Twitter time?

Marketing Profs set the stage for a debate over the marketing merits of microblogging, available in podcast form: MarketingProfs Podcast: Is Twitter a Valuable Tool, or Waste of Time?

Disclaimer: I haven't listened to the podcasts yet, but will try to later today and add any 2 cents I may have. However, I would argue that we have a responsibility to seriously play with all of these Web 2.0 tools, whether or not we choose to implement them for library marketing purposes.

Forget about being the third place. Be the first lab!

For reasons I won't bother to bore you with, today is the first day I've been able to post (or really, spend any extended amount of time on a computer) since returning from the ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium. This is unfortunate since the Symposium really pumped me up and gave me no shortage of library marketing inspiration. So much, in fact, that I anticipate discussing gaming and related marketing issues over a number of posts. To begin with, I'd like to share with you the over-arching message I took away from the event: Forget about being the third place. Be the first lab!

After listening to speakers like Eli Neiburger, Jim Gee, Greg Trefry, and many others, I learned that games, perhaps better than any other pursuit, build community and spark intellectual curiosity. Eli spoke about how gaming brought seniors out from their retirement homes to challenge teens to Dance Dance Revolution contests; Gee described how students who wouldn't crack open a textbook in school eagerly poured through tedious gaming guides teeming with sophisticated language for hours; Trefry told stories of how big games dramatically altered the ways in which people perceived their physical surroundings. Do you know of other media that are so transformative? I sure don't. Games and the application of gaming principles capture the essence of what libraries are all about. They engage patrons' imaginations, and allow them to play around with ideas in an interactive, risk-free format with wide cross sections of the community. In the process, gaming patrons actually construct a series of unique experiences, thereby turning the library into a laboratory of sorts.

This "community creativity lab" is where where I see libraries' future and competitive advantage. I can't think of any other free, publicly-accessible place (except perhaps for museums, which we should be partnering with), where people can come together for purposes of serious play and creative enterprise. Unlike other "third places" like Starbucks that attempt to be a home-away-from-home space, libraries are much more. They are where old and new knowledge are explored, created, and re-envisioned. Our duty is to recognize and facilitate the many varied creative pursuits of our patrons and give them the value-added spaces, resources, expertise, and community engagement to explore them in greater depth. Gaming represents one avenue for libraries to look into, but there are many others as well.

Some of you may be skeptical about the potential of gaming and libraries, which is fine. I wasn't entirely sold on it either until I understood it better. So, I will continue to analyze how gaming makes sense from a library marketing standpoint based on what I learned. My next post will address who makes up the gamer market segment and what value-added services draw them in.

The relationship's the thing

Hello, readers! I'm glad to be back blogging with you, though vacation was quite nice...

I wrote up a post for KnowThis that I wanted to discuss here to add a librarian perspective. The post is about what we're really selling to customers as we promote our services to them. There's the obvious stuff like resources, information literacy, and so on, as well as benefits like "write better papers" and "make informed decisions." But I think we provide patrons with more than that. As librarian-marketers invite patrons to co-create their services with them (a modern marketing phenomenon), and as patrons take it upon themselves to define the library brand and promote the library through word-of-mouth, they actually become a part of services we provide. Therefore, when we "sell" library services to patrons we're actually selling a part of our patrons' creativity, ambitions, and accomplishments. In effect, we're selling a relationship. Why not highlight how both patrons and libraries benefit from that relationship and showcase our relationship-building skills as a selling point for our libraries?

Need some examples? A recent one that comes to mind occurred as I was doing some freshmen orientation outreach earlier this week. I overheard one girl say that the library is her favorite part of campus. I immediately approached her and asked if she would be interested in joining my undergraduate advisory group, which is in need of some freshmen representation. She eagerly applied. From a marketing standpoint, I was glad I was able to offer an enthusiastic patron a relationship that allowed her to increase her involvement with our services, thereby keeping her engaged. The selling point, in my mind, is the fact that I have a relationship, in this case a formal one, in place to attract users.

