Promoting effective use of eresources using e-tools
Barbie E. Keiser
GHSLA 2011
Savannah, GA
Agenda for YOUR workshop
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Introductions
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Marketing challenges
Types of libraries
Positioning statement
E-resources and target
user groups
Strategic approach
Methodologies for
conducting needs
assessments and
audits
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Beyond print: Mix of
appropriate techniques
and tools
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Training opportunities
Web 2.0+
Gaming phenomenon
Millennials +
Action plan
development
Market Opportunity
Analysis
2
For your consideration…
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What we buy
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Value we add
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Content
Format
How we reach our intended audiences
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From whom
Formats + modes of delivery
Message + mode of delivery
How we measure our success
3
What type of e-resources, e-products,
and e-services do you make available
to your organizations/institutions?
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Electronic databases
Electronic journals
E-books
Locally-hosted databases
CD-Roms
Online catalog
Library website
Library blogs and/or wikis
Subject guides
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Online tutorials
Podcasts and/or webinars
Digital collection of special
holdings of library/archive
Current awareness service
(email delivery or RSS feed
subscription)
Table of contents alerts
Library e-newsletter
Other?
4
Think about any e-product/e-service
available at your library. What was the
impetus for its acquisition/creation?
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Request by user
Request by supervisor
Request from senior management
Request by funding agency
Test “new” technology
Other libraries offer the service
Cheap/cheaper than alternatives
Know that it’s needed
Other?
5
E-products and e-services…
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Offer many benefits
to libraries
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Timeliness of
information
Self-service
opportunities
Automation of
some routine staff
activities
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Pose several
challenges
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Technology
available
(hardware/software)
Budget outlays
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Security issues: IT
architecture vs. the
cloud
Skills required
6
Why are you marketing these
e-resources?
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What’s the purpose?
What are you trying to achieve?
7
Marketing is a strategic
behavior
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Evaluating how well you’ve done/are doing
Adapting what works
Using technology--- Website/wiki/blog, Intranet,
Social networking (Web 2.0) tools--- to do????
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It’s where our users are/will be (continuum)
Touchpoints and voice
Where’s your WebApp?
Understanding what branding can do for your
library/info center
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How to (effectively)
8
Begin with your target
audiences
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A “build it and they will come” approach is
not the way to go
Conduct a thorough information needs
assessment
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Designing information e-products/e-services to
the needs of the marketplace
Basing e-products/e-services on your library’s
ability to develop/sustain (audit)
Market, using appropriate techniques based on
your understanding of your
clients/environment/staff capabilities
9
Issues driving the needs
assessment
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Your market has many groups, each
with distinct needs
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Segment your market
Knowing your market is ongoing
The library/librarian is no longer the
only gatekeeper of information
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Redefining the notion of “competition”
10
Objectives of the needs assessment: To
develop USEFUL information products
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Advance the library strategically
Maximize information use
Minimize information costs
Increase productivity
Avoid duplication of effort
11
What do (you think) users expect from
your library/info center? Ask them!
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A thorough information needs
assessment
E-resources and tools that are
appropriately marketed along with an
education component
Measure not only results (outcomes)
and the process (opportunities for
improvement), but impact
12
The needs assessment
process
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Begin by establishing that there is an information
need
Estimate the size of the market for your potential eproduct
Identify current and potential (future) competitors
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Porter’s Five Forces
Leading edge or bleeding edge or time to lag behind?
Determine whether you can meet that need now
(and what you will do if you cannot)
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Sustain/maintain that effort over time
13
Audit and benchmarking
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Review of existing
marketing efforts
Redefining the
competition
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Direct
Indirect
Potential
Partners?
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What works?
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What are they doing
wrong?
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Can you adopt/adapt?
How will you avoid
these traps?
Analysis
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Porter’s Five Forces
SWOT/TOWS
14
Porter’s Five Forces: External
competitive forces
15
Five forces
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Develop a competitor analysis
Analyze barriers to entry
Analyze substitute products
Analyze supply chain
Works best for industries that are welldefined (few overlapping players) and
relatively stable
Risk of failing to recognize indirect forces
having an impact on an industry (A case for
market analysis – PEST and STEEP)
16
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
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Opportunities
Threats
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17
TOWS
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An extension of the SWOT analysis
Analyze the external environment (threats and
opportunities) and your internal environment
(weaknesses and strengths) to help you think about
the strategy of your organization
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Threats and opportunities
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Useful for marketing campaigns
External environmental factors over which you do not have
control (changing demographics)
Weaknesses and strengths
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Internal factors (poor location; bad reputation)
18
TOWS Strategic Alternatives
Matrix
External Opportunities (O)
1.
2.
3.
4.
External Threats (T)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Internal Strengths (S)
1.
2.
3.
4.
SO “Maxi-Maxi” Strategy
ST “Maxi-Mini”
Strategy
Internal Weaknesses (W)
1.
2.
3.
4.
WO “Mini-Maxi” Strategy
Strategies that use strengths
to maximize opportunities
Strategies that minimize
weaknesses by taking
advantage of opportunities
Strategies that use
strengths to minimize
threats
WT “Mini-Mini”
Strategy
Strategies that
minimize weaknesses
and avoid threats
19
Understanding your clients:
How much do you know?
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Who are they?
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Users vs. customers vs.
clients
Current users and those who
