Power to the people! Social computing and marketing meet!

There were some important posts (here and here) on Mico Persuasion last week that outline the sources of upheaval in the marketing world. That is, traditional, institutional-controlled marketing is becoming marginalized by customers who wield enormous power thanks to new social technologies.

The posts reference a Forrester report that I haven't purchased, but the posts contain illustrative excerpts from the report that do a good job of summarizing the major points. You may also want to look at the TrackBacks and comments on the posts as some are fairly useful. The bottom line is that since customers are bombarded by too much "stuff" in the form of marketing messages, they've devised their own ways of filtering through it all by relying on social networks and their peers and colleagues. This is the BIG trend in marketing that I have discussed and will continue to discuss as it's crucial that librarians work out new marketing strategies given these new realities.

Heck, even Google, not known for its successes with social communities, is giving new strategies a try with its partnership with Nike and their joint soccer social network called Joga.

There will be more on this topic to come!

Wow! A whole world wide web of marketing resources!

The University of Texas at Austin's Advertising World really is a whole world of resources in one place! The sheer number of sites listed is mind-boggling, so enter at your own risk. The sites are grouped into a broad range of categories like Creativity, Fun, Market Research, Subliminal Messages, Word-of-Mouth, and on and on. Enjoy digging through this mound of Web sites (I know I will!).

What's in a product?

So, what's in a decent product that makes it an amazing product in the eyes of consumers? Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users has some thoughts on the matter that I think librarians may find intriguing. Specifically, she outlines 10 ways to make your product desirable. I won't repeat them all here, but they include such goodies as "pay attention to the emotional appeal," "make it meaningful," "support a community of users," and "never underestimate the power of fun."

What's important to keep in mind with both products and services is that they are jam-packed with psychological and emotional meaning for people. Consider something as common as a bag of M&M's, for example. How do you feel about this product? Does it bring back feelings of nostalgia? Are M&M's your favorite comfort food? Do you find the M&M's spokes-candies fun and adorable? Now just think about how much meaning and emotion is embedded in an institution as established and widely-regarded as the library!

What I like about Kathy's post is that it reminds us that we don't just consume products, we have relationships with them. For these reasons, consumer psychology and behavior are important to understand in order to create services that have appeal on many levels. One popular site that is helpful for an introduction to such concepts is The Psychology of Consumers: Consumer Behavior and Marketing.

Beware of buyer

The marketplace has evolved from a "buyer beware" mentality to a "seller beware" attitude, which is a good thing. However, the newly found power customers wield means that one unhappy customer can spell big trouble for companies (and libraries too!). In fact, a Knowledge @ Wharton post reports that 100 dissatisfied customers can cost retailers between 32 and 36 percent of current or potential customers due to bad word-of-mouth! These results stress the importance of librarians providing consistent, high-quality customer service

What can librarians do to keep their patrons happy? One possible solution comes from Blog Business World. A post there suggests that companies create customer service blogs that keep a dialogue going between customers and employees. Doing so helps to ensure that surly customers don't keep their concerns bottled up, but instead tell employees about their problems so they can be resolved. I also like this idea because it increases libraries'/businesses' transparency to foster trust and relationships with patrons/customers.

Posts this week

Posts may be more infrequent that usual this week since I am out of the office for most of it. I'll be back on Monday and daily posts should resume then. Thanks for reading!

Keeping up with the competition: Amazon and downloading DVD's

The New York Times today reports that Amazon.com is in talks with Hollywood studios about offering a service whereby customers can download movies and TV shows and burn them onto DVD's. There's no telling what, if anything, this could mean for libraries, but it's worth keeping an eye on these trends as companies develop new ways of delivering information as they could influence patrons' expectations of library services. These trends could also illustrate ways in which librarians could modify their own services.

Podcasting a net to a targeted audience

I know I'm a bit biased on this, but my colleague here at VCU, Pete Kirlew, has recently unveiled an ambitious project he's been working on that illustrates some important marketing principles. Pete is the creator of Librarycasting SE, which employs screencasts, videos and podcasts to deliver educational and information resources in the sciences and engineering. You can learn more about the project here.

It's a very rich resource and one that is tailored to the needs and preferences of science/engineering faculty and students, many of whom don't come to the library building itself but who still require assistance in navigating resources. Pete has even created RSS feeds for the major topic areas so that users can hone in on exactly the information they need quickly and efficiently. While I won't describe every feature of the blog in this post, I encourage you to take a look at it. I was particularly impressed with how Pete's knowledge of his audience shaped every aspect of the blog and how his delivery of information includes visual and audio content to accommodate a variety of learning styles.

Like I said, I'm a bit biased but I think you'll agree that there is a lot of inspiration to be found here. Just imagine making library lectures and other events, new resources and services, and how-to information available in these various formats, customizable for numerous audiences, and easily deliverable through RSS. What exciting marketing opportunities!

I'd also like to hear about similar projects you're working on. Please leave a comment if you'd like to share.

Satisfied doesn't cut it

Harvard Business School's (HBS) Working Knowledge reviewed the new book The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth. The author, loyalty expert Fred Reichheld, argues that satisfied customers are not sufficient for business success and that instead companies should aim to turn customers into promoters.

While the book focuses on a measurement system Reichheld calls the Net Promoter Score, the excerpt HBS features is worth a read as it describes how businesses have gone about building lasting (and profitable) relationships with customers. What's most interesting is that a number of the companies profiled such as Chick-fil-A and HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation spent very little on advertising to generate business. So how did they grow? The found success by paying and treating their employees exceptionally well and by providing outstanding service on a consistent basis, which meant lots of repeat business and referrals. These examples are good reminders that great marketing means great service, which doesn't require flashy ads and big promotion budgets.

A new marketing book for librarians hits the shelves!

Author and head of the Department of Library and Information Science of Kota Open University, Dinesh Gupta, informed me of the release of a new book he co-edited entitled Marketing Library and Information Services: International Perspectives. The book features 40 papers from 47 contributors in 20 countries.

As the description states, "The marketing of library services has now been recognised as an essential agenda item for almost all kinds of libraries all over the world. Presenting contributions from a truly international group of librarians, this book provides a broad spectrum on the topic, providing a useful tool for both working librarians and future librarians to understand vital issues relating to the marketing of library and information services at the local, national and international level."

Thank you for passing this along!

Update: Dinesh Gupta informs me that he is no longer head of the Department (his next rotation is in 2007) and his university's name has changed from Kota Open University to Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota. I appreciate the updated information!

More on creating community

Duct Tape Marketing continues its discussion of community with the post, Contests Create Community. It points out how two organizations, the Washington D.C. Metro System and MasterCard, have asked customers to become involved with their services and promotions via contests. I was thrilled to see these companies inviting customers to be a part of their services and in such a fun way. Heck, if the D.C. Metro System can do it, so can we (and numerous libraries already have!).

Hone your sales and promotion skills!

KnowThis.com has some great new resources that will help you develop your sales and promotion techniques.

The first is an article called "Sales Training is Not Only for Salespeople." I couldn't agree more! In fact, the article even mentions librarians as an example of professionals who need top-notch sales skills: "Librarians face many challenges in getting customers to use their services when Internet access opens numerous information sources previously only available in libraries." Wow! The article outlines self-directed and trainer-directed training opportunities. If you ever have to man a table at a fair or work a service point, then you need to take a look at this!

The second resource is another installment of KnowThis.com's Principles of Marketing Tutorial called Promotion Decisions. This is a must-read for all librarians who need to get a firm grasp of or reminder of the basics. As the tutorial points out, "when non-marketers hear someone talk about "promotion" they frequently believe the person is talking about advertising. While advertising is the most visible and best understood method of promotion, it is only one of several approaches a marketer can choose to promote their products and services." That's a crucial point to remember when drafting your marketing plans! I would also suggest that this be the last thing you consider in your plans and that primary emphasis should be on the product/service you provide. Like a marketing professor of mine told me, nothing gets the word out about a bad product faster than a good promotional campaign.