Other ways to highlight relationships with patrons are to keep the promotional focus on the customers themselves and how you allow for interaction/involvement with them. At least, that's how I'm seeing things today. Am I striking a chord? Or just singing to my own tune? :-)

Meet me at the library

In the latest of my all-too-frequent travels to Starbucks, I picked up one of their publications called, Let's Meet at Starbucks. The publication refers to a Web site where you can find out about SBUX events, learn about the latest drinks, and, my favorite part, send a customized e-mail invitation to your friends that asks them to meet you at a selected SBUX. Perhaps I find too many good ideas at Starbucks, but this particular one seemed like it was custom made for libraries. In public libraries, I could see this functionality being an easy way for patrons to identify library events and nearby branches for groups to gather. In an academic setting, it could help facilitate study group meetings and perhaps be linked to an online room booking system. I don't know about all of the technicalities involved, but isn't this a great concept?!

The SBUX publication also mentioned the Web site Meetup.com, where people can identify groups by interests and location. There's a group for just about everyone, including for those interested in books, education topics, languages, and music to name just a few. Wouldn't it be nice to reach out to these interest groups and offer library space and services to them? It's possible to advertise in Meetup, sponsor a group, or create your own group. There are also some MeetUp tools you can feature on your Web site including a widget that lists all of the Meetups in your area. At first glance, this service appears to be somewhat similar to Facebook and MySpace, but the major difference is that Meetup aims to get people together in person.

Whether or not you use these tools, it's worth considering how the libraries can do a better job of connecting the virtual and the physical while supporting the interests of their communities. Something to think about!

[Ooh - I just found numerous examples of people using Meetup to arrange meetings in the library: here, here, here, and here.]

Give your patron engagement skills a Swift Kick in the...

well, you know what! An advisor-friend of mine turned me on to this outstanding blog produced by an education company called Swift Kick. The company actually has two blogs, but the one of most interest to us is one called Swift Kick Technology: Increasing Engagement in Education through Technology, Community, Leadership and Training. The content is Web 2.0-centric, and any librarian seeking to engage patrons through online communities and/or technology in general could greatly benefit from reading this blog. Consider some of the most recent posts:

• On Their Terms: A Student's Take On Professionals On Facebook
• Facebook as a Forum of Action
• Announcing Events [in Facebook] Without Clogging The Drain: Recommendations for Student Affairs Professionals

Lest you think that this blog is all Facebook all the time, there are posts on video game learning, personal blogging, and collaborative learning.

These readings will hopefully ignite (or, as in my case, reignite) your enthusiasm for participating in social networking sites for library marketing and relationship-building (which are pretty much the same thing anyway).

The art of conversation is a marketing competency

There's a must-read article at BusinessWeek called, It's the Conversation Economy, Stupid. In it, author David Armano of the popular blog Logic+Emotion discusses how marketers must now become conversation architects to be effective in today's economy. It's one of those pieces that should make us rethink how we do our jobs. I wrote about it on KnowThis, so I won't repeat the summary here, but I would encourage you think about one of Armano's main points:

"Conversation architects move marketing beyond the idea of one-way messaging. Traditional marketing efforts were founded on this tried-and-true format and are still prevalent within the industry. Consider the example of a typical creative brief template, which usually says something like, "What are we trying to communicate?" Can you see the old-world residue in the word "communicate"? It lacks the dimensions of experiencing something and having an ongoing two-way dialogue. "What are we trying to communicate?" implies a one-way conversation. Maybe we should ask ourselves: "How can we facilitate?"'

I can't think of a better charge for librarians who are in the business of helping people succeed. In this way of thinking, we allow patrons' goals to become our goals, rather than letting our idea of what we want to accomplish dictate how patrons should interact with us. Makes sense to me.

New blog of note on social networking and library services

The new blog Friends: Social Networking Sites for Engaged Library Services promises to be a robust source of information on all things Web 2.0-ish. According to the inaugural post, Friends...:

"will include announcements and general news about online social networking sites and services within organizations, with a focus on their use by libraries and librarians. It will also include citations to significant articles, books, presentations, and other publications, and, when available, link to the full-text of these items."