should be but are not
Biggest users (usage
patterns)
Who ought to be priority
users?
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Info-intensive operations
What are their
goals/objectives/strategies?
What are their driving forces?
Critical success factors?
What barriers (to users)
currently exist?
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Why they need information
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What type of information they
require
How they will use that
information
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With whom they (typically)
share
How do they relate to one
another?
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What are they trying to
achieve?
Information flow analysis
How do they prefer to work?
20
Assessing the environment
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What events may change the way the
library performs?
Are there shifts in focus?
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Be prepared for change
Be flexible
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Your e-products must…
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Support/be aligned with the goals and
objectives of the operating
environment
Be targeted to the segments most
critical to its success
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Do you know this?
Be compatible with its culture
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Information continuum
22
Information hierarchy and
continuum
Higher
Edifying
Information
Value
Enriching
Information
Helping Information
Coping Information
Lower
Higher
Data
Information
Knowledge
Intelligence
Wisdom
23
Differentiating…
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What you buy from what you create
Cost and value analyses
24
One needs assessment
process
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Meet with a few strategically important
groups
Interview individuals
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Two-on-one
Review results with your staff and identify
opportunities
Reconvene focus group to review potential
information product/service ideas
Begin planning for each new product/service
identified
25
Conduct the needs
assessment to determine…
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What does the group do?
How well does it perform?
What are its information needs?
How does it obtain and use
information?
What are the problem areas?
Are there any opportunities?
26
Characteristics of focus
groups
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Less formal way of soliciting consumer
feedback on products and services than a
survey
6-10 people + experienced facilitator/assistant
Need for ground rules
1.5 hours + time for intros, so budget for 2
hours to accommodate late arrivals
Record the session (permissions)
Disadvantage: small sample, so composition is
key
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How you find those participants can influence the
validity of your analysis
27
Focus group exercise
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What do you think people expect from
your library/info center?
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Products available
Service priorities
How do you measure up?
Do people even know what you offer?
Are you aware of what others
offer/use?
28
Tips for conducting successful
interviews and focus groups
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Assure complete confidentiality; for example, notes
are aggregated and no names ever given out
Distribute a set of questions that you may ask
before, but do not slavishly go-through them all
Let participants talk, but facilitate the discussion
If you need to “prime the pump”, refer to
observations (“we noticed …”) and ask for
comments
Validate: Interesting, you are not the first to say so
Use “others-find” technique (you too?)
Be aware of interpersonal dynamics and politics
Recognize that participants may not want to “look
bad” & may tailor comments to what they think is
“correct”
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Examples
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Insurance company interview
questionnaire
NSLS focus group write-up
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Survey
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Identify survey content, design
survey, and coordinate
Consortium’s review of draft
survey
Identify survey pretest
participants, complete survey
pretest, and revise
questionnaire
Determine how you will carry
out the survey
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Options (tools and outsourcing)
and trade-offs
Security & privacy issues
Efforts to attain buy-in and
announce the survey
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Pretest the Web-based
survey
Host and monitor Webbased collection tools and
systems
Monitor survey completion
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Reminders and follow-ups
with those who have difficulty
Analyze data
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Overall (Example)
Type of library (Example)
Portraits of _____ Library
(Example)
31
Sample Announcement
Dear Colleague,
The XXX Library is surveying our members to evaluate the effectiveness of our communication
efforts, including our e-Newsletter and Web site. This XXX Communications Audit is being
conducted by an independent firm. Please visit <insert XXX survey URL> to take the survey.
This survey is one in a series of efforts geared toward improving and facilitating communication
between NSLS and our member libraries, and among members themselves. The resulting analysis
will enable us to assure that members receive the information, products, and services they need in a
timely fashion and easy-to-use format.
Your input will help us reach you in more effective ways so that you receive the information you need
in the most convenient way for you. Please take 15-20 minutes to respond to our survey at <insert
XXX survey URL> . The deadline to completing the survey is <insert day and date>. As a way of
saying thank you for your valued participation, XXX will have several drawings for valuable gift cards
redeemable at local retail chain establishments.
<Insert link to Drawing Rules>
Know that your responses to this survey instrument will remain confidential; the information
provided will be reported only in aggregate form. If you have any questions about the survey, please
contact:
<Insert full contact information for survey manager>
Sincerely yours,
<Insert Library manager’s name, title, and full contact information>
32
When to use surveys and focus
groups for information gathering
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Use surveys when
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You need quantitative
estimates/confidence
intervals
You have a clear idea
as to the questions you
want to ask (and how)
You have the time to
develop and test the
instrument, and
analyze and present
the results
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Use focus group when
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You need insights;
quantitative estimates
are less important
Statistical analysis is not
a necessity
You want flexibility in
pursuing issues
discovered during your
inquiry
Limited in terms of time
and/or budget
33
Characteristics of surveys
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Success based on the
length, knowledge of
questioner (if
telephone survey is
used), and list
Important to pretest
items/flow
Introduction to
participate (why)
Intro to survey/Followup with nonrespondents
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Anonymity/confidentiality
Response rate
Incentives to complete
Time
 Timing of release
 Time required to
complete
 Decision to extend
Sampling
Significance
34
Tips for conducting effective
surveys
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Short - Fast – Easy – did I mention short!
Clear, unambiguous (in terms of questions posed)