The world comes to Wyoming in Wyoming libraries' new marketing campaign!

Thanks to Tina Lackey, Publications and Marketing Manager at Wyoming State Library who contacted me about her libraries' brand new marketing campaign, Bringing the World to Wyoming. The campaign aims to let people know that, "Wyoming's libraries are as expansive as the state, and as close as down the street." The Web site has information about the campaign where you can view their amazing billboard ads and radio spots. They also have an online store that offers tons of neat items like an apron, tote bags and even a doggie T-shirt!

Tina also sent a press release, which you can view here (PDF).

Thanks, Tina, and good luck!

Museums using podcasts as part of marketing arsenal

The Museum Podcasts newsletter features one museum that is employing podcasts as a marketing tool. An article describes how Panhandle-Plains Historical Musuem is reaching out to a non-traditional audience by offering podcasts that include discussions between students and curators about exhibits as well as artist interviews. The issue also includes an article about how Grace Museum is working with university students on a podcast project. Terrific inspiration for librarians here!

Transforming patrons into communities

We'd all agree that libraries are vital in sustaining and creating community, but how does a librarian actually go about "making" a community that will, in turn, sustain the library?

Duct Tape Marketing points to a post by author Guy Kawasaki that may be useful. In it, Kawasaki outlines 8 principles that are essential in community building, all of which librarians can do or do better. Some of my favorite are: Create something worth building a community around; Create an open system; and Welcome criticism. The Duct Tape Marketing post also features a podcast interview with Kawasaki on the topic.

In my own attempts at community building, I've found that creating an advisory committee has been an amazing way to harness the enthusiasm of patrons to come up with creative solutions. The students on my committee are very passionate about libraries and they never hesitate to voice their opinions, good and bad, while also sharing their excitement with other students. I don't know how I could do my work without the two-way communication and insights this little community offers. What strategies have you used to foster community in your library?

Update: A great comment on this post prompted me to clarify what I mean about creating communities from a marketing perspective. Certainly, librarians' responsibilities include reaching out into existing communities on their terms and on their turf so as to support those communities without imposing upon them. There is, I think, another kind of community as well, and that is one that derives its purpose from the library itself and members of those communities act as library advocates and advisors. I do not mean to imply that patrons must come to the library building itself in order to be a part of this community, but that they share a common passion for the library and the services it provides. Librarians can create an environment that fosters the formation of these communities by opening up lines of communication and giving people exciting news and services to rally around. In this sense, such communities sustain the library by invigorating its mission and telling others about its value. These are not artificial communities that librarians can mechanically construct, but they originate from genuine relationships between library staff and patrons and can be nurtured by creating some of the elements Kawasaki mentions in his post. At least, that's how I see it today, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well!

"My media"

"Where is the consumer? What do they want? Where do they want it? What messages will work for them?" Substitute the word "patron" for "consumer," and you might think this was a librarian talking. But, in fact, these words come from Yahoo!'s COO Daniel Rosensweig at the 2006 American Association of Advertising Agencies Media Conference and Tradeshow in Orlando, Florida. In his talk (accessible here), Rosensweig addresses many of the same topics that we librarians are contending with including user-generated content, self-publishing, consumer rating of information, information overload and the rise of communities that filter this information for their members, and the personalization of technology, among others. Speaking from a marketing perspective, Rosensweig addresses how to reach people as the advertising industry is experiencing a shift from "mass media" to what he calls "my media." In a nutshell, he sees the interaction between marketers and consumers on the Internet as a great opportunity to reach people and to gather information about what they want, using the Internet as an enormous database.

This talk is pertinent for us for a number of reasons. First, I contend that librarians concerned with marketing should pay close attention to what marketers in a business setting are up to. While we don't share the exact same concerns, talks like Rosensweig's are good reminders that we are all generally seeking to do essentially the same thing, which is to get people to use our stuff. Advertising is undergoing a major shift right now due to precisely the same changes in technology and information that we deal with (see this NYT reporter's write up of the Four A's conference for a summary of the major trends). They, like us, are trying to figure out how to communicate with people given that people are much more connected with each other than ever and there is a lot of information clutter out there. We can learn a lot from how marketers are responding to these changes, while still upholding the integrity of our own profession and recognizing our differences. Second, it was very interesting for me to hear a leader of one of our competitors talk about how Yahoo! wants to help consumers find what they need to know before they even have to ask, and also help people to find, create and enhance content. The marketing directions companies like Yahoo! take will influence the expectations patrons will have for us, and so whether or not we go down similar paths, we ought to be aware of what's going on in the larger information world.

I'd recommend taking a listen to Rosensweig's talk (it's not very long) for an interesting perspective on information and advertising. Talks from other advertisers are posted, though I haven't listened to them yet. Enjoy!

Google's long shadow

An article in yesterday's New York Times, demonstrates that librarians are not the only ones who are concerned about the impact of Google. Google also has ad execs on edge. The article discusses how Paris-based advertising and media conglomerate Publicis, opened a firm called Denuo that employs futurists whose job it is to defend Publicis and its clients from Google's entrance onto the advertising stage by anticipating trends. I had to smile at a comment from one lead futurist who the article quotes as saying, "Traditional ad companies, with their human-touch marketing skills, will always have an important edge over Google, he said. "Human beings can never be captured in an algorithm, and Google only understands algorithms," he said."

Here too is where librarians have an edge over Google. Marketing as a whole is becoming much more personalized, and librarians are experts in tailoring answers and resources for people in a very personal way through reference interviews, needs assessments, etc. Librarians, like the ad execs in the article, should scan the horizon for trends at that offer new ways to create and deliver those personalized, value-added services. If it takes a Google to shake things up to get organizations on their toes and thinking creatively about marketing, then such competition is a positive development, and not one to fear. Goolge's bold moves on numerous fronts presents a perfect opportunity to clarify and express our value, both for patrons and for ourselves.

Step up and take a swing

ALA's "Step up to the Plate @ your library" program will launch in April, but librarians can register now for free promotional tools. See the press release for details.

The connected marketing revolution

MarketingProfs features one of the best articles I've seen that summarizes the origins and techniques of viral/buzz/word-of-mouth marketing, which the author refers to collectively as "connected marketing." The article is actually an excerpt from a book by Justin Kirby called (not surprisingly) Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution. Kirby notes that a whopping 92% of Americans cite word-of-mouth as their preferred method of receiving product information. The rise in consumer power and the ready availability of communication and information tools means that the world of marketing is undergoing some major shifts, and these connected marketing strategies are vitally important for us librarians to study and use effectively.

Kirby does a great job of demonstrating what connected marketing means ("We have gone a step further and coined the umbrella term "connected marketing" to denote any kind of marketing...that creates conversations in target markets that add measurable value to a brand."), and how to measure and use it ("Even more fundamentally, connected marketing should ideally sit at the heart of the business, involving customers, employees, and consumers in product research, production trials, seeding trials, and every step of product or service development before even getting to marketing communications and promotion."). If there's one trend I've found that seems to be dominating the future (and present) marketing landscape, this is it. And, in my opinion, libraries are hubs of conversation, cooperation, and information-sharing, so these techniques are especially appealing and a natural outgrowth of our service philosophy. If you want to explore these techniques further, there is an overabundance of literature on the topic, but you may want to start with looking at the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association's site (which I mention often, appropriately enough) and KnowThis.com's section on Viral Marketing, Referral and Buzz Marketing.

Some of you may already read MarketingProf's weekly articles, but for those who don't, I try to draw out the best ones that have the most relevance for librarians, and there are always a lot of them! Here are some recent ones that are also worth reading:

• The New Rules of PR
• How to Write an Effective Survey Questionnaire (Part 1)
• How to Implement a Winning Segment Strategy (This is a decent refresher of the basics.)

