Learning from marketing in unlikely places

I'm going out on a bit of a limb here, so please bear with me and give this idea a chance. One strategy that I strongly advocate is that we should learn about marketing from every source available. Sometimes ideas come from businesses, other times they come from Psychology literature, while other times they come from non-profit organizations. In fact, we can often learn from marketing in unexpected places. Today, I want to discuss what we can learn from church marketing. Now, I'm specifically not getting into any discussion of religion or advocating any one religion or another, but there are some lessons we can glean from what's going on in modern churches.

The marketing of churches crops up in the news all the time, and it's as controversial (if not more so) as in the library world. There's actually a blog devoted to the topic called Church Marketing Sucks. In doing some reading on the site, I found that there are a lot of similarities between church marketing and library marketing:

• Like libraries, churches are often trying to expand their reach in their communities to draw in non-users.
• Monetary profit is not the ultimate measure of success for libraries or churches and there is usually no direct cost for services
• Both libraries and churches are "selling" what is, for some, an unsought product.

Surely, there are more similarities, and plenty of differences, but overall we have enough in common to learn from one another. In fact, take a look at Church Marketing Sucks' definition of marketing and see if it doesn't strike a chord with libraries. I especially like this definition:

"Marketing is the study and practice of better, faster, cheaper and friendlier. "Making things go more smoothly," as I put it to my students. The product or service a company provides is the "what" of its existence. Marketing is the "how."'

Also, under the section "Is Marketing a Dirty Word?," the author argues,

"Likewise, the process of marketing happens no matter what. We can either realize that and make sure our marketing doesn't suck, or we can ignore it and live in ignorance."

And,

"Remember that the goal here isn't to introduce slick and polished business marketing that ruthlessly targets pockets and cashes in on souls. That's marketing that sucks. Lousy clip art and typos are just as bad as glossy photos of people prettier than your congregation. The goal is being authentic and effective."

The blog is well worth taking a look at for the marketing discussions and analysis that takes place. Again, librarians can find marketing inspiration anywhere and everywhere, so keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to look at marketing in different lights that enrich our own points-of-view.

Check out the comments!

There have been some thought-provoking comments posted to the blog in the past week or so that I'm not done addressing yet, but the latest came in today from William in response to my post, "Genius" branding moves and it deserves some special attention. William brought up some insightful points and I did my best to respond coherently. I thought you'd like to take a look at the discussion and add your own thoughts. The topic of branding (or re-branding) libraries is an interesting and important one, so I hope you'll weigh in.

Also, if you want a crash course on branding, stop by KnowThis.com's Branding and Brand Management page, which has some excellent links, including a link to one of my favorite branding sites, AllAboutBranding.com.

Request for help answered

Nancy Dowd asked me to help her in library marketing record-breaker:

"Listen we need your help. Over here at the NJ State Library we’re conducting a marketing experiment to see if we can break the record for the most comments posted on a YouTube video. The idea is to have people post their three reasons and then pass the word to five friends. Of course what makes it even better is that it will be a library video that breaks the record! Hope you post and pass the word! Thanks, Nancy"

The 3 reasons are reasons you love the library. Here's the link to the YouTube video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZeQI25n8qPQ. You can read more about the initiative on Nancy's blog.

Ok! You know what to do. Hopefully, there are more than 5 readers out there, and I added my comment, so I've done my part. Good luck, Nancy! :-)

It's here! It's here!

The new collaborative blog project I alluded to last week is now up and running! I'm hopeful it will be a terrific complement to the marketing content on this blog since the topic is design. Designing Better Libraries addresses methods and strategies for developing meaningful user experiences. The opening post sums it up nicely:

"That's what Designing Better Libraries is all about; adapting new ways of thinking and acting that will promote the development and implementation of ideas, strategies and services that will create a better library experience for the users."

You can also learn more about DBL Philosophy here.

I'll be contributing to this blog with colleagues I have loads of respect for, including Steven Bell, Brian Mathews, John Shank, Jeff Trzeciak, and Michael J. Giarlo. For the next week or so, you can expect introductions from all of us, including descriptions of the topic areas we're going to be focusing on.

What does design have to do with marketing? I know I'm preaching to the choir when I say that marketing isn't all just making posters and putting on events. There's a lot of strategy and research that goes into developing meaningful services and coherent experiences for patrons. Design, as we're talking about it, is a methodology for addressing patron needs. For my part, I'm going to be discussing creativity and innovation (and I'm pretty sure marketing will come up too!). I'm extremely excited to be involved in this project because it gives me a chance to explore these topics and identify techniques that will help librarians come up with unique, differentiated services that precisely target patrons' needs and wants, which is what marketers are always shooting for. Other DBL authors will delve into topics like instructional design, technology, and multimedia, to name some.

I hope you'll find it useful and that you'll share your own thoughts on the DBL blog. Of course, I'll still be blogging away here on LM and tying in what I learn about creativity and innovation in the marketing context as well. Enjoy!

More on metrics

Many thanks to Judith Siess of Information Bridges International for sharing with me a previous issue of her One-Person Library newsletter on the subject of metrics. The issue called, Statistics and Library Advocacy is a useful one as it addresses not only those statistics we should collect for assessment purposes, but also those numbers we should collect for marketing purposes. Judith advises,

"Statistics can serve a valuable purpose—proving your worth to your parent organization. When presenting your case to management, you must use techniques and terms that they understand: cost-benefit analysis, unit-cost analysis, value added, and the like. Use spreadsheets to illustrate your points. By using statistics and relatively simple calculations you can show that the value of what you do easily meets or exceeds the amount your institution spends on the library (including salary and benefits, the collection, subscriptions, online services, floor space, air conditioning, water/sewer, and telephone). But you must be specific and have the data to back up your case."

Also, Judith suggests (and I agree), that you should back up stats with stories whenever you can. Doing so makes the numbers more meaningful. Ultimately, it's necessary to figure out why you're collecting statistics before you start considering how to go about it. Otherwise, you could get buried in numbers that serve no purpose and don't help your case, whatever it may be.

Judith kindly allowed me to post her articles in full (PDF), so enjoy!

In case you noticed

In case you noticed, my posting has been a little more sporadic than usual. That's because I'm working on getting a collaborative blog project off the ground that I think you'll really enjoy. It will be a nice complement to the topics presented in this blog. I hope to be able to tell you more about it early next week. 'Til then, you'll just have to wait in suspense. ;-)

A matter of metrics

Earlier this week, a colleague at a school library contacted me asking about marketing metrics - what's out there, how to select them, etc. It occurred to me that this might be a common question among librarians, so I'm throwing out this offer:

E-mail me or add a comment to this post about your marketing assessment challenges and questions. I'll do some digging into your inquiries and see what relevant marketing metrics could be of use to you and how you can employ them.

I'm just getting my feet wet in this area, but I'm very interested about learning more and have some experience, both practical and academic, that I can offer. Hopefully, it'll be useful for you too! If I don't hear from anyone within a week or two, I'll go ahead and start a series of posts featuring different marketing metrics.

Customers and customer service

Sybil of the Quality Service Marketin blog writes about her take on a Maritz white paper called "Delight or Defection: The Pivotal Role of People Inside the Customer Experience" (PDF). In it, Maritz argues that companies need a better way of understanding "people issues" to properly motivate people on the front lines, which in turn increases customer retention and differentiates the service. As the executive summary states,

"By putting "people problems" at the strategic forefront, companies can turn customer experience initiatives from frustrating flops into manageable and scalable programs – programs that, if executed correctly, create a major competitive advantage in today’s less differentiated reality."