Ask only one question at a time
Logical flow of survey sections
Ranking of personal priorities (What means more to you?)
Minimize the number of open-ended questions

http://www.qsrinternational.com/
Do you agree with these statements made by your peers?
Lead with interesting questions, enticing people to respond
Include quick demographic questions at the end to aid in
analysis
35
More technical tips
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Limit the number of questions per screen, eliminating unnecessary
questions
Ask only one question at a time
Use graphics and matrix questions sparingly
Reduce response errors by restricting response choices
Don’t force responses
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Always offer some form of “Don’t know/Not sure”-type option
Make error/warning messages as specific as possible
Provide easy Next/Previous buttons and progress indicator
Allow respondents to stop in the middle and resume the survey
Take advantage of the capabilities of being online (e.g., hypertexting;
color)
Automate skip patterns
Automatically validate input
Track respondent behavior
36
Objective website review
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Review the website
from a user’s
perspective vis-à-vis
stated goals
Analyze extant data
(e.g. logfile data)
Evaluate navigation
used
Examine
usability/human factors
Assess the calls to
action and flow of copy
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Identify interactive
techniques
Provide
recommendations for:
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Navigation, technical, and
usability functions
Marketing copy
Interactive techniques
Access to other
information systems and
services
37
“Usability-lite” testing of the
website
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Does the website succeed in communicating
clearly? Are users having trouble?
Usability-lite tests will help you determine:
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Actuals / Optimals
Drivers / Incentives
Barriers / Potential solutions
A combination of telephone interviews (for prescreening candidates) and in-person interviews in
the participants’ normal work environment

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Ask participants to “think aloud” as they explore the
website
Ask some follow-up questions
38
Tips for conducting the on-site portion
of a Web usability test
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Explain that the findings from the evaluation will
be used "for good purpose”
Explain that you will be collecting data by taking
written notes
Stress that the website is being tested - they
aren't
Remind interviewees to articulate their thoughts
Stay neutral
Help users in distress
Ask if they have any questions before the
interview begins
Personae and scenario task scorecard (NSLS)
39
The opportunity
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Find out what kinds of information want and
need, and then deliver it