Seismic demographic shifts

FastCompany.com has an interesting report on the ways in which demographics are changing in the United States and how these changes will impact our culture and, consequently, our marketing approaches. Among the future demographic shifts are the increasing number of aging Baby Boomers along with the largest population of young people (millenials) since the Boomers, an influx of Hispanics and Asians, women's increasing purchase power, and a rise in multigenerational families. Keeping up with the changes in our patron base will better enable us to anticipate changing needs and devising innovative ways to fulfill them so that libraries remain an important and relevant part of people's lives.

A view from the other side

An interesting post appeared on Library TechBytes written by PLCMC's Public Services Technology Director, Helen Bowers. In it, Helen reflects on her experiences observing a focus group discussion from the other side of the two-way mirror. She describes what patrons found to be of low value (online databases) and high value (customization), as well as some of her own realizations ("the library (in the public's mind) is out of the information business"). While applying focus group results to an entire population is quite problematic, these observations are certainly thought-provoking and highlight some areas for further investigation.

MIT is AOK

As you may be aware, MIT puts a lot of its course content on the Internet for free and is accessible to anyone through its OpenCourseWare, which is incredible for many reasons. One reason in particular is that you can find heaps of marketing know-how from MIT's Sloan School of Management. Here are some of the marketing-related course materials I found that include readings, lecture notes, and assignments (wow!):

• How to Develop "Breakthrough" Products and Services
• Listening to the Customer (there's a course in this!?!)
• Marketing Management
• Strategic Marketing Measurement
• Marketing Strategy

I particularly enjoyed scanning through some of the assigned readings for items to add to my ever-growing To Read list. I hope you will too!

The anti-list list

Ironically, I had the idea for this post before finding out that I made the LISNews 10 Blogs to Read in 2006 list, which is quite an honor for me considering all of the wonderful work librarians are doing with blogs! Thanks LISNews and all of you for reading!

Suffice it to say, not all lists are bad, but I wanted to discuss the use of lists, or checklists, when it comes to marketing. After blogging about marketing for over a year now, I've read my fair share of articles with titles like, "Five Steps to Marketing Success," "The Top 10 Tips for Targeting Markets," "7 Steps to Writing a Newsletter That Readers Can't Put Down" and on and on. In fairness, lists like this can be useful in that they attempt to break down something complex (like marketing) into something simple (like a boxed brownie recipe), and this can actually be good if it helps people to better understand and manage the complex stuff. However, the danger here is that lists make it tempting to think that if one does A, B, C, and D one will end up with a fluffy and satisfying marketing strategy, but alas, that's not the way it works. So what follows is my anti-list list of marketing tips:

1. There are no steps. This Matrix-esque tip is a reminder that marketing is above all a creative process. You can no more create lists and steps for making a good marketing plan than you can for creating an inspiring work of art. Models like the 4 P's can be useful in helping to think through your strategy, but good marketing is driven by visions, instinct, and sincere commitment to serving patrons.
2. Get to know your patrons. Better yet, get to know what it is they need from you. This doesn't require detailed strategy, just open eyes and ears and a willingness to approach patrons on their terms.
3. Live your marketing plan. Don't let your marketing plan languish on paper or (gasp!) on to-do lists. Embrace marketing as a part of your everyday work and make it come alive for patrons in all that you do.
4. Don't copy off your neighbor's work! To my knowledge, no organization or person ever became great because they wanted to be just like "the other guy." In fact, most acts of greatness arise from the desire to "go where no one has gone before." Doing so involves risk and going outside of comfort zones, not adopting a successful strategy that someone else dared to try. You can look at other marketing plans and strategies for inspiration, but don't forget what makes you and your patrons' needs unique because recognizing and capitalizing on those very things is what is most likely to bring you success.
5. Let go of attachment. Buddha said it, and it's still good advice! Don't get bogged down by a marketing plan or series of steps and procedures, since circumstances will inevitably change and what's a great strategy today may be a flop tomorrow. Being true to libraries' missions and patrons are constants, but the ways in which you realize those constants will change. The good thing about change is that it keeps you on your toes, which is crucial in the creative process (see tip #1).

There you have it, an anti-list list. The point here is to take a step back from the "marketing process" to see more as the "art of marketing." Tips, steps and lists can serve as important reminders of essential principles, but they cannot substitute for the creative thinking, inspiration, problem-solving and service that should be at the core of any marketing effort, which also just happen to be the things that you can't capture in list form.

What's this ad selling?

If you've ever watched a commercial or seen a print ad and wondered what the heck the product in question is, you may be interested in this article from Forbes called Advertising Vs. Entertaining. In it, the author expresses his frustration with "fluff" ads that try to be funny or otherwise entertaining but neglect to explain the features and benefits of the product being pushed. At the beginning of the year, marketing-types were coming out with their marketing predictions of the year, one of which was that marketers would become entertainers and that companies would put on concerts, etc. to promote their products in more subtle ways. I've noticed some libraries also getting in on the entertainment game with hosting music events in their coffee bars, etc. There's nothing wrong with this, in my opinion, so long as key messages about products and services are not left out of the equation, as the author of this article points out. I suspect that promotion efforts that try too hard to be funny are either a) hiding a flawed product and/or b) assuming that the audience wouldn't be interested in knowing about "boring" things like facts and product features. The latter is really not giving audiences enough credit. Library services may or may not be the most exciting products to sell (relatively speaking), but if they are well-designed for the right market, detailed information about them would be welcomed and greeted with enthusiasm. To use the oft-cited car buying example, I may not be enthralled by the ins and outs of air bags and seat belts in and of themselves, but if I am a consumer who is interested in these features in the context of safety, I may very well want to know the details and could care less if they are presented in a funny way. It's helpful to keep in mind that promotional efforts are intended to flaunt our great services, not hide them behind jokes (although, a sense of humor is definitely not a bad thing!)

Start a trend: Become a trend spotter

Trendwatching.com offers another installment of a series of pieces I've noted before on how to spot trends. This latest addition includes incredibly useful segments on what trends are, challenges in spotting them, the necessary tools and mindsets for uncovering them, and how to understand and apply them.

I can't say enough how important these skills are for librarians to have and how they are only going to become more important in the future as the pace of change continues to accelerate. If your marketing plan doesn't include an assessment of external threats and opportunities, then you could be in trouble. Making trend spotting a part of our daily routines and viewing the world in terms of possibilities will drive us to take on creative new challenges in our work that will keep libraries relevant no matter what changes are in store for us.

Good stuff from the blogosphere

There were a couple of good relevant-for-librarian-marketers posts on Church of the Customer recently:

The first mentions a recent study that reports 68% of people in the U.S. trust "a person like me" as their most credible source of information (I was hoping it would be librarians :) ). Most impressively, this figure is up from 20% just 3 years ago!! This is a mammoth, flashing sign to librarians that in order to be successful marketers, we need to understand and utilize word-of-mouth techniques and focus our attention on building strong, significant relationships with our patrons who will spread the word on our behalf.

The second post illustrates how work spaces can foster (or hinder) creativity. What's most interesting (other than the very cool workspace featured) is that if you go to the Idea Sandbox site mentioned in the post, you'll find the corporate site of a guy who has worked in marketing for Disney, Aramark, and Starbucks. His site is pretty neat, and provides links to creative resources and other good stuff for getting into an innovative mindset. It warrants a bookmark. And, guess what, he offers a blog too!

Blog book of interest

You may be interested in this book review from Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge. The book in question is called, Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. The reviewers state, "The authors show how blogs are now changing organizations and explains how readers can use blogs for a variety of business purposes, especially marketing and public relations." Looks like it's worth a read!

Showin' patrons some love

MarketingProfs.com put out a special Valentine's Day newsletter (cute!) with articles that may be useful in making patrons sweet on us and our libraries:

• 10 Ways to Love (and Respect) Your Customers
• Not Just Sweet Nothings: Writing Words of Love to Your Customers
• Branding: All You Need is Love [about your own personal brand]
• Marketing Challenge: Let's Give 'Em Something to Talk About

[MarketingProfs also offers an RSS feed]

A micro-marketer in a macro library: Challenges and possibilities

The word “marketer” doesn’t appear anywhere in my job title; I don’t organize massive PR events; I don’t design logos or orchestrate major branding initiatives. In fact, a lot my work doesn’t quite fall under the marketing rubric in the old-fashioned, traditional sense, and yet, despite all this, I am a marketer. More specifically, I am a micro-marketer in my macro library, and I suspect I am not alone. In effect, even if it’s not widely recognized, everyone in the library is micro-marketing all the time. However, marketing on the micro scale is fraught with challenges, but it also opens up some unique opportunities that we should seize for the benefit of the macro library.