Sybil will offer more analysis of this approach in a later post, but give the piece a read in the meantime.

To round out your weekend reading, stop by the MarketingProfs Book Club Group Review. (You can learn more about Group Reviews here and the Book Club here). The book of choice this time around is Citizen Marketers. You can join in on the conversation by signing up, or you can just browse through the discussions on social media and related topics. Either way, it's pretty interesting. I have to admit, I didn't get around to reading the book in time to participate in the Book Club, but I do want to give it a try at least once. The next book will announced mid-February. MarketingProfs is being secretive about the title for now, but promise that it will be about branding and innovation (two of my favorite topics!).

Take a whiff - Marketing's in the air

The latest MarketingProf's newsletter has an article on Scent Branding that's definitely worth a read. Scent branding is, apparently, a discipline of its own (there's even a Scent Marketing Institute!). Author Leigh Duncan explains, "Used in the right way, scent branding can enhance customer (or personal) experience in a pleasurable manner. The use of scent branding in consumer purchasing environments has been shown to be influential in driving consumer purchasing as well." She also cautions would be scent-marketers to make some considerations before heaping on the perfume, such as don't depend on scent alone to build your brand.

What I found most fascinating are the organizations putting scents to work. Duncan mentions a company called Scent Air that is a provider of "in-store scent solutions." When I discovered that one of their clients is a museum, I did a little digging on their site to find out more. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis used scents of the rainforest and dinosaur dung (yep, you read that right) in its dinosaur exhibit. Also interesting, Florida Hospital used scents to decrease patients' stress and cancellation rates when they came in for MRI's. They decorated their MRI department with a beach theme, complete with the smells of coconut and ocean.

Do we think about smells when we design our spaces? Would the eye-opening smell of citrus perk up students during late-night study sessions? Would the relaxing smell of lavender make leisure reading more pleasurable for patrons? Scent is not a magic bullet, but it's fun to think about how a subtle waft of fragrance can help reinforce and define spaces while reinforcing and shaping our image.

Update: LISNews mentions an article that describes what libraries can learn from bookstores, including how to use scents.

"Genius" branding moves

In case anyone was concerned, I didn't fall off the face of the earth after Midwinter. I'm back and bloggin'. :)

I've been thinking a lot about branding and what it means to have a strong brand. Much of this thinking was prompted by the excerpt from Peter Fisk's book Marketing Genius, called "Finding the big idea that defines you," which I referred to previously as the best piece on branding I've seen. I reviewed Fisk's work more thoroughly and considered how it might relate to libraries, which I'll discuss in this post.

First, let me summarize Fisk's argument about the nature of branding. Fisk contends that powerful brands resonate with customers' aspirations and derive their value from their ability to engage and inspire people. He states, "A great brand is one you want to live your life by, one you trust and hang on to whilst everything around you is changing, one that articulates the type of person you are or want to be, one that enables you to do what you couldn't otherwise achieve." The foundation of these super-brands is what Fisk calls "the big idea." This "big idea" is the thing that the brand helps people achieve. The thing could be a skill or feeling of confidence, for example. As Fisk summarizes, "If brands are about people rather than products, then the big idea around which they are formed is more to do with what it does for people rather than the company." Furthermore, each brand has three components: Rational ("What you do for people"), Comparative ("How do you do it differently?"), and Emotional ("How do people feel about you?"). Once marketers hone in on the big idea that defines the brand and that appeals to people in one or more of these areas, they use every means at their disposal to communicate the idea. These means include everything from language to logos.

This brief synopsis doesn't do the piece justice, but hopefully you get the idea. I think I was so excited by reading this because it strikes a chord with my beliefs about how librarians can reinvigorate the library brand. I believe that libraries are services that provide people the tools and training to grow socially and intellectually. They're vast frontiers ripe for personal exploration. The more we can help people realize their goals, the more successful we become. Generally speaking, libraries' "big idea" could be summed up something like this: "Achieve your best through information and discovery." Of course, under this big theme, each library has its own big idea with roots in its particular community. (To uncover your unique branding big idea, Fisk maps out a Brand Definition strategy).

For too long, the library brand has been linked to stuff instead of people. Patrons are more likely to associate libraries with books, information, and facilities than with community and personal achievement. While there’s nothing wrong with books and information per se, these strong brand associations are limiting, as Fisk points out, "Of course, if you define your brand around your customers, based on a belief or attitude, a benefit or aspiration, rather than it being a descriptor of your existing business or product, then it gives you far more scope and flexibility in the future." Being aligned with objects rather than with aspirations makes our brand static and difficult to adapt to environmental changes, as we're finding.

To those who may argue that these sentiments are nice but a bit too esoteric and impractical, I ask that you think about your favorite brands and consider what it is about them that attracts you. My bet is that the appeal comes from one or more of the sources Fisk mentions, including: reinforcing your self image; helping you become what you hope to be; enabling you to do something, or connecting with others. For libraries to have a great brand, the brand needs to be based on great ideas. The practical decisions we make should stem from those ideas in order for people to care about what it is we can do for them. Without those ideas, we might as well just become information storage units.

To revitalize our brand, we need to take a hard look at ourselves and ask tough questions. For example, do our communications say, "We want a genuine relationship with you," or "We want to retain formality"? Do our spaces say, "Welcome! Come in and explore your potential," or "If you do come in, you must follow our rules"? How much of our branding efforts originate from a desire to support patrons' ambitions, and how much originate from our desire to showcase ourselves and our stuff? By turning the spotlight on patrons' success, we can in turn build more successful library brands.

I’ll be reading Fisk’s book, Marketing Genius, and I’ll report on other thoughts and findings in upcoming posts.

Best branding article...ever

Here it is (from allaboutbranding.com): Marketing Genius: Finding the big idea that defines you by Peter Fisk.

I'll have much more to say about this piece and its relationship to marketing by helping patrons succeed, once I fully digest this meaty read.

A taste of small things to come

[Note to readers: I've been working on this post for a while now. Every time I think I'm close to publishing it, I read a new article about mobile marketing that I should include. It goes to show how hot this topic is. It also goes to show that my aforementioned series on this topic will be pretty lengthy! This post is a preview of the my upcoming mobile marketing series as well as a taste of what's going on in the news.]

Verizon Wireless is opening up by allowing advertisers to push their ads to its customers' mobile phones, according to a NYT article. Reporter Matt Richtel writes, "The interest of advertisers in the medium stems from a theory that ads placed on mobile phones could create a particularly intimate bond with consumers. The gadgets are ubiquitous, personal, and messages could theoretically be tailored to individuals based on demographics like age, gender and location." Mobile phone advertising is a growing business, and like any such business, there is uncertainty. However, I do think librarians need to consider mobile marketing vehicles and their implications for our services and promotions.

In other news, Forrester Research released a report indicating that US consumers are primed to adopt mobile marketing. According to a research news report, " Although 79 percent of consumers find the idea of mobile ads annoying, early efforts at mobile marketing indicate consumer acceptance -- as long as marketers deliver valuable information or content, according to a study by Forrester Research." If you research mobile marketing long enough, you'll find this reoccurring theme: mobile marketing can be effective IF (and only if) marketers respect the personal nature of the medium and avoid spamming unsuspecting customers. After all, mobile phones are not just communication devices. Customers also view them as personal symbols of their individuality, and they understandably get a little upset if they perceive that symbol is being abused by marketers. (In my upcoming series, I'll talk more about people's relationship with their cell phones and mobile devices).