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Expectations are changing; find a
model/”exemplary practices”
Concentrate on providing information
services that your clients need, or think they
need---information which will make a
difference
Understand where e-resources fit the bill
40
The challenge of the
information audit: Know thyself

Issues driving the information audit

Are you providing the right products,
given your resources?
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To the most strategically important groups?
Are they the best, given your
capabilities?
41
Where to begin with your audit

Review the library’s vision, mission, goals,
and overall objectives in relation to your
organization’s

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What are the library’s critical success factors
(CSFs)?
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Example
Definition
Can you measure the library’s performance?

Individual products/services
42
The library’s resources
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Budget analysis
The collection(s)
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E-products/e-services
Your staff
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Job descriptions
Performance evaluations/talent
assessments
43
A tough competitor learns
what its customers need
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Take a business that you are good at
and find new customers for it
Devise related products/services and
market to your existing customer base
Identify new clients and the eproducts/services that would attract
them to your library/information center
44
The gameplan
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Maximize ROE
Enhance assets
Optimize capital
Manage risk
Market
Control costs
Maximize efficiency
45
Optimizing resources

Understand the differences between cost
and expense

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Maximize efficiency
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Control costs and optimize expenditures
Optimize technology & people
Minimize bureaucracy
Have the ability to move modularly and
quickly
Educate
46
Budget analysis
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Broken down by e-product and client/target market
grouping
What does this tell you?
The greater the budget detail, the easier it will be to
demonstrate worth to management
Know who controls the purse strings

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CSFs and lingo
Include these stakeholders in your needs assessment
process!
Example budget
Redefine “fixed costs”
47
Review your e-product line

What does the library offer?

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
Purchased vs. produced
in-house
What is a “new” product?
Relationship among the
products/services

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Integrated product line
CAUS
Do you have a flow of new
products in the pipeline?

Stepped approach to
product development/
release
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Who uses each service?
How often?
How much do they cost?
Are your e-products
consistent with your
customers’ current and
future needs?
Are these e-products
strategically significant?


Is the library servicing the
most important markets?
Are you defining the library
in terms of the markets’
needs?
48
E-product target summary
Strategic
impact of
market
segments
Reliance on information
49
Matrix of e-products and
services offered by your library
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Product name
Description
Groups using
Frequency of use
Initial date
Modified?
Methods to market
50
Staffing issues, as they relate
to e-products/e-services

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Create a team of players with a variety of skill sets
Analyze how your staff currently spends its time
(activities, tasks, results, outcomes, products,
customers)
Make appropriate “outsourcing” decisions


Can you avail yourself of the expertise of others?
Foster a learning environment

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Learning opportunities
Job sharing and job shadowing programs
Mentoring programs
51
Top 10 human resources priorities for
dealing with e-resources: How to
rationalize the skill sets of your staff

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Define skill requirements for the future environment
Motivate employees to want to learn new things, take on new
tasks
Prepare strategy to transfer certain tasks to the user
Emphasize creativity and innovation
Develop better measures of performance
Invest in personnel with strong(er) business orientation
Encourage managers to be business persons rather than
technologists
Provide training in communication and behavioral skills
Retrain personnel in new technical skills
Recruit technical specialists
52
The purpose of a job
description is…


Distinguish a particular job from all
others
To clarify organizational relationships
and responsibilities



What one is expected to accomplish
Degree of authority one has
The impact one makes on the
organization (as an indicator of job worth)
53
Elements of a job description





Provide quantitative measures of the
position
Identify key relationships
Identify any special or unusual working
conditions
Use key business phrases
Include a marketing component
54
Rename your performance
evaluation: Talent assessment?