Let me back up for a moment and explain why it is that I, and in all likelihood you, are a marketer. Modern business textbooks define the marketing concept as the idea that all of an organization’s efforts should be directed at satisfying its customers. Aren’t you, in your position, attempting to satisfy patrons in all you do (I bet you are!)? In my work, I have been charged specifically with designing services [products] for undergraduates [target market] and promoting [advertising, etc.] those services to them. This charge as written is one way of saying I'm a librarian-marketer without really saying it, and I’m sure most if not all of you have some similar responsibilities in your job descriptions. Whether we know it (or like it) or not, we are all a part of the wide world of marketing, but for those of you who are like me and live near the bottom of the library hierarchy, there is very little we can do to direct the efforts of the entire organization, as the marketing concept definition suggests. So, for those of us who are in this marketing quandary, here are some of the challenges we face and possibilities we can seize:

• Challenge: I can’t decree marketing strategies. I can’t say to my colleagues, “this is how we should position ourselves, this is how we should brand ourselves, and this is who we should target,” and so on. Possibility: I can decree marketing strategies for my area of responsibility. We can decree, for example, that we will give the absolute best service possible in all of our areas of responsibility be they reference work, collection development, or technical service. We can set high standards for our performance, which make our services [products] the best they can be, which is the most critical marketing task there is. We can also devise mini-marketing plans for ourselves and for the tasks spelled out in our job descriptions.


• Challenge: I can’t define the mission or brand. Most of us inherit the mission, vision and values of our libraries. Hopefully, those values were an important part of why we chose to work at our libraries in the first place, however, we can’t just opt to alter them when we see fit. Possibility: I can live the mission or brand. If your mission emphasizes providing equal access, you can make it a point to reach out to underserved groups, for example. A mission/brand is only as good as the people who live it and fulfill its promises. A lofty vision that is not sincerely put into practice is easily seen through and disregarded.


• Challenge: I can’t make library-wide decisions. Closely related to Challenge #1, I can’t decide for the library what path it should take and what the priorities should be. Possibility: I can inform library-wide decisions. The low-man-on-the-totem-pole position gives us a nice vantage point and allows us to interact with and observe our patrons on a daily basis. All of these points of contact grant us valuable insights into our patrons’ needs, which we can collect and communicate to those responsible for decision-making on a larger scale. To do this, we must be active observers and make it a point to get out into our communities and talk with our supervisors.


• Challenge: I can’t determine what services the library provides. While some of us can design services that fall under our purview, for the most part we inherit the suite of services already in place and library-wide service design and management is out of our hands. Possibility: I can provide tangible evidence of service quality. Library services are intangible products. As such, every piece of tangible evidence patrons perceive reflect on the services we give. The way we answer the phone, our facial expressions, class handouts, the cleanliness of our facilities, the quality of our signage and furnishings all influence how patrons view the services we offer, and so we need to make sure each is well-managed and well-maintained.


• Challenge: I don’t have much influence on the management of library activities on the big scale. Some of us have very little bearing on how our libraries carry out their business and how they manage operations. Possibility: I have a lot of influence on the management of library activities on the small scale, and small things count big! Oftentimes, it is the smallest of things that make the biggest impressions on patrons. Thank you notes, timely follow-ups, an extra effort when patrons are in a bind, and informal lunches can mean the difference between patrons’ apathy and enthusiasm toward the library.

I realize that not all of you have these same exact concerns to the same degree, but the point here is to not be discouraged when you feel microscopic in the macro library. There are always avenues, however small, to put sound marketing principles into practice. And, who knows, it might be those very micro-marketing efforts that have the greatest impact on the library as a whole.

I’d like to hear about other challenges/possibilities you perceive, and I’d also be interested in what challenges/possibilities those higher up the totem pole experience as well.

Marketing is more than you think...A LOT more!

According to BusinessWeek Online author Steve McKee, marketing isn't just something, it's everything! McKee's opinion piece discusses how the best laid marketing plans can be undermined if they're not followed through in every level of an organization. In one example that hit home for me, he discusses how he noticed a Crystal Springs Bottled Water truck driving along spewing toxic fumes, which countered the company's own clear, crisp and sparkling clean brand image (I've had similar experiences with extremely rude, reckless drivers cutting off potential customers in company vehicles! Argh!).

I was happy to see this article because it demonstrates that marketing isn't something you do, it's a way of being in an organization. I think about how libraries add coffee bars and cushy chairs to create welcoming environments, but what good are those efforts if staff are not equally welcoming and our buildings are laden with "Do Not" signs? To be effective, a marketing orientation needs to permeate the entire library organization in everything we do. All of our actions, promotions, and services are embedded with messages, each signaling something about who we are to our patrons. It's important that one aspect is not contradicting what another is saying, or what we intend to say, so that patrons can instantly identify with our libraries and our missions.

Camp out, read a book

A school librarian at Dade County Elementary School advertised her library's book fair with the theme Camp Read A Book by filling the school with the sounds of the great outdoors. Inside the library, she set up a camp scene complete with a tent, camping chairs, a grill and a hammock. The idea behind this advertising campaign was to promote turning off the TV and video games in favor of reading a book.

Putting the "I" in branding

An article from Forbes.com today called Brand Me reveals what it is that teens want in a brand - individuality. Teens are no longer interested in what's cool, they want what's "them." This means that companies are opening up the marketing process to teens and allowing them to take ownership of their brands. As the article describes how companies are reaching out to today's teens, "The key to going after those dollars? Playing to teens' interactive desires by involving them in the marketing process, according to Marshall Cohen, chief analyst with the NPD Group. "They're engaging the brand rather than endorsing the brand."" Because of this, marketers are shunning the old standby of mass marketing campaigns, and instead holding local events and allowing teens to customize products (check out the slide show Teen Brands: Now and Then for an illustration of these new strategies).

Libraries too can (and many do) open up their brand to patrons who crave a personalized experience and a greater relationship with our institutions. I think marketing is all about relationships and every interaction with our patrons is an opportunity to "live the brand" (to use marketing-speak) and make meaningful connections. Ideally, these relationships should be two-way dialogues that foster conversation and community.

Short-term blog for long-term marketing gain

There was some interest in our library's Black History Month Blog project, which debuted last year, so for those of you who are interested in this kind of project from a marketing standpoint, I thought I'd give you a brief overview now that it's underway again.

Our Black History Month Blog highlights all kinds of information related to Black History Month, including items from our collection, campus events, biographies, television programming, web sites, a "Picture of the Week," exhibits, etc. in celebration of Black History Month. Library staff are the main authors of the posts, but we have made an effort to reach out to the campus by contacting departments and student organizations who may have something to share on the topic and we invited them to draft posts or add their comments per our guidelines.

As far as the marketing value goes, I think the jury is still out on how effective this approach is, but I think it has a lot of potential. After heading this project up for the second year, I can say that it usually starts out slow with little involvement from the campus community, but as the month progresses and there is greater awareness and word-of-mouth about the blog, we tend to get more participation. I was pleased to see that this year, I had some immediate responses from student groups who wanted to share information about upcoming events. The drawback of this short-term approach is that as momentum builds, the project comes to an end. However, there are also lots of positives: A short-term project could be ideal for librarians who don't have the staff or resources to commit to a long-term blog; choosing a timely topic can demonstrate the library's relevance; the topical approach lends itself well to encouraging conversation. Last year, I talked to some students about how they found out about the blog, and they told me that their professors mentioned it in classes and directed them to check it out. This was very encouraging to me and demonstrated that the blog generated some buzz.