ClickZ summarizes the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA) annual attitude and usage study on mobile marketing effectiveness (released only to members). The report yielded results somewhat similar to the Forrester report, stating, "Although mobile marketing participation rates may be down, mobile consumers are becoming more educated about the features and functionality of their devices and are engaging more frequently in mobile marketing campaigns. The mobile phone is becoming an essential element in a consumer's everyday life. This increased dependency on the mobile phone is expected to lead to increased utilization." The ClickZ article contains some excellent links to MMA guidelines and and common short codes (I'll explain all this in the series).

Finally, as these trends continue to grow, we'll see many more mobile marketing services providers getting in on the act. And I don't yet know what the impact of Apple's iPhone will be in this arena.

The series I keep mentioning is based on research I conducted for a services marketing course in which I wrote a marketing plan for a proposed new library service. Specifically, I looked at SMS/text messaging and its potential use as a library reference service delivery vehicle, although this technology is also used for promotional purposes by an increasing number of companies. The series will address the following topics (although I may change the number and/or order of these):

• Mobile marketing & SMS: What it is (the nature of the medium)
• What the research says
• Why librarians should care & the competitive landscape
• Examples and possibilities
• Libraries: Going mobile
• Resources, tools, and readings

The reason I'm so determined to explore mobile marketing is that technology is becoming integrated into our physical environment, and I believe we librarians are going to have to discover new ways to succeed in this new reality. Mobile devices offer one promising way to target interested patrons and reach people and their time and place of need. I hope you'll feel free to add your own insights and opinions, and ask questions about mobile marketing as the series unfolds.

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.

Managing the external internally

KnowThis.com added another section to its outstanding Principles of Marketing tutorial: Managing External Forces. The segment outlines some common external variables that can influence your marketing effectiveness, as well as ways to cope with them. Some examples include demographics, economic conditions, and cultural and societal change.

Though libraries can be a refuge, they are never an island. Marketing planning accounts for the internal and external factors that alter how you approach your target market, or even what target market you seek.

(Check out how Seattle libraries are adapting to external changes in their "Libraries for All" campaign (via AL Direct)).

Be it resolved

BusinessWeek.com has an excellent list of marketing New Year's resolutions. #1 ("I will avoid exclamation points") is a tough one for me. The rest are all terrific - worthy of posting to your nearest bulletin board. I might add some others for librarians: I will bring a positive, "libraries rock" mentality to my marketing efforts; I will see the world in terms of opportunities for librarians to apply their services; I will not get discouraged when things don't go according to plan.

Neat blog find

About.com highlights a MBOW (Marketing Blog of the Week) called CopyBlogger written by a marketer/writer. Here's and excerpt from the blog description: "Good blogging and good copywriting share many of the same attributes — plain spoken words designed to focus on the needs of the reader by using stories, education and a clear demonstration of benefit and value. In an overly-crowded marketplace, good copywriting allows you to catch people’s attention, and smart blogging allows you to capitalize on that attention by building trust, sales and profits." The blog is intended for those who want to beef up their persuasive writing skills for the Web, particularly for blogs. Couldn't we all stand to work out our writing muscles?

Influencing the influential influencers

If you're like me, you're probably excited about the possibilities presented by word-of-mouth marketing, but are less certain about how to identify the influencers who will pass along their positive library experiences. We're not alone. Marketers are trying to answer the same question. I found a few pieces that address this topic that may help:

1. ClickZ mentions a study conducted by Yahoo! and comScore Networks that found that Brand Advocates (WOM spreaders) tend to spend more time online than non-advocates conducting searches and using social media. As the article states, "Researchers believe that as these advocates are investing more time and effort into their own decision making process, they are more compelled to talk about their purchases with others."

2. On Adotas, Jim Calhoun writes about a planning tool called a Viral Marketing Matrix in his piece, "Enter the Viral Marketing Matrix: Exploring the Template to Motivate Your Word-of-Mouth Revolution." The two dimensions of this matrix are Personal Appeal and Social Appeal (high/low). Simply stated, items of high personal appeal are things people want, and those of low personal appeal are unwanted. Similarly, items with high social appeal entail a social benefit; those with low social appeal entail a stigma. By figuring out where your services fall in this matrix, you can determine how to best present your message and what incentives you may need to offer. This approach appealed to me because I think library services can easily be thought of in these terms.

3. DoubleClick Inc., a digital marketing technology and services provider, released survey results in its report, Influencing the Influencers: How Online Advertising and Media Impact Word of Mouth (PDF). The study produced a number of interesting results, including the fact that "Influencers use more of all media, especially digital media. When building a marketing campaign that aims to reach influencers and tap the potential of word of mouth, digital media needs to be a critical part of the plan. Emerging media platforms such as online video, mobile web content, and blogs are also highly concentrated with influencers." Page 9 of the report lists recommended books for leveraging WOM.

Influencers are not necessarily the patrons who use our services the most. By learning about the characteristics of the patrons who influence others, we can better identify and engage them in our marketing efforts.

Top trends

The January 2007 Trend Briefing from Trendwatching.com has been making the rounds on in the blogosphere, but belongs here as well. Take a look at what Trendwatching foresees as the Top 5 Consumer Trends for '07.

In other trendy news, It's All Good reports on the PEW Internet study, "Social Networking Websites and Teens" and adds that OCLC will be publishing a complementary report in the spring. As an increasing number of non-teens are using these sites, I'd also be interested in knowing more about their social networking behavior. The OCLC study appears to have a broader age range (14+ years) than the PEW study (12-17 years).

Another source for marketing news and analysis

Some of you may recall that I was participating in a Marketing Forum on KnowThis.com. The Forum since been replaced in favor a blog run by the site's editor, Dr. Paul Christ. I was extremely pleased that Paul asked me to continue my participation in this new project. The KnowThis.com Marketing Blog is a great source (in my biased opinion) of marketing news and analysis. Paul writes most of the posts and I have the utmost respect for his opinions and wealth of knowledge. I think you'll find some good food-for-thought here with insightful commentary. For my part, I've committed to writing a minimum of 1-2 posts per week as I feel inspired. I'm still getting my feet wet in trying to find a voice with an audience who I don't feel I know as well as you all, but I'm having fun writing about and exploring some of the general marketing stuff I'm interested in. If this is up your alley, I hope you'll check it out.

Egads! I've been tagged!

Thank you to Nancy Dowd of The "M" Word for tagging me! So now I have to think of 5 interesting things to share about myself that most people probably don't know. So I guess that means I can skip over the obvious stuff like the fact I'm a library/marketing nerd. :) This is tougher than it sounds, but here goes nothin':

1. Other than close family/friends/co-workers, not many people know that I got engaged the weekend before Christmas to the World's Best Guy - Merry Christmas to me! I have a feeling I'll be exposed to a lot of new-to-me marketing tactics as I try to plan a wedding, so stay tuned.
2. In my younger days, I displayed artistic tendencies in the form of drawing. I was pretty good at it too. Today, I don't draw as much but I am eerily proficient at wielding an Etch-A-Sketch. I managed to impress/unnerve a few colleagues with that "skill." (By the way, I highly recommend Etch-A-Sketching for stress-relief).
3. Another hobby tidbit: I enjoy decorating cakes (and cookies, cupcakes, assorted baked goods). I'm even trained (completed Cake Decorating Level 1!). I'll be putting my decorating abilities to the test when I make a cake for a colleague's wedding in the fall when I'll have to experiment with tiers!
4. I'm an Ohio State alum and absolutely loved the time I spent in Columbus. We don't have a bad football team either! While none of this is terribly surprising, what is surprising to many is that I actually lived inside the football stadium for 2 years before they took the dorms out to make room for more stands. I remember the sound of feet stomping over my head as people cheered the team on and the icky smell of sticky pop as it drained outside the stadium the day after a game. Honestly, it was great. Ah, memories...Go Bucks!
5. Pink. I really like the color pink these days. Seems like every article of clothing or accessory I buy is pink or has pink in it. I have no idea why...