Indicate how well the person
understands various aspects of the job
Assess the individual’s interpersonal
relationship
Note any contributions made which
were clearly beyond the scope of the
position
55
Assess your staff…




On the quality of the work they do
The quantity of their output
The impact they have in enabling
others to do their work
Including their contribution to
marketing efforts (particularly of
products/services from outside their
area)
56
Assess the strengths and
weaknesses of each employee


Take a 360º approach to performance
appraisal/talent assessment
Use the process as a means of assessing
development needs (as opposed to telling
staff what they are doing wrong)



Make recommendations as to what the
employee can work on in coming months
Consider how you will support their Individual
Development Plan
Give some indication of the employee’s
potential for promotion
57
Value and manpower analysis

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
For each of the library’s objectives, indicate what is
done to accomplish it
List products or services resulting from each
activity, and estimate staff time required to produce
each
Take the total library budget and multiply by the
percent of time devoted to it by your entire staff
Use the results of this manpower analysis to
determine how much it costs to provide each
service
What next?

You want more than simply “You sure look busy” and “We
like you”
58
Challenge of the Market
Opportunity Analysis



Identify and analyze market
opportunities which exist
Match the talent to the initiative
Find a need and satisfy it
59
Key questions to answer

What needs are not being satisfied with the
library’s current products?



Is the library targeting all potential clients of
its existing e-products?


Does an e-product exist that could meet these
needs?
Could one be developed in-house?
If not, do you understand why?
How effectively in the library targeting those
who have a particular appreciation for the
value of information?
60
Gap analysis (between what is
needed and what is available)




Determine what new e-products need to be
developed
Determine how existing e-products can be
modified to better serve a market
need/wider audience
Evaluate which existing e-products should
be modified/eliminated
Determine how your library’s structure might
be reoriented to better serve your
community (through e-service)
61
Developing new e-products and eservices for your marketplace




What is a new product?
Set priorities as to the market segments you want to
go after
Group current user segments according to their
needs
Integrate your products vertically (by offering a
range of complementary products to specific user
segments)


Step approach
Extend your products by marketing them
horizontally to other groups within your community

What would it take to modify the product/service to make it
attractive for this new group?
62
Market Opportunity Analysis
checklist





Have you set/aligned the library’s priorities in terms
of your organization’s?
Are you being flexible, showing your customers a
willingness to tailor your services to their needs?
Have you designed the library’s services with a
sensitivity to the pressures under which your clients
work?
Can you recommend ways in which your
organization can make better, more productive use
of the information to which it already has access?
Have you developed the library’s products and
services to complement the information resources
that currently exist within the organization?
63
Market Opportunity Analysis
checklist (cont’d)




Have you assess the existing policies,
procedures and practices governing the
management and use of information
throughout the organization?
Have you determined the future direction of
the organization/institution as a whole, as
well as individual market segments?
Have you set targets for “selling” your
products
Have you developed an adequate and
efficient strategy to support each product
and service you have developed?
64
The opportunity



Don’t be bound by preconceived
notions of what the library can offer
Broaden the base of e-products and eservices offered by the library
Expand the user base (strategically)
65
The marketing mix

The challenge is to use the right blend
of techniques




Do you know what marketing is (and how
it differs from promotion)?
Are you aware of the marketing
techniques available to you?
Can you mix and match techniques?
What difference does “online” make?
66
An organization’s ability to produce
customer satisfaction depends on its
marketing strategy

So, what is marketing?




Strategic behavior
Anticipate and satisfy needs
Facilitates exchange
Know me, like me, trust me
67
How are the 4 P’s affected by
online?




Product: What are the benefits of this
product to its users?
Place: What can be done to make it
more accessible?
Price: How much should it cost?
Should it be free?
Promotion: How can its visibility be
increased?
68
E-product decisions

Isolate the core benefits





Formal product (tangible – book)
Core product (what is really being bought is
knowledge)
Augmented product (e.g., quick and easy
access to information)
System product (add-ons and extras)
Express in terms of your entire product line

Branding
69
Usage
Product life cycle (and what
technology doing to change it)
Time
70
Usage
How does Web 2.0 shift the
product lifecycle?
Time
71
A range of integrated
products/services




How do your e-products relate to one
another? To non-electronic
products/services you offer?
Do they make sense to your clients?
Can you support their production over
time?
Do they help you attain economies of
scale?
72
Place decisions relate to
distribution


Availability and
accessibility
Location, location, location





Portals to the world of
______
Information kiosks
Mobile delivery
Social networking tools
Environment




Time
Location
Size
Facilities



Delivery

Telecommunications





Skinny versions
Electronics
Summaries/full-text
Online, email alerts,
browsers, readers
Marketing


Events
Virtual
Physical
Virtual
73
Pricing decisions


Complex and delicate task
Related to the goals and objectives of the library




Profit
Cost recovery
Free
There are no hard and fast rules for pricing: The
final price is a marketing decision



Competition
Price/value
Price/demand
74
Options for pricing



What are the pricing approaches
available to you?
Which should you choose?
How can you remain competitive?