In terms of promoting the blog itself, a button that links to it is displayed prominently on the VCU homepage (you may need to hit refresh a couple of time to see it on the bottom of the page), on the VCU Libraries page, our Black History Month events page, and there is an RSS feed to it on our various profile pages (like this one) and related research guides (like African American History). We also promote it on listservs and the usual stuff.

While I didn't initially approach this project as a marketing tool (although I did try to employ some marketing concepts in working on it), a short-term, topical blog could certainly be a marketing avenue worth exploring. If you would like any more information about this project, you know where to reach me.

Worth another look: Marketing Malpractice

A while back, I mentioned an article from the Harvard Business Review by authors Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook and Taddy Hall called, "Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure." The authors' basic premise is that marketing should center around the job consumers want done for them, rather than the consumers themselves. I've had a chance to read the article in its entirety and am convinced that the ideas presented are worthwhile for marketing libraries. I'm so excited by the possibilities the authors discuss that I'm giving the article a second look in this post, but hope to continue to explore this different way of thinking about marketing. Here are some of the ideas from the piece that I'm taking away with me and why I'm enthusiastic about this approach:

• Marketing by the job would mean that the center of the marketing mix would be a particular service, rather than a particular target market. Therefore, all marketing efforts should seek to better understand what it is that people want to get done, instead of the demographics of our patrons, etc. However, it appears that we would still have to have a good understanding of our patrons and their behaviors so that we can fully understand, as the authors propose, the social, functional and emotional dimensions the job is needed to fulfill. Doing so means radically rethinking how we go about segmenting markets and how we approach market research. As the authors simply state, "Turn off the computer, get out of the office, and observe."
• The authors argue that people hire products/services NOT organizations. I like this way of thinking because it prompts us to continually examine the value of our services, rather than rest on the status quo. This line of thinking calls into question those who believe the library should continue to exist just because it has in the past. Instead, we need to prove our value daily by helping people get jobs done.
• According to the article, brand equity (the value of a brand in the minds of consumers) is built when consumers find a product that does the job and talk about it with others. Brand equity is not built by advertising! As the authors assert in one example that, "Advertising clarified the nature of the job and helped more people realize that they had the job to do...The fact is that most great brands were built before their owners started advertising." For me, this is a crucial point. Marketing isn't about newsletters, e-mail lists, or posters, it's about services. In order for the library to build a better brand as has been discussed a lot in library circles these days, we should not be looking at ad campaigns and slogans, but at what services we have to offer and how we can make them better and more relevant.

I hope if you get a chance, you will review this article and come to your own conclusions about its merit for libraries. This is a new way of approaching marketing in that it alters some of the most basic ingredients in the marketing mix and, in my mind, encourages us to focus on the most important marketing goals without getting sidetracked by irrelevant details.

Empowering fans through funnel flipping

It's All Good points to a free e-book by marketing guru Seth Godin called Flipping the Funnel: Give Your Fans the Power to Speak Up (see the Non Profits edition). I haven't read it yet, but based on other Godin works I've read, he's very entertaining and innovative with ideas that have great potential for libraries. In this 18-page booklet, Godin explores the use of social communication technology to gather feedback from users (marketing is a two-way street, after all!).

The Super Bowl of advertising

Whether you root for the Seahawks or the Steelers, you can always cheer for the great ads that are interrupted by the occasional field goal or touchdown (just kidding, football fans!). The Super Bowl offers a perfect opportunity to see what some of the best brains in advertising have come up with and to learn from them. Try keeping an eye out for who the target audience may be and how advertisers try to lure them in, including what language, imagery, social references and emotional hooks they employ.

SuperBowl-Ads.com has a sneak peek at upcoming ads and the latest news. Or, you can stop on over to adverlicio.us for its online collection of Superbowl ads (via AdRants). TV advertisers are a little nervous these days about reaching the masses they were once able to, so looking at news coverage of their evolving strategies like this use of microsites as extensions to commercials can inspire some creative ideas.

You may also want to read how Steelers fans are taking the marketing ball on behalf of their team and running with it by creating their own photos, videos and slideshows! (Oh, the possibilities for libraries!).

Have a good weekend and happy ad-watching!

What's on the horizon for academic types

What's on the horizon in academia, you ask? The 2006 Horizon Report (PDF) tries to answer with its projections about what emerging technologies will have the most impact on teaching and learning in higher education. For you academic-types in the audience, this report helps to inform our marketing efforts, and it's just plain interesting material for all librarians to look over. The report describes four key trends having to do with the increasing acceptance of social computing, mobile and personal technology for service delivery, individualization of services, and the need for collaboration.

[Thanks to Steven Bell's post on the ACRLog for pointing out this helpful research! You should see his original post for his comments about the lack of librarian involvement on the Horizon Project Advisory Board that put together this report, and his call to action. A good example of the need to market ourselves/services on a large scale!]

2006 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award winners are in!

ALA announced the winners of the 2006 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award. Winning entries will be on display at ALA in New Orleans. Looks like some very creative stuff here! Congratulations to the winners.

Extreme Makeover: Library Edition - now online

OCLC's Community site now links to talks from the OCLC Extreme Makeover Symposium. You can also access its reports and Advocacy resources here too. For details, see It's All Good.

A new take on teens

Brand New Day points out a new study carried out by an ad agency on teens. Some of the results may surprise you. (Did you know, for example, that, globally, teens' #1 priority is spending more time with Mom?!). I don't know anything about the ad company that conducted the research or their methodology, so you may want to approach the results with a critical eye, but they certainly are interesting!

What's in a service?

Two helpful articles appeared today from MarketingProfs that are specifically aimed at service providers:

• Four Factors That Distinguish Services Marketing - All librarians should know the fundamental characteristics of services marketing as compared with product marketing. There are important differences and this article lists each and gives some good advice about how to manage them.
• Marketing Challenge: How to Sell Services - Readers sent in their replies to help one marketer who had trouble adjusting from product sales to service sales. The advice they give is sound for librarians too!

Remember: memories make great marketing

A North Carolina library is celebrating 100 years of serving its community. As part of the celebration, patrons gathered to recount their memories of the library and what it means to them, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. These walks down memory lane were videotaped and "Library Memories" cards were placed throughout the branches so others can share their experiences.

Patrons' stories are among the most compelling marketing messages you can share. Honest, heartfelt experiences from one patron to another are much more effective than library-sponsored promotions alone. You may want to consider making space on your Web page or newsletters for patrons' quotes, comments, and stories about what the library means to make your marketing more compelling.

Avoid a marketing boo-boo - Use a brand-aid!

An ask-the-experts feature in today's USA Today called, Time for Some Brand Aid, has great insights for those of you seeking to develop a strong brand identity (and who isn't'?). The author, lawyer Steven Strauss, gives 4 very good steps toward creating a recognizable brand:

The first step is to understand how you are currently perceived. For this, be sure to check out OCLC's perception survey results.

The second step is to define your unique selling proposition. Libraries offer so much that can't be duplicated in the same way elsewhere, but my sense is that we're not doing the best job of explaining how we're different. It's nowhere near good enough to just try to imitate Google or anyone else as a marketing strategy, but we need to hone in on what makes a library a library and make those our selling points.

Step three, according to Strauss is to figure out what our clients' expectations are. I recently had an interesting conversation with a marketing professor here at VCU about the pros and cons of ServQual (from which the widely-used library survey LibQual is derived). One of the weaknesses of ServQual that concerns marketers is that while it does a good job of highlighting the gaps between expectations and actual service experience, it doesn't weight those expectations so it's difficult to know how important a particular expectation is. Furthermore, it doesn't account for the fact that some expectations are not realistic to begin with. So, I would add that in addition to identifying and meeting patrons' expectations, we may also need to readjust some of those expectations that are unrealistic.

Step four is about making our brand personal so that patrons can identify with actual human beings rather than a large organization. (Right on!)

Strauss makes some other good points that are definitely worth saving and using, so give it a read.

