Creating Marketing
Plans on a small Budget
A Toolkit and Proof it works!
Karen Thistle, Service Team Lead - Capacity Building, Ontario Library Service – North
Douglas Davey, Chair of the Marketing Committee - Halton Hills Public Library
Agenda
Karen
 Why libraries need to engage in marketing planning
 What that means for a small / medium size library
 The Toolkit
Douglas
 The HHPL’s marketing plan
 How the plan was developed
 Implementation & Evaluation

Q&A
Ontario Library Services - North
Marketing
Tool Kit
MarketingWhat are we really talking about.
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Marketing is:
– Increasing awareness of the value of a product
or service.
– The process of through which services are
planned, values are assigned to services,
services are promoted and through which they
are delivered.
For the Public Library
Marketing is…
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Making sure the public knows
– Who you are
– Where you are
– What you do
and
– The Value you bring to the community
Why Market a Public Library?

Raise profile in community
– Library users
– Library non-users
– Community Stakeholders and Decision Makers
Promote the Library as a Community
Destination Point
 Directly promote services and programs

Small and Medium Size Libraries…
the quest for resources
Making the most of “free” opportunities
 Using resources already in the library
 Establishing a plan of action
 Keeping it Realistic and Manageable
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The Toolkit
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Created by OLS-North
to assist libraries in
creating a marketing
plan for the library.
Situational Analysis

To better understand Environment:
– SWOT
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Internal Environment
– Mission Statement
– Vision Statement
– Statement of Values
Understanding Services

What services does the library offer?
– What value do they have to clients?

What services should be continued?

What services should be discontinued?

What services should be developed?
Assessing Goals

What are the long term plans for the
library?
– (Strategic Plans)
What are the libraries goals over the next
three years?
 Which goals are priorities?
 What are the libraries timelines in
achieving these goals?

Target Markets
Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic
and Behavioral
 Who is currently receiving the libraries
message?
 Who in the community is not receiving the
libraries message?
 Who in the community does the library
want to reach?

Understanding Competition
Who are the libraries competitors?
 What are the libraries “threats”?
 How does the library compete?
 How can threats be turned around?

Marketing Strategies / Budget
Direct Marketing
 Advertising
 Networking
 Web Resources
 Campaigns
 Media
 Events at the library
 Public Displays
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Drafting the Plan
Library Background
 Mission Statement
 Services
 Goals
 Target Markets
 Strategy
 Timeline
 Budget
 Measures of Success

Evaluations
What does success look like?
 How will the library measure success?

–
–
–
–
–

Increased Public Awareness
Increase in library usage
Circulation increase
Program Use
Customer Satisfaction
Tools to measure success
And now for the proof…
Halton Hills
Public Library
Halton Hills Public Library
Halton Hills Public Library
Halton Hills – Georgetown and Acton
 2 branches
 Total Pop. 55, 300

Who Created our Plan?
No marketing staff
 The Marketing Committee
– representatives from different departments
and branches within the Library
– input from other relevant staff
 Met once a month during development

Why a Marketing Plan?

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To
To
To
To
remain vibrant and relevant
support current users and reach new ones
direct our resources effectively
meet the objectives of the Strategic Plan
Steps
Called in an expert to teach us how to market
our services
 Decided to market ourselves via expanding and
promoting our services
 Research to get results

Marketing – Then and Now

THEN = Broad-based marketing
– traditional
– focus is on product

NOW = Service-based marketing
– modern
– focus is on customer
Service-Based Marketing
Shift the way we think about services
 Instead of trying to please everyone, think about
certain segments of users
 What can you do for them?

What is our Marketing Plan?
In general, we followed these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Segment the market
Develop representative personae
Develop service initiatives
Implement service initiatives
Step One:
Segmenting Our Market
Defining the segments

What are our “hot” demographics?

Determined using info from demographic and other
documents

Segment: Age (now part of registration)

Sub-Segment: Library use associated with that age
What are our Segments?
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Youth aged 8-14
Adults aged 40-64
Adults aged 65+
Segmentation Worksheet
Youth aged 8-14
Sub-segments*:
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Youth who select library material for fun
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Youth who select library material for school
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Youth who use the library computers
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Youth who use library as study space
*These came from an earlier study we conducted
Adults aged 40-64
Sub-segments*:

E-resource users

Small business users

Recreational users
*These came from a desire to reach these groups
Adults aged 65+
Sub-segments*:

Recently retired and active

Elderly and homebound
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Recently retired with ability issues
*These came from a comparison of mobility and stage of
life
Step Two:
Developing Personae
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For each sub-segment representative personae
were created
Details of the personae were created by
Marketing Committee members using a
combination of personal experience and
reasonable supposition
Persona Worksheet
Step Three:
Developing Initiatives


A service initiative was developed for each
persona
Each initiative matches its persona’s
characteristics (age, etc.) and also its values
(e.g. a healthy community)
Initiative Worksheet
The Initiatives

Youth aged 8-14
Film Festival - fun
Exploration Stations - computers
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Homework Help Zone - homework
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The Initiatives
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Adults aged 40-64
HOP-ping Titles – recreational /e-resouce
Information is Our Business – small business
Are you E-Ware Pt. 1 – e-resource
Are you E-Ware Pt. 2 – e-resource
Stay Connected – e-resource
The Initiatives
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Seniors aged 65+
Coffee, Books and Conversation
Expand Your World
Silver Learning
Volunteer Connection
Are you an E-Ware Senior
Friendly Faces
Step Four:
Implement Initiatives

Each initiative has a detailed implementation
strategy including:

Who will be involved?
How will it be promoted?
When/where will it happen?
How much will it cost?
What will be the outcomes?
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When Will the Plan Begin?

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Half of the initiatives were to begin in 2007
The rest to start over the next four years
An assigned Coordinator investigates the best
possible timing for each initiative
Initiatives will be rolled out progressively to
avoid staff overload
What does the Plan cost?


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Each coordinator will assess the cost of their
initiative
No initiative should cause undue strain
Soliciting alternate funding has already begun
How is the plan evaluated?

Each initiative will have a complete report
created to evaluate the different aspects of the
program
Status of the Initiatives
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Film Festival
Ran one film festival
(Indiana Jones) and just
began another (Creature
Feature)
Approx. 10 teens per
showing
Increased interest in /
cachet of library
Moderate success
Status of the Initiatives
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Exploration Stations
Early Literacy Station - one
up and running and one
more on the way
Approx. 600 uses / month
Increased customer
satisfaction, improved
computer skills and literacy
Huge success
Status of the Initiatives
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Expand Your World
9 displays targeted to seniors - displayed in
prominent local spaces
Statistics are hard to track
Positive feedback – a success
Status of the Initiatives
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Coffee, Books and Conversation – Acton
2 sessions have been held
8 first session, 5 second
2 circs / participant
Increased interest, patron satisfaction and
interaction
Good success
Status of the Initiatives
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CBC – Georgetown
3 sessions have been held
12 each session (12 on a wait list + more)
Circ’d “stacks”
Library knowledge and
appreciation
Amazing success
Status of the Initiatives
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H.O.P.-ping Titles
Available to public
since Dec. 07
No stats yet
Increased use,
satisfaction and tech
‘cred’
Success? TBA
Questions?
Contact Us:
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Karen Thistle
705-675-6467
ext. 206
kthistle@olsn.ca
www.olsn.ca
marketing@olsn.ca
705-675-6467 ext.507

Douglas P. Davey
905-873-2681
ext. 2508
daveyd@hhpl.on.ca

www.library.hhpl.on.ca
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