Fascinating, no? ;-) Now it's my turn to do the tagging (in no particular order): Teresa Hartman, Ken Varnum, Candi Clevenger, Paul Williams and Johnathan Silberman.

Catching up on all the marketing news that's fit to blog

Today's my first day back after a pleasant, restful holiday. I hope you are all off to a great start in the new year! While I may have taken a break from blogging about marketing, marketing news and articles kept on coming. As I'm trying to dig out from under all of it, I wanted to share some of the gems I uncovered (although, it's a bit of a stretch to say that I'm getting all the marketing news that's fit to blog...):

• MarketingProfs author Stephan Spencer takes a close look at MySpace and what makes a successful business profile work. In it, Spencer analyzes what good profiles have in common (including this one from the Brooklyn Museum) and interviews one businessman who reveals how he made MySpace work for his jewelry retail enterprise.
• Another MarketingProfs article turns the spotlight on Second Life and how to win over its residents (free registration may be required for this one).
• Nancy over at The "M" Word writes about how one library system employed some creative marketing tactics to increase its awareness among residents. The best part is that it sounds like these efforts were true community partnerships!
• FastCompany profiles a Silicon Valley start up that runs on customer power. This story of one open source business highlights the challenges and rewards of letting the customers call the shots (via KnowThis).
• The New York Times article, "Online Chat Is a Grapevine That Yields Precious Fruit", Dec. 25, 2006, (registration required), discusses how two pediatricians got their baby skin care business off the ground by including their customers and colleagues in its creation. They also leveraged online message boards and parenting Web sites, all with no marketing budget. (There's a lot to learn about marketing from others involved in professional fields!)
• The Media Daily News reports on an important WOM fact: most WOM (90%!) is spoken and the Internet is a key to sparking those conversations. Advertising Age also reports on these findings: "Word-of-mouth: The real action is offline," Dec 4, 2006; Vol.77, Iss. 49; pg. 20.

I think I'll leave it here for now. I'll discuss a couple of other interesting pieces about WOM and how to influence people to spread it next.

The wrong way to win customers

Sometimes, the best way to do something right is to know the wrong way and do the opposite. That's precisely what this post from Brand Builder Blog is about: How to Lose Customers in Ten Simple Steps.

[Via Quality Services Marketing blog]

Categories: tips_to_try

Coming up on LM

As this year comes to and end and next year is right around the corner, it's a perfect time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the next. I have a lot of New Year's resolutions for this blog, so I'd like to give you an idea of what I'm thinking about for the Library Marketing in '07.

I imagine that almost every blogger out there has a pile of notes on posts they'd like to write about but don't seem to get around to (at least, it makes me feel better about my own post backup to think so!). I have heap of topics I'm eager to dive into early next year. Here are the big ones:

1. A series of posts on the emerging trend of mobile marketing and why librarians should jump into this arena now. As part of a research project for a marketing class, I did a good deal of research into this topic and believe that cell phones and other mobile devices make good venues for library services. I'll share some of my findings with you.
2. A series of posts on forming and leading a library advisory committee. I don't know how many academic libraries out there have advisory committees, but if the literature is any indication, there aren't very many. I'd like to share my thoughts on how I put this group together, for what reason, and how I think they fit into marketing efforts.
3. A discussion of what I find to be a central tension in marketing that is especially noticeable in library marketing: Finding a balance between giving people what they want and offering what they need. Sometimes the two are the same, but other times they're at odds. When is it best to assert our expertise and when is it best to let the patrons do the leading?
4. A consideration of what are some reasonable expectations/outcomes for marketing plans. Is marketing always about getting patrons in the door? Or are there other ways to evaluate marketing effectiveness?

In addition to catching up on my posts, I'd also like to upgrade the LM blog itself. I've talked for a while now about doing a re-design, but decided to hold off until Google sorted out its new version of Blogger. Now that the new version is out of beta, I'm going to be making the switch. In the process, I'm hoping to also change the look and feel, and make it a little more Web 2.0-friendly so that it more closely reflects what I think a blog should be. I hope you'll enjoy the upgrades. :-)

Finally, a goal I've had for LM from the beginning is that I'd like to involve readers and showcase their own marketing efforts, thoughts, ideas, questions, and so on. Most marketing, with the exception of some major promotional initiatives, happens behind closed doors so it's hard to get a sense of what librarians are doing. In a number of cases, I've e-mailed colleagues asking for more information about their marketing efforts, but usually don't receive a reply. I understand that for some, participating in a blog can be off-putting or too time-consuming, which I understand and respect. But for those of you who do want to share your marketing projects or perspectives, please do keep LM in mind as a place to highlight them. I'm pretty open to sharing the floor and responding to questions or comments, so long as they fit with the blog and are useful to readers. Don't hesitate to e-mail or IM me at JillatCabell with your thoughts and ideas. I don't have all the answers, but I always learn a lot from others' points of views and experiences. For those of you who have already taken the time to share your thoughts - thank you! I've enjoyed meeting many outstanding librarians and marketers with a passion for building better relationships with patrons/customers and I hope you'll continue to keep in touch.

There's a lot to look forward to in '07 and I thank each and every one of you for reading and for your support of this blog project. I could never have kept this up if it wasn't for your feedback and kind words. It's meant a lot to me!

I'll be leaving on Friday and returning after the first of the year, so you may notice a pause in posting during that time. Have a terrific holiday and best wishes to you and your families for a happy new year!

Categories: random_stuff

Marketing the social way

Marketing is a team effort, and it's nice to see marketers teaming up with customers to make their initiatives more meaningful. In a ClickZ article, Mark Kingdon reports on a WOMMA conference panel discussion in which presenters discussed ways to successfully integrate themselves into social networking sites. One of my favorite points offered is, "Demonstrate that you're knowledgeable and credible, someone who can contribute to the knowledgebase. Think about how to create this level of participation among the communities you create." In other words, don't just be there for the sake of being there; Bring something of value to the table.

Along these lines, I found a WOMMA report on the Nintendo Wii ambassador program. It's a really interesting case study of how to put an ambassador program together, particularly since Nintendo's efforts are so well documented. Nintendo sought out and recruited enthusiasts who would host secret Wii gaming parties. According to the Go Nintendo site, "Wii Ambassador Program: The yearlong initiative identified ambassadors in markets throughout the country. These ambassadors are of three categories: multigenerational families, hard-core gamers and modern moms. During the initial phase, Nintendo hosted events for each ambassador and 30 of his or her closest friends and relatives. The events offered an opportunity for everyday people from all walks of life to play Wii for the first time and share their experiences with others." This effort was supplemented by a number of other promotion tactics including a MySpace page, countdown events, and brand partnerships. This example raises the question of how librarians can do a better job of engaging their biggest fans to export the "library experience" into people's homes and among the community.

Categories: promising_promotions | real_life | tips_to_try

Co-creation manifesto

I enjoy a lot of the manifestos posted on ChangeThis, but this recent one by James Cherkoff and Johnnie Moore is fantastic. The topic is co-creation, and the manifesto outlines 17 points for effectively working with customers to make your marketing effective. Reading this made me want to get to work right away at finding new ways to partner with patrons in my work. Some of my favorite points: Get Vernacular; Make Your Customers Look Good (big shiny star next to this one!); Make Mistakes; Play...ok, I could list them all because they're all terrific, so you're better off just reading it yourself. I think a lot of these points could also be applied internally to increase cooperation among staff.