K.I.S.S.

The advice "Keep It Simple Stupid" has served many a marketer well throughout the ages. After reading this article in Fast Company (via Micro Persuasion) back in November about how Google and other tech companies have been thriving by presenting the complex as seriously simple, I decided to give some thought as to whether or not we librarians are really the "simplifiers" of the information world and if this is one of our best strategic marketing advantages. Now that I've seen this concept tossed around on the ACRLog (see Sense and Simplicity via this post about rebranding), I thought it was time I took a stab at my own post about the subject.

Since this cropped up on my radar in November, I've been keeping an eye out for how simplicity manifests itself in the marketplace. On my way home during the holidays, the airport terminal featured an ad from Panasonic (I think) that said something about simplicity with a picture of a baby and the product (ok, I was rushing to catch a flight and I haven't been able to find that ad anywhere since, so if anyone has seen it, please let me know!). More recently, you've probably all seen Citibank's new Citi simplicity Card, which offers, well, simplicity, in credit services. Heck, there's even a book out there called Simplicity Marketing. Needless to say, the idea of simplicity is not new to marketing and it's becoming increasingly compelling as our lives in general get more complex.

But is simplicity what librarianship is all about? Is our job to present the complex world of information searching as something so simple a baby can do it? And, is doing so ultimately a good marketing strategy? I don't think so. In fact, marketing in this way could harm the profession. After all, if we strive to make our services appear Google-esque, we could be obfuscating a big chunk of our competitive advantage - our collections' depth and sophisticated organization. The complexities of our databases and services are what give users control over their searching. I'm not saying that we need to make our offerings overly-complicated and intimidating, but that we need to let patrons' needs guide what shape our marketing takes and they don't all want simple. (It's true!)

When people embark on the hunt for information, there are a lot of factors that dictate how much info they want and how detailed they want it to be (motivation, experience level, etc.). Novices, most of the time, will want simple. And not only that, but because they lack experience and everything that comes with it (vocabularies, mental models and so on), they probably can't process anything too detailed. For example, I'll probably be looking for a new car in the near future, and when I go out looking for information about cars, I won't even look at engine specs and all of that, because, to me, it's incomprehensible. On the other hand, most experts dig the details. They don't shy away from complexities, they dive right into them. And, because they've been around the block, they can actually understand what they're taking in. I think of hardcore Star Trek fans here. You know, the ones who can speak Klingon, discuss the features of hundreds of different phasers and recite episode scripts by heart. No amount of minutiae is too minute for those folks.

Does all of this translate to library services marketing? I think it does. When I first began teaching library instruction to new Honors students, I approached them like most other students new to the library. I didn't want to overwhelm them so I kept things very simple. InfoTrac-esque, if you will. Well, I soon learned that simple doesn't cut it with these kids. They were bored to tears and had a been there, done that attitude. I could sense that they were not impressed with what the library had to offer because they'd seen and mastered it all before and we weren't giving them anything new to sink their teeth into. So, in future classes, I started throwing out all the bells and whistles. I've heard audible "oohs" and "ahhs" when I've shown databases like PubMed where they could use MeSH headings, combine sets and explode terms. They ate it up! They were expert enough to be able to build on the basics and craved more depth from their instruction. For this group, the fact the librarians understood and could help others master the complex was a huge selling point for library services. I learned then and there to never assume that users want simple. They want to achieve a sense of satisfaction and confidence that they can accomplish what they need to do at the level they want to do it. I also suspect that my Honors kids got a bit of an ego boost by getting an inside scoop on how the databases "really" work. (Buyer behavior lit is full of great articles on this kind of thing, by the way).

Complex is not bad when it gets you where you need to go. In fact, the complicated aspects of information searching can actually be attractive to those seeking challenge and greater control. Simple, on the other hand, can be tragically inadequate when we have complex requirements and high expectations. In order to market our services effectively, our approach should be sufficiently layered to accommodate every task from the simple to the complex and should showcase our expertise in both arenas. It's that simple.

WOMBAT presentations now online for you WOMers

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association recently completed its WOMBAT (Word of Mouth Basic Training) conference and you can now get the presentations free online without registration! [By the way, isn't it nice to know that librarians aren't the only ones who are acronym-happy?!]

I've breezed through some of these and I can tell you that there is plenty to be found here that is relevant to library-types. There are heaps of how-to's and a cache of case studies. Here are just some topics to whet your appetite for WOM goodness:

• How to Use Online Feedback To Improve Your Marketing
• How to Motivate Fans, Advocates, and Evangelists
• How to Create Great Blogs That Get People Talking
• Word of Mouth 101: Core Strategies and Tactics
• Measurement 1: Measuring the Impact of Word of Mouth
• How To Use Amazing Customer Experience and Product Design To Get People Talking

You can get to all the presentations by following the WOMBAT post and using the links to Day One and Day Two agendas. Bon appetit!

Rebranding an industry - OCLC symposium scoops

The Shifted Librarian blogged about the OCLC Symposium: Extreme Makeover - Rebranding an Industry with highlights from the talks. Very interesting and nice to see librarians taking some cues from the larger marketplace. Also, check out other bloggers' takes on the event. From what I gather, OCLC will also be making the symposium available via podcast for those of us who couldn't be there.

Free market research reports, anyone?

KnowThis.com has free, I repeat free, market research reports and other research material listed on its site. Beginning this month, KnowThis features a new report each week. This week's featured report is A Comparison of Wal-Mart and Target Shoppers. While this one may be off the mark for librarian purposes (albeit very interesting!), it may be a good idea to check in on this listing when it's updated to see if anything relevant to us is featured. As always, you can peruse KnowThis' Market Research, Internet Marketing Research page for useful resources.

Update: The PDF for the Wal-Mart/Target report is linked from the Focus on Market Research Reports page. They just updated the weekly report. Now, there is one up about Hispanic retail shoppers. Very neat!

Going the way of the Dodo

The hubbub in the marketing world is all about the demise of traditional advertising and the rise of more targeted alternatives. Take a gander at the NYT account of the recent Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) conference (WOMMA's WOMBAT blog has some conference scoops too) and this ClickZ article on below-the-line marketing for just some examples of what people are talking about. Librarians are natural connectors and could (and do) excel at using some of these less-traditional methods.

Hitting a moving target

The New York Times featured an article yesterday that everyone should read called, A Generation Serves Notice: It's a Moving Target. It's about young 20-somethings who are not only adept at using technology, but who also manage to skillfully elude traditional marketers. The article also describes how technology is changing the social culture of young people and what impact that has on marketing. Very interesting and important since we librarians are serving and will continue to serve patrons with this kind of intimate relationship with technology and all of the social and psychological implications it entails.

Be your own trendspotter

Trendwatching.com's recent newsletter gives you the tips and digital tools you need to spot trends amongst consumers (patrons). The object of the game is not to spy, but to become more keenly aware of patron's perspectives. By building your own Virtual Anthropology shortlist, you can keep your eyes open to what's going on "out there" (you know, outside of library?). Give it a try!

People judge web sites quickly (as if we didn't know)

I'm sure most of us in the library biz know that most people make very quick decisions in judging Web sites, but did you know how quick? Turns out, they spend one-twentieth of a second (according to CNN report of a recent study)! One twentieth! That, says CNN, is less than half the time it takes to blink. The marketing implications of this finding are substantial: How can you prove to patrons in one-twentieth of a second that your web site is a good place to be and worth at least a couple of blinks? Unfortunately, the study didn't come to definitive conclusions on what makes a good site, but clearly aesthetics an important draw for Web surfers.

Where ISN'T Google?

Google is not only a force to be reckoned with in the library world, but it is making huge strides into the advertising world too. I bring this up as an FYI for those of you who are more broadly interested in Google and/or marketing, but the buzz is that Google is getting in the game of not only selling web ads, but now magazine and newspaper, radio and possibly TV ad space (see BusinessWeek for the full scoop). Because Google is such a prominent player in our information landscape, it might be worth keeping an eye on its ventures since they may become important developments for our marketing efforts and for our patrons.