The blog is produced by Gerry McKiernan, Science and Technology Librarian at Iowa State University Library. (Gerry: It would be nice and friendly to have a little more information about who you are made available on the blog. The only identifying info I found was on your post to a listserv). Good luck! It's off to a terrific start and I'm excited to follow it.

Update: Another social networking find from Library Garden here.

Guest post from Emily Clasper on reaching connected moms

Thank you to librarian Emily Clasper for her recent commentary to the post "Mom power." In her response, Emily mentioned that she could relate to the experiences of on-the-go moms and their use of social networks to stay connected. I asked her to tell me more about her perspective and how librarians can do a better job of reaching out to moms like her. Fortunately, she took me up on the offer and contributed this guest post on the subject, which I'm copying in its entirety here (with permission, of course):

As a parent of a young child, I definitely use social networking a lot as a parenting resource. I started when I was pregnant and joined a forum for mothers with a February 2006 due date. About 40 of us from all over the world got to know one another, and it's still going strong as we now all have children the same age and can relate to one another really well. These ladies are now some of my very best friends and I don't know what I would have done without their advice and support!

From there, it was a slippery slope...I've also gotten involved in the "Mommy Blog" (or Daddy Blog!) subculture that is thriving online. We post pictures of our little ones, along with our thoughts on the trials of motherhood, and a lot of advice and information that's helpful to other parents (we hope!). I am constantly researching parenting topics online, everything from developmental milestones to the best toys for a one year old (I've come to rely on recommendations from other parents for that one). Being involved in online parenting communities has enriched and informed my offline life immensely!

So how can libraries use the power of online social networking to reach out to young, modern mothers...not only to provide them with more and better services, but also to take advantage of the word of mouth buzz such ladies can give your library?

In her post on Mom Power, Jill summarized the important aspects of providing services for savvy Gen-X and Y moms well: "Make services for this group quick, convenient, and online if possible by creating more specialized online content and taking advantage of the social networks they rely on for quality information."

Some tips for attracting young mothers to your library (and keeping them there!):

1. Provide programs and services that interest Gen-X and Y parents.
Children's programs are terrific. There is nothing like a good storytime! But I don't often see programs that are geared towards the parents of young children and the issues that we face these days...and I'm not going to take the time to participate if I'm not really interested. What about programs on juggling work and family? Or choosing a good childcare situation? Or dealing with food allergies? Or using social networking to get support and information from other parents? And why not hold one of these really good, topical programs for parents at the same time as a children's program so that both the children and parents can participate? Bibliographies of parenting resources are found in most Children's rooms...why not take these a few steps further and publish a wiki for your patrons? I’d love that!!

2. Make us aware of these services.
My library's monthly newsletter generally goes directly into the garbage with the junk mail when it reaches my house. It's not that I'm not interested in my library or what is going on in my community, but we are (like most people, I think) completely bombarded with junk mail each day and it's hard to make a distinction. Therefore, putting a mention of an upcoming event, program, service, or collection targeted at mothers is going to completely unnoticed in my house. Libraries need to find other ways to reach out to busy young parents. Go where we are, and speak our language. I'm more likely to notice a library event on the local newspaper's online events calendar, or from a brochure at the pediatrician's office (sometimes the only place I ever get to sit down and rest for a second!). If your library has a blog, publicize it and encourage patrons to subscribe...but give us something interesting to read while you plug your programs and services, and encourage us to participate in the conversation! A blog that reads like a string of press releases won't hold our interest for long.

3. Go by our schedules, not yours.
One of the main reasons why online social networking appeals to me more than the "live" Mommy group has to do with time. With the hectic lifestyle most young moms find themselves leading, it's nice to be able to participate when we can - whether that's for fifteen minutes at 11:30 at night or at work while we take a lunch break. Scheduling programs for young moms (especially for those who work) should respect the difficulties many of us face in squeezing anything extra in. In addition, providing online resources and opportunities for online participation are great because we can access them at any time that is convenient for us. That great parenting program you had last week? Put the video up online so that those of us who couldn't make it can still participate!