Why bother with co-creation? The authors sum it up this way: "If we have to choose between engagement and control, we prefer engagement. We think that organisations in the future will do well to have the same preference when it comes to dealing with their own people and their customers." Co-creation is the main reason I'm so excited about marketing and about marketing libraries in particular. I'd love to see libraries as THE partner for anyone who wants to expand their horizons. So much of what Cherkoff and Moore recommend comes naturally to librarians (sharing "secrets," creating opportunity) that I know we can be leaders on this front.

Categories: creativity_and_inspiration | must_reads | neat_trends | tips_to_try

Mini marketing idea

Paul over at Idea Sandbox mentions a fun way to spread the word (and the pictures!): mini cards. A company called Moo.com can turn your flickr pics into tiny promotional items. The company states, "We dream up new products, personalised by your stuff on the web, that let you take that virtual life offline. We hope you like them." Neat! You can put all of your vital stats on the back and feature your favorite photo on the front (here are some examples). There's something about the smallness and personalized nature of these cards that makes them seem way more fun than business cards or bookmarks. I know a lot of libraries out there use flickr to document outreach events, etc. Why not turn those images into mini cards? You could send them out with newsletters or other promotional items, tack them onto computer monitors, stick them in books at check-out, and all kinds of things. I should say that I haven't used the Moo service myself, but I really like the idea. If any of you try it, please tell me about it.

Categories: promising_promotions | tips_to_try

Employee buy-in, continued

True to her word, Sybil responded to my comment asking for examples of tactics to gain employee buy-in for marketing initiatives, which I discussed in a previous post. In her answer, she mentions a some great ideas like including employees when distributing promotional items and hosting a kick-off event for a boost of motivation.

What's important to keep in mind is that when we employ marketing to reinforce or change patrons' expectations, we are also implying that staff need to alter their expectations as well. For example, if our promotions brag to patrons of our speedy service, we're also saying to staff, "Speed is a priority." All of our messages have two audiences: internal and external. I'm interested to hear about ways in which you've addressed your internal audience. Any good ideas?

Categories: promising_promotions | tips_to_try

Create; Innovate; Don't wait!

Creativity and innovation imply one thing: change. And I'm not talking about the coins jingling in your pocket (though I'm sure those help!) CNNMoney.com/Fortune feature an Innovation Forum that is overflowing with good ideas and inspiration! The site consists of short videos, so you don't need to block out huge chunks of time to take advantage of these sound nuggets of advice. I haven't listened to all of them, but two that stood out to me so far are talks from the CEO of The First 30 Days, Ariane de Bonvoisin. Her two clips, Believing in Change and Comparison Killer were great for a quick jolt of inspiration. In the latter clip, she talks about how the biggest killer of innovation is doubt, and that comparing yourself to other companies squashes innovation in its tracks. These statements make me think about libraries and librarians' tendency to look outside to how we stack up to the competition. Being aware of competitors is necessary, but I can see how there's a point at which we stop seeing our own value because we are too wrapped up in what others are doing. If you want more discussion of change, how to adapt to it, and why it's a good thing, check out Ariane's blog, First 30 Days.

Since we're on the topic of change and innovation, I found an article from Inc.com on the Importance of Being Relevant. In it, the author notes that sometimes remaining relevant involves reinventing yourself and who you aim to please.

Categories: creativity_and_inspiration

Engaging patrons with YouTube

Somehow, I only just discovered this outstanding new initiative from the Denver Public Library (where else?). The library is holding a YouTube contest where patrons are invited to submit videos about "How I have fun at the Library" to win an MP3 player. What I think is especially cool is how DPL is tying this contest in with its eVolver MySpace site. [DPL librarians: If you're out there, please let us know how this goes.]

This is consumer-generated media (CGM) in action! Neilsen BuzzMetrics has a nice overview of CGM with suggested readings, including a vocabulary guide, to help you learn what it is and how to use it.

Thanks for the heads-up, Bob!

Categories: promising_promotions | real_life

Planning for promotion campaigns: Tips and tools you can use

About.com offers a Marketing Calendar Template to supplement the article, "Creating and Using a Marketing Calendar Effectively." Since we're about to enter a new calendar year, it seems like a good time to talk about planning, particularly promotion planning. I find the About.com template to be a little sparse, but it is a decent starting point.

When I was studying Integrated Marketing Communications, we were tasked with developing a promotion campaign complete with budget, schedule, etc. I learned a few invaluable lessons during that class that have proven useful in my work. Here are the big ones:

1. Think frequency: Depending on who you listen to, you'll find that it takes AT LEAST 3 repetitions for someone to remember an advertising message. Three. If you're pinning your hopes to one ad in a newspaper that runs one time, then you're probably going to be disappointed in the results. Plus, there's no guarantee that your target audience will actually see every ad you place. For these reasons, it's necessary to place multiple ads in multiple vehicles before people take notice. To choose the right vehicles, think about all the points of contact your target audience has with various media (bulletin boards, magazines/newspapers, Web sites, on-board bus signage, etc.) and determine if they would work for your message and budget.

2. Integrate: The whole point of Integrated Marketing Communications is to focus on the customer's perspective and to create a consistent message/image across all media. Do the elements of your promotion campaign reinforce or compete with one another? Consistency can help boost the overall strength and effectiveness of your campaign.

3. Know your goals: Advertisers adopt numerous theories and models in their work. The model we focused on most was AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action). The argument here is that customers move through these 4 3 stages before taking an action, particularly for high-involvement purchases. Therefore, a promotion campaign for a new service should build up to taking action (using the service) by first making people aware the service exists, then obtaining their interest, and so on. (Note: Some argue that for lower-risk/involvement purchases, an emotional appeal is other models are more effective, but that's for another post.) A good question to ask yourself is, What do I want my promotion campaign to accomplish? Maybe you only want to generate awareness. However, if you want to prompt patrons to use a particular service, you may want to build up to that by arousing their awareness/interest/desire first through a series of promotions that describe what the service is, how it benefits patrons, etc. Whatever the case, pick a goal and a means of measuring whether or not you achieved it. Keep in mind that sometimes a promotion campaign is process, rather than a one-shot initiative.
[Update: In retrospect, I realize I've given this whole AIDA business short shrift. There's a lot more to this "think-feel-do" model and its implications than what I've discussed here. I'll give it more focused attention in the future.]

4. Your message is your competitive advantage: Ideally, your service has some kind of competitive advantage that makes it different from all of the other options out there. It could be your ability to tailor the service to your community's needs, for example. Whatever "it" is, make sure to tell patrons about it over and over again. Your competitive advantage is your reason for being and your most compelling asset - use it!

5. All good things must come to an end: Promotion campaigns weren't meant to last forever. Some last for a few weeks, others for a few months, and a select few could run for a few years or more. As part of your planning, determine how long you will persist with your campaign to reach your goals. Once you've accomplished your goals, ditch the campaign or, if successful, refresh it. Nothing is worse than a stale campaign that won't go away.

As you can probably tell already, planning and implementing a promotion campaign is a complicated process that involves an in-depth knowledge of your intended audience. To help with planning, I'm making available a sample promotion schedule (Excel file) that I've used and like fairly well as it helps me to visualize all of the various stages, vehicles, and how they fit together. It's very basic, but you can adapt it as you see fit. For example, you might want to include a column or separate sheet for costs. Also, don't forget to schedule in any assessment you plan on conducting. Let me know if it helps!