[Update: Here's another example of how Google is making waves in advertising.]

Pushin' and pullin' - getting services to patrons

In the never-ending challenge of getting products and services to the end consumer (in our case, getting services to patrons), marketers rely on two distribution strategies: push and pull.

Pushing products involves persuading other people in your distribution channel to make a product available (no end-customers involved). Example: Widgets Inc. marketers give Retail Store Inc. a portion of profits if it stocks its shelf full of New Widget Thing.

A pull strategy means appealing to consumers directly so that their demand persuades retail outlets carry a product. Example: Customers get coupon for a tube of Revolutionary New Toothpaste and go to Grocery Store Inc. to find it (they'd be pretty disappointed if it weren't there!).

You get the idea. So why should we care?

It may be important to think about whether or not to use a push or pull strategy depending on who you're trying to reach. As an example from here in a university setting, my target group is undergraduates and I spend a lot of time reaching out to them directly. I go to fairs, attend events, and design new services for them. But, after a while of doing this, I started thinking, why do students use our services? Answer: To complete homework assignments (yes, for other things too but this is a biggie). Who gives them these assignments? Answer: Their instructors. Therefore, to get more students to use our services, I should appeal to instructors (middlemen) to create more library research assignments (a push strategy). Make sense? It does to me, which is why I hope to focus more of my efforts on targeting faculty who work closely with undergraduates, but you can also see how this might work in other contexts. In public libraries, the most obvious example I can think of would be appealing to parents to reach their children.

Sometimes, the best way to get to your target patrons is through their middlemen.

Don't focus on the customer/patron (?!)

A fascinating article ("Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure" from the Harvard Business Review) was discussed in Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge recently and it is definitely worth a read! The author, Professor Theodore Levitt, [CORRECTION: The authors of the excerpted HBR article are Professor Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook and Taddy Hall. The authors were inspired by Prof. Levitt's statement, "People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!", which prompted them to write this article. My apologies for any confusion.] challenges the intuitive assumption marketers make that they should focus on market segments and the consumers that they consist of when devising or revising new products and services. As user-centered librarians, this seems like common sense. Of course, we want to know all about what makes our patrons tick so that we can serve them better. Well, Levitt the authors tell us to refocus our attention from consumers themselves to the jobs they want to get done. In other words, according to Levitt's their logic, we shouldn't be designing services to fit the 18-24 year-old, male, commuter student demographic, but rather to fit what people who walk through our doors and use our stuff want to get done at the library.

The article cites an example of one researcher who studied what "jobs" customers wanted to get done by purchasing milk shakes. He came up with two results: 1. Customers wanted to keep themselves entertained and full on their drive into work and 2. Customers wanted to appease their children. Knowing this, the restaurant could make product changes to accommodate the jobs milk shakes are "hired" to do. For job #1, the restaurant can make getting shakes on the go easier and make the shakes more entertaining by thickening them and adding fruit (if this makes no sense, read the article for a full explanation). Furthermore, making these changes requires that marketers understand the social, functional and emotional dimensions the job is meant to fulfill.

This idea has important implications as we think about marketing libraries. Of course, we do some of this already without necessarily thinking about patrons' needs in terms of "jobs," but we do tend to go along with the traditional marketing techniques of dividing up our target populations into segments instead of jobs sought. If you go along with this idea (and I think it has merit), then it would entail examining what patrons are trying to accomplish by using the library instead of who our patrons are. Hmm...food for thought! Also, Levitt the authors note, that this approach results in broader markets than those defined by product-categories. Just think of all the jobs patrons seek at the library that we can reasonably imagine (socializing, quiet reflection, doing homework, educating children, learning new skills...) and you can see the large number of service implications this approach entails. I'll have to pull the full article and give this some more thought, but if you have ideas to share, I'd love to hear them!

To blog or not to blog, that is the marketing question

With rise of all kinds of social technologies, companies (and libraries, I might add) are trying to figure out how best to take advantage of the opportunities they present. Articles on the topic pour in everyday. Here's some of the more interesting ones I've collected lately:

The Boston Globe online summarizes steps companies like Disney have taken into the wild world of podcasting in its article "Companies Catch on to Podcasts' Marketing Power." In the piece, experts suggest that to be effective, podcasts can't just be press releases. Rather, they need to demonstrate an understanding of the audience and teach them something of value (and it doesn't hurt to be entertaining!).

In destinationCRM.com's article, "A New Marketing Medium," the author describes how companies are using blogs to open up the lines of communication between them and their customers. As the author states, "Companies can use blogging to indirectly fine-tune their marketing messages through social interactions. With other customer communication avenues, companies may be using the wrong language or addressing the wrong audience, but blogging enables faster feedback and a more strategic understanding of where the market is heading." Most interestingly, one expert gives 4 steps for achieving success with blogs. The first 3 are what you might expect (find influencers, listen to people, engage people in dialogue), but the 4th is especially exciting: give people authority - a scary prospect for many companies and libraries too! So, who's doing it right? One expert claims General Motors does because the company listens to customer concerns and explains in detail, from the company's perspective, why problems exist, what's being done to solve them, as well as revealing some inside scoops.

So, is blogging for everybody? Not necessarily, some say. Bad candidates are those who are very limited in what they can say, those who want complete control, and those who must wait a long time for approval to post. The MarketingProfs article does a good job of pointing out many of the considerations potential bloggers should make.

For you librarians who have already taken the blogging plunge, check out this MarketingProfs article about how to keep your content fresh!

Doing a good job of using these kinds of social software can generate new relationships with our patrons and teach us a lot about problems people have and how we can address them!

[Update: There are many libraries out there that are blogging/podcasting. For examples of blogs, check out this list from Blogwithoutalibrary.net. Ohio University and Western Kentucky University Libraries are but a couple of libraries that have ventured into podcasting in the form of library tours!]

Kiddin' around

The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) is putting together a Kids! @ your library campaign that will provide promotional items, sample press materials and other resources to get all school-age children into the library. The campaign is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2006, but a Campaign Fact Sheet (PDF) is available now and a KIDS! @ your library program is set for the 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans on Sunday, June 25, 2006, 1:30-3:30 p.m. Check out ALSC's site for more details.

More on Marketing 2.0

As you may recall, I recently blogged about Advertising 2.0 and social networks. Since then, I've stumbled upon an plethora of interesting examples and discussions on this issue that I thought I'd pass along.

WOMBAT has a couple interesting "how-to" articles about word-of-mouth and social technologies. Brand-building Through Converts and Fanatics gives 5 tips for creating fans around brands [libraries], including how to create communities and interaction. The other article, Listening to the Blogosphere, provides another set of 5 tips that allow marketers [librarians] to get a feel for what people think about their products/services. Reference librarian Amanda Etches-Johnson of blogwithoutalibrary.net is exploring this market research opportunity via Google's Blog Search as she describes in her post. Basically, she keeps an ear to the ground by setting up a search for instances of the word "library" in the titles of posts and retrieves them through an RSS feed. Neat!

Aaron Schmidt of walkingpaper.org has taken Marketing 2.0 a step further by attempting to integrate his library into the online social community MySpace. In his post, he describes his library's foray into MySpace and the pros and cons of doing so. VERY interesting stuff! I hope he'll keep us updated on how this initiative goes.

If you still need proof as to whether Marketing 2.0 matters, academic-types may be interested to know that organizers for the HigherEd BlogCon slated for April 2006 are seeking programs on Marketing and related subjects that concern social networks, consumer-generated media and evaluation of blogging and podcasting efforts among other topics 2.0-ish. (Here's the call for presenters, if you'd like to share your marketing know-how).

While I'm not a huge fan of the term "Marketing 2.0," I am a fan of the possibilities these techniques present so I'll be sure to keep an eye on these trends.

Feed me, Seymore!

For those of you who may be wondering, there have been some issues with one of my main feeds. Namely, it doesn't work. I have no idea why Bloglines is having trouble with it, but you may want to subscribe to this feed to get around the problem. Thanks!

