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Marketing Your Library The Three Elements of a Successful Promotional Campaign

Marketing Your Library The Three Elements of a Successful Promotional Campaign. Kathleen Boylan Senior Vice President Public Communications Inc. What is Marketing?. “Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying human needs and wants through an exchange process.”

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Marketing Your Library The Three Elements of a Successful Promotional Campaign

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  1. Marketing Your LibraryThe Three Elements of a Successful Promotional Campaign Kathleen Boylan Senior Vice President Public Communications Inc.

  2. What is Marketing? “Marketing is the human activity directed at satisfying human needs and wants through an exchange process.” Philip Kotler, Ph.D. S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Chicago

  3. Keys to the Plan: The 3 Elements of Success Checklist… …Do you: • 1. Have a top-notch Web site? • 2. Work regularly with your institutions’ communications team AND know your local health reporters? • 3. Participate regularly in management meetings with influential administrators?

  4. Key to the Plan 1. Build a Top-Notch Web site Is your library functioning online? There is more than one way to get readers to “go” to your library. More libraries are providing services and marketing on the Web in direct response to the changing ways people access information. The #1 marketing tool for libraries today is a comprehensive, user-friendly, frequently updated online resource, aka, a top-notch Web site!!

  5. Why You Gotta Go Virtual • The ALA reports that public libraries are the number one point of online access for people without Internet connections at home, school, or work. • A 2007 Harris poll found that of the 225 million adults in the U.S., an estimated 160 million have searched for health information online,up 37 percent from 2005.² ¹ALA Office for Research & Statistics; ALA Public Information Office. 2006 ²The Harris Poll® #76, Harris Interactive Inc. July 31, 2007. www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll

  6. Building the Best Site Give Users What They Expect • Quality - Your site must meet quality standards of other library and commercial sites in your community • Performance - The site and content need to load quickly in comparison to the competition’s sites • Reliability - The site must be constantly updated and as free from technological problems as possible Source: Ohio Library Council

  7. Building the Best Site Add Enticing “Digital Extras” • Access to online catalogs • Immediate reference services • Overdue notices by e-mail • Library e-newsletters or a library newsroom • Relevant Webinars • Online calendar of events • Links to search engines for the site • Social networking tools (Blogs, podcasts, wikis…)

  8. Building the Best Site Speak the User’s Language • Ex: Patrons are likely unfamiliar with MedlinePlus, PubMed, NOAH, etc. – Include descriptions of what each site offers underneath the resource’s link • Ex: A “Medical Animation” drop down bar can be helpful, but only if patrons understand what it is– Add a one or two sentences to explain the feature • Ex: Using a lot of acronyms such as AHEC or CINAHL isn’t helpful - Spell it out!

  9. Key to the Plan 2. Start Working Regularly with Your Institutions’ Communications Team AND Know Your Local Health Reporters Most libraries don’t have their own communications team working round-the-clock to make sure your institution gets the promotion it deserves. Fliers and open houses are a great start, but if you really want to make a splash…

  10. After Construction Get the “URL” Out! Once your site is running, you need to promote it to the community and to institutional leaders. • Send an e-blast inviting patrons and institutional leaders to visit the site • Make a large banner with the URL and hang it in the front of the library • Put a link to your site on your • institution’s Web site, community sites, etc.

  11. Communicate with your Communications Team! Call in the Professionals • Thebrilliant people who work in your institution’s communications department know how to get a message across and/or promote an event (or they should!) • Ask to set up a meeting to discuss upcoming initiatives, events or programs you want to promote and ask them to help you build a PR strategy • Do NOT leave these folks out of the loop!

  12. Learn to Work with Your Local Health Reporters Media are often the gatekeepers to getting the word out…have you mastered these basics: • Do you know how to write a news release and follow up in a timely manner? • Are you familiar with what reporters, editors and producers to send the release to? • Are you prepared to give an interview?

  13. Quick Media Relations Review • A news release is a simple and effective tool to generate media interest in a story about your library. • Targeted distribution and timely follow-up can help ensure your news will be covered. • Don’t give up! • Offer interviews. • When giving an interview remember: Prepare talking points in advance and speak naturally!

  14. Key to the Plan 3. Participate Regularly in Management Meetings With Influential Administrators Wouldn’t it be great if our administrators and bosses saw all of the wonderful things we did every day? Unfortunately, most of the time it’s up to you to make sure they know what you’ve been doing!

  15. Meeting with Management Before the Meeting: Evaluate Your Success. • Did you increase awareness of library online services? • Build an at-home user community? • Attract more visitors to the library? • Reach a different target audience?

  16. Meeting with Management Before the Meeting: Measure Your Success Compile demographic data for leadership from: • Results from online surveys and opinion polls • Tracking data showing how much time patrons spend on your site or a page, most/least visited pages, most/least used resources etc. • Personal letters submitted through “Write to Us”

  17. Meeting with Management At the Meeting Broadcast Your Success!!! • Brag about your online presence (How many hits does the site get a day? Does your site appear high on a page when Google searching?) • Talk about how popular you are (How many patrons signed up for the e-newsletter? How many participated in the online PowerPoint webinar?) • Highlight change and growth (Give anecdotal evidence of pleased patrons—or use a positive reader comment posted to your fabulous Web site!) #1

  18. Do you have all the elements for success?

  19. QUESTIONS?? Thank you for coming!

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