Promotion isn't my primary responsibility, but it is closely related to my work in service planning and delivery. Those of you who do promotion full-time may have some insights of your own to share and I'd love to hear about them!

Update: Of course, a tip I should have added is that promotion is not just about getting your word out. It's also about listening to and conversing with patrons. But you knew that already, right? ;-)

Categories: promising_promotions | tips_to_try

Who's #1?

If your answer to "Who's #1 in your organization?" is customers, think again. The more I learn about services marketing the more I've come to realize that employees should be the #1 concern for any service provider.

In 1984, Richard Normann developed the concept, "moment of truth", which basically refers to any instance in which a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business. Each of these points of contact has an effect on how customers perceive a business and whether or not they'll use its services. Think about the points of contact for a library. Most of them involve library staff directly, or, like in the case of Web resources, behind-the-scenes. The moment of truth is also where your marketing plans live or die. So, who are you going to trust with these life-and-death moments? Staff! Preferably, well-trained, happy staff. If staff aren't willing and able to help patrons, all of your attention to patron needs/wants will be for nothing.

I've mentioned before that there is a terrific blog by Sybil Stershic, former Chairman of the American Marketing Association and very nice lady, that focuses on internal marketing and communication. While all her posts are educational, a couple stood out to me because they address a common problem: lack of employee buy-in. Sybil addresses both the cause of employee resistance to marketing and what to do about it. Her advice addresses all stages of implementing a marketing plan - before, during, and after. One of her suggestions is to recognize and reward employee participation. In a comment, I asked if she has some specific examples of recognition/award programs that work well. She contacted me to let me know that she wants to think about it some more and will respond in a forthcoming post. Of course, I'll let you know when it's up. For now, enjoy these two great posts on an important topic. Please share your ideas too!

If you still need more insights into helping employees to help customers, the Corante Marketing Hub has an excellent piece by Olivier Blanchard on aligning employee experiences with customer experiences, along with plenty of suggested readings.

[On a somewhat related note, if you want to read more about "moments of truth," there is a book by that title written by Jan Carlzon in the late 80's. The book describes how Carlzon turned Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) around to become a success. While it may seem dated, the approach Carlzon used still seems fairly progressive even by today's standards ("focus on the customer, encouraging risk-taking, delegating more authority to front-line employees, and eliminating vertical levels of hierarchy"). I'm going to put it on my To Read list.]

Categories: tips_to_try | usable_theories

Cool new tool from RSS4Lib - WOMBLINK

Ken Varnum is officially a great guy! Based on posts from LM and RSS4Lib, and some resulting commentary, Ken took it upon himself to develop a quick-and-easy way for libraries to spread the word about their services. He created a tool called WOMBLINK (Word of Mouth Blog Link) that enables librarians to generate a piece of code for their Web sites that creates a "Blog This" link. The link allows bloggers to copy another HTML code into their posts that directs readers to the library site of interest. (Check out Ken's explanation for details). The idea here is that librarians can make it easy for patrons to spread the word about library news and service.

Ken was kind enough to let me be one of the WOMBLINK guinea pigs and I have to say it works very well! Give it a try and let Ken know if you have any suggestions or comments (womblink@rss4lib.com).

THANKS, KEN!

Categories: technology_tools

Obedience training for pet projects

It's hard to let go of a project or initiative that you were instrumental in getting off the ground. However, this MarketingProfs article advises doing just that and offers tips on how to achieve a healthy perspective for the greater good.

Categories: tips_to_try

A glimpse into the next tech-ade

The Federal Trade Commission (somewhat) recently concluded its conference, Protecting Consumers in the Next Tech-Ade. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) reports that the conference, "featured experts from the business, government, and technology sectors, as well as consumer advocates and academics, all discussing how changes in demographics, marketing practices, and technology will affect future consumers." The FTC maintained blog coverage of the events, including discussions about RFID, nanotechnology, Web 2.0 topics, demographics, and privacy to name some. You may be surprised to find how most of these discussions are very much like those that take place in librarian circles, like this one on consumers' attitudes toward blogs and Web sites. I've only just skimmed the surface of the FTC blog but I'm finding many relevant and interesting insights and reports. I hope you will too! If you'd like to point out any particularly good nuggets of info, please write about them in a comment.

Categories: excellent_events

The value of values

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing echoes thoughts I've shared about libraries' sustainable competitive advantage, though he talks about independent bookstores. Here's a great quote from John's post:

"Bookstores and, for that matter, any local business that understands they can't compete with the chains, but that they have something much more valuable, can build a business that is not price sensitive because it's value sensitive.

Thriving Indies of all ilks understand that community, belonging, knowledge, experience, transformation and service are what they sell. Any local business that finds that, packages that, and serves that up fresh and hot, can compete with the chains by not really viewing the chains as competition."

Well said! Substitute "libraries" for "bookstores" and you have a library marketing mantra to live by.

Categories: creativity_and_inspiration | random_stuff

Learn from the pros

Q: What do Rachel Ray, Chris DeWolfe, and Chad Hurley have in common? A: They're successful. CNN asks these and many other business juggernauts for their advice about what it takes to make it in business. Most of the lessons are pretty sound and apply to marketing as well as business in general.

Categories: random_stuff | tips_to_try

What does your Web site say about you?

Library Web sites are more than portals to information. In many cases, they are the first or only points of contact patrons have with the library and they can relate volumes about what the library represents. What does your Web site say about your library? The Branding Blog addresses this question and points out two often-neglected parts of a Web site - the "About Us" and "Contact Us" sections. The Blog refers to two articles that offer tips for improving these pages.

The "About Us" article suggests that this page should answer five questions:

• Why do you do what you do?
• Who are the people behind the company?
• What kind of people will I be working with/buying from?
• What does your company stand for?
• What does your company stand against?

The article about "Contact Us" pages presents problems and solutions to common difficulties. The bottom line is to make sure people don't get frustrated trying to find help.

There are lots of terrific tips here. Your Web pages are showcases where you can "sell" yourselves and your services with a human touch. They're not just listings of the resources we have, but reflections of what we're all about. Make them count!

Categories: tips_to_try

A framework for better understanding online social communities and WOM

New research suggests that online communities go through 7 stages of development and that each stage has a certain word-of-mouth type associated with it. The WOMMA Research Blog mentions research done by Boston University professors Anat Toder-Alon and Frederic F. Brunel, which identifies these stages and WOM genres. Specifically, the seven stages are Joining, Coordination, Prompting Intimacy, Communal Sense, Alienation & Splintering, Communal Again, and Culmination. The WOM genres are Identity Orientation (individual or group), and Pattern of Interaction (task-oriented or socio-emotional). What does this newfound framework offer marketers? In their paper (PDF), the authors argue that this approach can help marketers to better understand how WOM works in online communities and the context in which it occurs. In turn, marketers can better modify their communications to encourage purchase or consumption (p. 24-25).

I bring this to your attention because as we librarians tread into the new world of online communities, it's helpful to understand why people use these sites, how they exchange information, and in what context. In doing so, we're better able to communicate our services and leverage WOM.

Categories: research_and_reports

Weekly WOM: Tracking the buzz offline

It's one thing to monitor blogs, discussion boards, and social networks to track the buzz surrounding a brand; it's quite another to do the same offline. But, as the New York Times reports, some WOM marketing agencies are trying to do just that.