4. Put it online!
I do not bring my son to library programs. There are too many rules, signups are a pain, and I can't fit the programs into my schedule as they're all when I'm at work. So I take him to music classes on the weekends instead. We were able to sign up online, pay online, and we can schedule makeup classes online. I got my references for the program online, too. If the library would give me the same options, I'd be there in a flash. Until then, I can't be bothered. IM or email reference help is a good idea, but often seems a second thought and is not often consistent. Not only that, but it is generally pretty poorly publicized, and I don't know that I would be aware of these services if I weren't a librarian myself. I think good library blogs, wikis for resources on topics that interest me, and more consistent online reference (paired with marketing to raise awareness) would be a great way of catching the attention of parents these days. It would also be great if libraries could help parents create online communities as well. With all of the YA departments getting involved in MySpace, etc for the teens, this seems like a natural direction for libraries to go. We talk a good game these days about libraries as community centers...why not libraries as community creators?

5. Make us want to come again.
I've often heard that the most effective marketing tool we have is customer service. If you can give us a good experience while we are in the library, we will come back. And we'll bring friends. But if we don't have a great experience, you're done. We won't be back, and we will tell everyone we know how awful it was to boot. This goes double for online content. If we find what we need, it's interesting or useful and easy to access, I just might come back. Especially if there's a way to subscribe.

I appreciate Emily's insights and am grateful to her for sharing these useful ideas. She touches on a lot of themes addressed here, and it's nice to see a personal account of them in action. As you probably noticed from her post, Emily has no shortage of ideas and is a terrific writer. That's why I was glad to find she started her own blog, Library Revolution: The Status Quo Most Go (nice title!). Though less than a month old, the blog is off to a great start and I'm looking forward to watching it develop.

Good luck in your efforts to reach those busy moms!

Stuff worth reading (in brief)

I'm sorry to be so silent for much of this week. It's been a short week full of meetings and getting ready for my trip to Seattle for Midwinter. There's so much juicy marketing reading out there though, that I just have to pass it along, but I will have to do so in list form:

Making relationships work: MarketingProfs outlines Five Ways to Develop a Dialogue with Key 'Influencers'. Influencers are those hubs of product/service information who have a knack for guiding others. The article points out ways in which we can best interact with these important people and build an influencer program. On a similar note, Knowledge @ Wharton reports on study that reveals people are more likely to purchase something if they are "network neighbors" with existing customers (Network-based Marketing: Using Existing Customers to Help Sell to New Ones). Finally, another MarketingProfs article suggests that there's no such thing as a one-size-fits all online community, and that "microcommunities" are much more successful. The article concludes with a handy list of 5 questions people should ask themselves when building these communities.
Update: It's All Good has more to say on social networking.

Open-source soft drinks: Pepsi sent out a press release outlining its revamped marketing strategy that aims to increase interaction with its customers. Here's an excerpt from the release with some examples of what they have in mind: "Examples of the upcoming packaging designs and promotions: In the U.S., the first can, titled "Your Pepsi," will link to a website inviting consumers to help design a Pepsi billboard ad which will run in New York City's Times Square in April. Consumers in the U.S. will also have a chance to design a special paint scheme for NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon's car that will race later this year. In many international markets, designs will link to websites that enable consumers to create music and video that they can share with others. Consumers will also have access to packaging designs by some of the biggest names in sports and music." It'll be interesting to see how this works out and if there might be some inspiration here for those of us in library land.

Book of interest: BlogCritics Magazine reviews the book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing by Ron McDaniel. What interests me most about this book is that the author counters the traditional logic that only amazing, out-of-the ordinary products generate buzz. Instead, McDaniel believes that word-of-mouth can be generated by dedicated, front-line staff. If anyone has read it, I'd like to get your take, so please leave a comment.
Update: I've wanted to mention this for a while: Paul at the Idea Sandbox has an outstanding series of posts on being remarkable. The posts highlight books on the topic of differentiation, all of which are going straight to my ever-growing "To Read" list. This topic is one of my absolute favorites in marketing, so I'm excited to dive into these reads.

Marketing on a budget: Once again, MarketingProfs has a great article, this time on the topic of online marketing on a small budget. Some of the examples include using surveys, forums, and e-mail management sites.