number and thought a different marketing strategy could help. Aside from posting class schedules on the library homepage, emails are sent to the campus listserv, which are seen by all students, faculty, and staff. There was no consistency to the emails regarding content or format, so we proposed creating a streamlined but eye-catching template for emails in order to increase registrations.

Description: In developing the email template, four guiding principles were followed: Library brand reinforcement: The subject line begins with the library name followed by class name. The body of the email begins with the library logo and includes an image of the building; Consistency: This template is used for all library classes; Accessibility: All images contain alt text, and URLs are hyperlinked. Text is written in black sans serif font on a white background with a 12-point minimum; and Simplicity: The most important information is placed at the beginning in larger font: class name, date, time, and a link to the registration page. A brief class description is included, but learning objectives are not. Supplementary information is placed at the bottom: course instructor and email, and links to the library chat service and complete class schedule.

Results: During the 6-month period since the email template debuted in October 2020, average registrations per class increased 50%, from 16 (Q1 and Q3 2020) to 24 (Q4 2020 and Q1 2021). Q2 2020 was not included due to a large increase in registrations in April and May 2020 when library classes moved to an all-virtual format, which was considered an outlier. In relation to the date the email was sent, 52% of registrations were received on the day the email was sent, and 72% on or after the day the email was sent, demonstrating the impact of the listserv.

Conclusion: After implementing an email template built on four guiding principles, average registrations per class increased by 50%. Half of the registrations were received the day the email was sent to the listserv, suggesting that students, faculty, and staff were noticing the emails and being enticed to register for a class. A limitation is that increases in registrations could be due to factors unrelated to the email format.