The WOM research agency Keller Fay Group, for example, enlisted customers to keep diaries about conversations they have regarding brands. Researchers later interviewed participants about the details. In doing so, Keller Fay found that people talk about a dozen brands a day, and most of those discussions are positive. Personal care and household products generate the most positive WOM, while telecommunications companies and financial services tend to get negative flack. Also, people talk most about entertainment, food, and travel products as well as retailers.

The article also mentions a WOM marketing agency, BoldMouth. Their site features a blog, a complimentary research study with details on how to create your own WOM marketing strategy, and MouthCasts. Could be worth investigating.

How do you keep track of offline WOM at your library? I have an informal system in which I maintain a document with comments I overhear about the library, doing research, etc. For me, it's a good way to remind myself of patrons' perspectives. I could also envision a more collaborative process in which staff all contribute to a blog or wiki of library WOM. Staff could include comments they hear inside and outside of the library, and links to online mentions. My advisory committee also informs me of what students are saying about us. (There will be more on this committee in an upcoming series of posts). Perhaps an intrepid librarian could undertake the panel approach used by Keller Fay to figure out how WOM works in a library context. WOMMA produced a couple of books on how to go about measuring WOM, but I'd like to hear your ideas too!

Categories: promising_promotions | research_and_reports

Weekly WOM: WOM wins big over other media

Media Life magazine reports on a study done by BIGresearch on the effectiveness of various advertising media. The big winner? - WOM! The study found that 92.5% of consumers regularly or occasionally avoid advertising (no surprise there), but that of those, more than 40% say they're influenced by word-of-mouth. The Media Life reporter interviewed the VP of research for BIGresearch who had a number of interesting comments to share. My favorites:

"Just because a group of advertisers are out in the marketplace spending more and more money doesn't mean everyone has to keep clogging up the world to try and out-shout everyone else."

"The No. 1 combination for watching TV is being online at the same time, so people should be able to opt-in and request information rather than having it pushed on them.

If marketers start realizing this, they'll see that less can be more because the frequency will make advertising a more scarce commodity. I think that's where the message has to be."

"You need to address the individuality of the consumer and you need to be much more targeted based on what media they prefer, the dayparts in which they prefer it, and the formatting they prefer."

The bottom line here appears to be that less is more. I'm so glad that more marketers are beginning to acknowledge this. If some of them don't reign in their tendency to fill in every communication channel with untargeted messages of little value, they'll only make consumers more resolved to tune out and ruin it for other marketers. Respect the customer by getting to know them and sending them relevant stuff. Then they'll listen.

Categories: neat_trends | research_and_reports

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to you readers and colleagues out there who have been so supportive of my work here on LM. I sincerely appreciate it and wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday full of good food and good times. Drive safely if you're going to be on the road (I know I'm not looking forward to the trek up I-95 today - eek!).

Best wishes!

Categories: random_stuff

Trend time

It's that time of year again when marketing pundits venture their guesses about the marketing trends that will shake up the new year. This early entry comes from Entrepreneur.com. The brief article sums up consumer trends, trends in traditional media, and hot online trends. Not surprisingly, online research and local search are the online trends to watch. Word-of-mouth is also going to continue to be important. In terms of demographics, affluent women and the U.S. Asian population will be attractive target markets, and online media will be the tool of choice for reaching college grads. At least, that's what the author thinks. I also came across a press release that describes a study done for the American Advertising Federation (AAF), which found that a hefty portion of TV ad budgets will shift to online media. The press release also contains a PowerPoint summary of the study. The message here for librarians is that the online environment is going to become increasingly dynamic, so what are we going to do to keep up? Do you see any other marketing trends looming on the horizon?

Update: Mr. Ubiquitous has some creative ideas about using media and iTunes to market the library.

Categories: neat_trends | new_news

OCLC receives grant for library marketing campaign

Candi at the LibTalk blog reports on a Library Journal article stating that OCLC has been awarded a Gates grant to develop a library marketing campaign. From the press release: "The $1.2 million grant will be used by OCLC to conduct research, develop strategies, create materials and test elements of a national marketing campaign to demonstrate the value of libraries, and the need to increase support for libraries to meet the changing needs and expectations of library users. The project will aim to create a national campaign that can form an umbrella for regional- and local-level programs." It appears that this campaign will focus on public libraries.

It's all good: Any comments on the grant?

Categories: new_news

Weekly WOM: A little good karma goes a long way

An article from Adotas considers the karmic nature of WOM. Attaining Advertising Zen: How Word-of-Mouth Success is Savored Through Good Karma discusses 5 bits of advice to ensure that your good marketing deeds come back to you many times over in the form of long-lasting customer relationships. The five points are: 1. Is Your Product or Service Inherently Viral? 2. Do the Right Thing, Every Time. 3. Do Something Unexpected. 4. Keep the Ball Rolling. 5. Let it Grow Organically.

Believe it or not, I've actually thought of marketing in Buddhist terms too, although I haven't thought about karma per se. For me, marketing involves two major Buddhist principles: detachment and impermanence. Marketers should be detached to the extent that they don't cling to existing ways of doing things just because that's how they've always been done. Also, detachment can prevent marketers from getting too emotionally involved in pet projects that don't result in value for patrons, or too discouraged when taking a risk doesn't work out. Similarly, we're all familiar with impermanence. What's in one day is out the next, so we have to be flexible with how we envision our libraries, our services, and our patrons' needs as environmental changes dictate.

Is it a stretch to link Buddhism and marketing? Maybe. But library marketing lessons and inspirations are everywhere once you look for them.

Categories: random_stuff | tips_to_try

Don't just blog, blog well

If your library is still on the fence about blogging, or if you've made the leap but would like to improve your blog content and management, the following resources will be of use:

As I was doing some digging today, I found a report that is the product of a joint research project between a Northeastern University professor and Backbone Media. For this study, researchers interviewed 20 corporate bloggers to find what characteristics successful blogs have in common. The results are presented in the Blogging Success Study document and, while I haven't read all of it quite yet, what I have reviewed is quite helpful. Lead author Dr. Walter Carl wrote about the findings in his own blog where he mentions five themes that emerged from his investigation - culture, transparency, time, dialogue, and entertaining writing style and personalization.

Also, if you already have a good blog but aren't sure what to do with the comments it attracts, the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog offers some good advice. In a nutshell, the author advises bloggers to embrace comments, including the bad ones, as opportunities to build relationships and improve service. (The comments on the article are worth reading too).

Categories: research_and_reports | technology_tools

Going mobile

A press release from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) describes the latest update to its Mobile Advertising Guidelines (PDF). The Guidelines include banner and content guidelines, technical requirements, and a glossary. There are also examples of the various kinds of banner ads out there.

I suspect libraries will be using these mediums for promotion purposes, and this document does a good job of explaining how it works.