Beyond puppies and babies

An opinion piece in BrandWeek yesterday asks (and answers) the question, "Is advertising too emotional?" The author argues that yes, advertising has gone overboard with inducing feeling but not backing those feelings up with product information that results in sales. I'll admit that I'm a sucker for an ad with puppies (I know I'm not alone here), but I rarely remember what those kinds of ads were for to begin with. One of the reasons advertisers are so keen on emotion is that they hope to use positive emotion as a sort of mental shortcut for consumers. So that when consumers see an adorable puppy, they will think: puppies=good and cute=warm fuzzy feelings=warm fuzzy feelings about product=I will buy the product. This is an oversimplification of a piece of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (shown here) that says there are basically two ways people decide on whether or not they're going to buy a product: 1. Through careful thought and analysis of product benefits and features or 2. By relying on a shortcut (a heuristic) like puppies. When consumers are either unable or unwilling to think too much about whether or not they'll buy a product (when's the last time you carefully weighed the pros and cons of bar soap?), option #2 may be a good bet. But, as the BrandWeek article points out, it may be possible to go too far.

The so-what part: When creating library ads, you may want to think about how motivated or able your patrons are to evaluate your service. Detailed service descriptions may be more palatable to the experienced researcher than the novice. Also, you may want to read over the BrandWeek article, which poses some good points about how to both communicate the value of your service while not boring people to tears.

IFLA deadline fast approaching!

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions seeks applications for its 2006 International Marketing Award. The Award aims to:

• Reward the best library marketing project worldwide each year
• Encourage marketing in libraries
• Give libraries the opportunity to share marketing experiences

The deadline, January 15, 2006 is coming up soon! Details can be found on IFLA's site. Good luck!

The year's best marketing sites

KnowThis.com has unveiled its 2006 picks for best marketing Web sites (KnowThis.com is still at the top of the heap for me). Some sites were on the list last year, but there are lots of newbies and sites that have gotten a heck of a lot better since the previous year. Read 'em, enjoy 'em, and bookmark 'em!

Advertising has a 2.0 version too!

You have probably all heard about the Web 2.0, but advertising has a newer, better version too! Marketers are keenly aware that traditional approaches (TV and radio spots, mailings, banner ads and the like) are not cutting the mustard anymore. Instead, marketers are looking to enter into the vast social networks, on and offline, that are bubbling up thanks to people's almost constant connectivity. What's the Advertising 2.0 approach then? Word-of-mouth. Take a look at this article from ClickZ. It's a brief but very good take on what exactly word-of-mouth means and how it is scalable, remixable, and encourages participation. The author, Dave Evans, asserts that the time has come to take advantage of social networks to get honest marketing messages through the clutter by working with consumers. I agree that librarians should also make their presence known in these social circles to remain relevant. I'd also recommend you read the Evans' previous article on the consideration-cycle marketing, which focuses on post-purchase word-of-mouth and how customers generate their own marketing messages. As Evans states, "Ultimately, it's about reaching consumers through an invited presence in social networks. Marketers must launch great products that offer true value and engage potential customers in genuine conversation at the critical consideration point in the buying cycle. Combine consideration-cycle marketing with your current programs, and collect the dividends of a connected world." I'll be very interested to see how librarians make use of these techniques as advertising evolves.

Marketing is code for customer service

It's a perennial problem of mine that when I mention my interest in marketing to my colleagues, and even non-librarian types, I notice that many of them will cringe a little, roll their eyes slightly, and then nonchalantly shuffle away. Of course, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but I have definitely noticed a hesitancy to embrace the marketing concept, and it's noticeable enough that it makes me wish that there was another less loaded term for what is nothing more than just a strategic, common sense way to address people's needs.

But what, really, is the word "marketing" loaded with? For librarians, I think it might sound too sales-ish, which is a direct affront to our core values of free and equal access to anyone and everyone regardless of their social or economic status. We don't sell things, we provide services after all. Right?...Wrong! OF COURSE we sell things! We sell the idea that information literacy is an important skill to have; we sell our expertise as information providers; we sell our values of privacy and equal access to information; we sell our buildings as community hubs and we sell our collections. We sell all the time, everyday, and we even profit from it. We count our profits in terms of gate counts, circulation, positive word-of-mouth, repeat users and yes, even money in the form donations and special taxes. Moreover, there's nothing wrong with this. You can call "selling" persuading, convincing, or educating, and you can refer to "profits" as higher usage, bigger budgets, or an information-literate public, but it's all the same thing.

Still, this makes some feel a bit icky, so maybe we do need a better word. When I think of marketing, I think of service. Marketing begins and ends and begins again with understanding what patrons need. Then, it involves finding the best way to fill those needs and explaining (advertising or promoting) how we can help. This is serving the public, and it's noble work. It also happens to be marketing, but we can go ahead and call it customer service if that means we can openly talk about it without sacrificing any warm fuzzies. Or, we can embrace marketing for what it is and be proud of it. After all, if people don't understand what we do or why it's beneficial to them, they'll stop coming in our doors. If that happens, libraries, just like any other organization, will be out of business.

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to dismiss anyone who is critical of some of the really awful marketing practices that go on out there (and there are plenty!), but it doesn't have to be a necessary evil. Marketing can actually be a public good when it focuses on best interests of those we serve, which is really what marketing is all about anyway.

The marketing crystal ball says...

What would the new year be without a bevy marketing predictions? No fun! That's what! Fortunately, Forbes.com writers pitched in with their predictions for 2006 with one writer offering forecasts in the areas of advertising and marketing (here). Some of the standouts for librarians are:

• Marketers as entertainers: Marketers will create movies, videos, concerts, you name it, to grab people's attention. I can believe this one. Just think about all the time we spend trying to plan entertaining programs, tutorials, blogs and podcasts!
• Marketers will expose their brands in entertaining ways. I blogged about this trend, Tryvertising, a while back. An example of this would be pushing kitchen appliances via a cooking class. There may be potential here for librarians to insert their services in unexpected places!
• Marketers will take advantage of social networking sites like MySpace.com to engineer word-of-mouth campaigns There's already a huge interest in social software amongst librarian-types. Aaron Schmidt had a nice post about this topic a while back along with some ways librarians can get going with these tools.

Happy New (Marketing) Year!

Marketing library services bibliography

Elsevier has put out a terrific annotated bibliography on the topic of library marketing. Marketing Library Resources: An Annotated Bibliography (2005, 20p., PDF) describes helpful literature on the following topics:

• Strategic Planning
• Environmental Scanning
• Customer Service, Media Relations and Public Relations
• Outreach and Liaison Efforts
• Marketing Digital Resources
• Development and Fundraising
• Relationship Marketing
• Evaluation

Good stuff! Many thanks to Steven Bell for passing this along!

Saying one thing but doing another?

All of us who have conducted focus groups and the like know that the information gathered from those sessions can be highly suspect. People are not always consciously aware of why they make some consumption decisions, which makes getting at perceptions and motives tricky business. Also, it's easy for participants to say one thing even though their behavior says something very different. One advertising agency network is taking a stab at addressing these shortcomings using a sociological approach. DDB has recently launched SignBank, a service that collects and processes bits and pieces of cultural change and their meaning in order to tease out trends. According to the New York Times, trained DDB "sign-spotters" get out into their communities and report back trends or "signs" to SignBank that are collected and analyzed. Interesting!

The So What: Librarians too might want to think about ways to gather more information on behavior as opposed to pouring over survey and focus group data alone. Next time you're cruising the stacks, try actively observing what's going on all around in order to pick up on important trends or needs.

Side note: DDB did make some marketing predictions for the coming year, noting that consumers will demand more specialization and, in contrast to other predictions that state consumers will want to call the shots when it comes to products and services, DDB thinks that consumers will seek out guidance and leadership. If these prove true (and I believe they already are to an extent), these trends will mesh perfectly with librarians promoting their expertise and specialized services in the information world!