Categories: promising_promotions

Marketing tips from the future

If you've noticed that I've been a little behind in posting, you're right. Last week, I was busy getting together a presentation for VLA on podcasting. While I was at the conference, I attended the keynote speech given by Thomas Frey, Senior Futurist and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute. Frey, appropriately enough, spoke on the future of libraries and I was pleased to find he confirmed many of the trends I've noticed and discussed here on LM, and he also introduced me to some new possibilities. You can read Frey's report, The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation on your own, but here are the marketing-related trends that stood out to me:

• Search technology will become more complex: As Google and other competitors continue their quest to include everything, the nature of search will consequently become more involved and librarians will be important resources for helping patrons find the specific information they need.
• The rise of the experience-based economy: People are caring less about the products they buy and how they stack up to their neighbors', and are more concerned about the experiences they consume. What information experiences will the library be able to provide?
• New target markets emerging: As more and more people work from home full- or part-time, they suffer from one or two problems, according to Frey - isolation or distraction. What these people need is a "third place" like the library. What services and facilities would a library offer these patrons?
• Patrons take center stage: Frey argues that a library's physical space is its greatest asset. The library of the future will need to accommodate the creative ambitions of its patrons and their desire to produce their own information by offering spaces with facilities like blogging/podcasting stations, rehearsal studios, art studios, theaters, etc. While I haven't discussed physical spaces much on this blog, Frey's ideas coincide with my argument that librarians are going to have to design services that allow patrons to be successful at their endeavors, whatever they may be. Doing so entails going outside of our traditional services to find new opportunities to help patrons with our information resources.

Frey's overarching point is that our vision of the future shapes the present. To me, this means that if we as librarians don't have a vision for ourselves and what we hope to accomplish, we're not going to be able to create coherent and meaningful experiences for users in the present. While today is a time of great transition for libraries, it's important to take a step back to look at the big picture from time to time and envision a future where libraries are the cultural centers of their communities.

Categories: neat_trends | usable_theories

12 customer values for technology-related services

A common topic among library circles is how to use technology to deliver value to patrons. The problem is, it's pretty tough to know what it is our patrons value most. Is it ease-of-use? Community? One research and consulting firm recently conducted some research to get at answers to this question. A firm called Social Technologies studied what people want from future technologies and what qualities they appreciate. The result of their work is a list of 12 consumer technology values: user creativity, personalization, simplicity, assistance, appropriateness, convenience, connectedness, efficiency, intelligence, protection, health, and sustainability. You can read an analysis of these findings on Marketing Profs Daily Fix, where the author has kindly assembled these values into a nice graphic (PDF) suitable for your most prominent wall space. Heck, you can even frame it if you want to! But more importantly, as the author advises, is to make sure your technology innovations address at least some of these items.

Categories: must_reads | research_and_reports

Thanks a bundle, librarians!

Kathryn Greenhill of Librarians Matter demonstrates how librarians are becoming expert bundlers by using technology to gather relevant materials for patrons and making it easily accessible. In her post, Librarian bundles for philosophy scholars Kathryn describes how she used Google's Custom Search Engine, toolbars, and RSS to assemble philosophy resources for patrons. She includes examples of each of these tactics along with how-to's - very neat!

In marketing terms, I see this as adding value to our services by packaging them so that they make sense to patrons while making it easy for them to find just what they need. For me, helping patrons make meaning of the massive amount of information out there is the most important and marketing-savvy thing we can do and I hope we'll see more initiatives like what Kathryn describes.

Does anyone have other examples of packaging like this to share?

Categories: creativity_and_inspiration | technology_tools

A nation of generations - Tips from CRM

On the KnowThis.com Marketing Forum, Paul points out a terrific CRM piece about the generations that make up our nation and how best to market to them. The author states, "This special issue of CRM magazine presents an overview of population trends for consumer strategists that covers various generations: the War Generation (and older), Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y--a nation of generations, if you will. The handiest way to approach this overview may be to regard it as a united state of measurements, methods, and tools that will help marketers navigate the complex sales and marketing waters that swirl around targeted campaigns for each of these segments." By clicking on the links to each generation, you'll find descriptions of each group as well as ideas for effective promotions, their buying behavior and more - very nice!

Categories: resource_roundup

Marketing and social networking sites - important lessons

On the ACRLog, Steven Bell considers a recent WSJ article about users' growing disenchantment with social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Steven also points out a related article from Wired News that describes how students are getting wary of the online world. Users are choosing to close down their profiles on these sites for a range of reasons including that the sites have grown too large for comfort, they don't protect privacy, the "friendships" made there aren't genuine, and commercial interests are proving too distracting as they infiltrate the networks through spam and fake friend requests.

These and other articles that are cropping up are evidence of some important technology/social trends taking shape and they provide many lessons for librarian-marketers. Here's I'm taking away from these developments:

Most services will fail once they try to be everything to everybody. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all product or service, particularly considering that the overall marketplace seeks customization and close relationships with organizations. Why then, would Facebook willingly throw open its gates to let anyone in and sacrifice its position as a place just for college students? It seems as though Facebook gave up its competitive advantage for the sake of being big, which is exactly what's turning a number of existing users against the service. When it comes to building relationships, big isn't always better. Big in this context can make these sites more threatening and less genuine. In the WSJ article for example, one 19-year-old sophomore tells of how she was compelled to leave Facebook after a creepy incident involving a near-stranger who tracked her down using the site. These sites should do a better job of trying to understand where the value lays for their users and zealously protect that value in everything they do. This approach may mean targeting smaller segments of users, but serving them better.

Another lesson that comes out in these cases is that marketing clutter can do a lot of damage. As the articles describe, network users are increasingly inundated with spam ads and companies that try to befriend them in hopes in increasing sales. To me, this is the dark side of marketing. Bad marketing will fill any new vehicle to reach people with meaningless garbage, making it difficult to get relevant messages across. For their part, site owners are encouraging this kind of commercialism to improve their bottom lines. Once again, the sites are looking at value from the perspective of the service providers, not the users. On a related note, this is why as a librarian I'm reluctant to blindly adopt the "go where the users are" mentality. I hear this phrase a lot and it's a good idea on the surface. I agree that we should make it easy for patrons to interact with us by reaching them when and where it's convenient for them. However, being there is pointless if we don't offer anything useful to them wherever "there" is. If, for example, we toss up a profile in MySpace just because patrons happen to be there, we're just adding to the clutter, giving patrons yet one more thing to sort through. We'd be better off not being involved than in portraying ourselves poorly. If, on the other hand, we put up a profile in MySpace because we have great information about the local music scene, then we're adding value to people's experiences in a way that is respectful and appropriate given the context. Force fitting ourselves into these communities and approaching them as a means to push stuff on people is doomed to failure because they will find a way to filter out this junk thereby cutting off another avenue for reaching them in the process.

The final thought I take away from all this is that people's relationship with technology is continually evolving. The Wired article states, "As the novelty of their wired lives wears off, they're also are getting more sophisticated about the way they use such tools as social networking and text and instant messaging -- not just constantly using them because they're there." This trend presents librarians with a perfect marketing opportunity. As information experts, we are well-positioned to help patrons make sense of technologies and what they're best suited for, as well as how to protect their privacy, and how best to manage all kinds of information. Furthermore, this trend tasks us with the responsibility to research our target patrons to determine which technologies are most appropriate for serving them and in what circumstances. If we hope to reach users as they become more technologically sophisticated, we need to get to know them and their preferences. Putting up profiles in every social site that comes along won't be sufficient to truly reach patrons.

Ultimately, technology isn't the answer to anything - it's a tool to apply to finding and implementing answers. The answers come from our relationships with people and an understanding of what they need and how we can help them. Because most librarians I know are genuine in their intent to make people's lives better and have intimate knowledge of their communities, they already have a big advantage over most competitors out there. The key is to not squander it by neglecting to put our patron's needs at the forefront, online or off. Technology is merely another way of demonstrating our commitment and value, but it doesn't create that value. Whatever we do in the tech world should have its roots in our understanding of our patrons.

Go out there and play with every tool that's out there. Experimentation is necessary to discover better ways of doing things. Some technologies will stay, some will change, and others will disappear, but don't forget why we're using the technology in the first place.

Categories: new_news | random_stuff | technology_tools