Cost vs. value-based pricing decisions
75
Basic pricing approaches




Product or service is free or low-cost
Premium-priced product or service
Flat fee or buffet (all you can eat for
one price)
Experimental pricing
Source: Arnold Information
Technology, April 23, 1995
76
Which approach is right for
you?


What is the objective of the pricing
policy for each particular product?
How will the price be maintained over
time?



How will you change prices over time?
What are the risks involved in changing
pricing?
How competitive do you want/need to
be?
Source: Arnold Information
Technology, April 23, 1995
77
Free or low-cost product or
service




Objective: Build large installed base
Revenue: Hinges on volume sales and
renewals
Risk: Attrition will take place faster
than new sales
Example
78
Premium-priced product of
service




Objective: Focus on small, lucrative
market niches
Revenue: Hinges upon making key
sales in that segment
Risk: Product attacked by low-cost
competitor
Example
79
Flat fee or buffet




Objective: Build habitual users who react to
novelty or convenience of service
Revenue: Large installed base of customers
with a keen desire for a specific type of
product or service
Risk: User habits change because novelty
wears off
Example
80
Experimental pricing




Objective: Learn
Revenue: Incidental to building
knowledge
Risk: Market rejects product or service
at any price
Example
81
Determining what to charge





Based on your objectives
What the market will bear
Undercutting the competition (without
losing your shirt)
Charge for the value, not the activity
Sell your “research method”
82
Understanding that for which
you can charge







Products you create, not purchase
Intellectual input
Time
Packaging/repackaging to add-value
Customization
Professional-looking product
Client culture-dependent
83
Tips for setting fees





Conduct preliminary searches
Estimate hours required to complete
each phase/task
Know how much money you need
Boilerplate your proposals
Obtain signatures on contracts
84
Automating the chargeback
process




Procedure
Mechanism
Software
Items to chargeback
85
Charging back




Recovering costs
Making a profit
How much?
How easy?


For your clients
For your staff
86
Subscription-based services



The positives
The negatives
The “how to”
87
Transaction-based fees


Accounting requirements
How easy?


For your clients
For your staff
88
Forms of payment



Pay as you go
(transaction-based)
Up-front payment
Subscription


Currency exchange
rates
Online
clearinghouses
89
Hypothetical case study:
Electronic clipping service


The pricing question
Main pricing concerns





Complexity
Cost
Budgetable
Effect on your other services
Online pricing options
90
What is the primary method you use to
market your library’s e-resources?







Library Website
E-newsletter
Blog/wiki
Flyer posted in library/around
campus/throughout organization
Presentations at group meetings
Mention during other product training
sessions
Other?
91
Promotion decisions are concerned with the
organization’s combined efforts to
communicate with its markets





Advertising
Personal selling
Sales promotion
Publicity and public relations
Culture
92
Consistent message: What makes
a message memorable?

What message do you want to communicate
for what kind of response?




What are you promoting (in terms of the core
product)?
Why are you promoting?
To whom are you promoting?
What method is most effective?



What best suits your needs and those of your clients?
Let the WHY dictate the rest
How important is brand recognition?
93
Advantages today are more than twoway calibrations: Communication &
collaboration



How do users view the library today?
What do users want/expect?
The danger of underestimating the importance of
the online experience


Multi-way media: Are you a dinosaur or a ???


Key networkers
Demand for speed and a presence in 24/7 communities
Be recognized as the gate opener, not the
gatekeeper (Seth Godin)
94
Website 2.0: It’s the experience,
stupid!









Subject/Internet guides
Videos and tutorials
Prominence of placement
Usability (from the users’ standpoint – What do they want to
do?)
Counters and analysis of webstats
Search engine optimization
Ease of use from all locations
Online customer service (e.g., IM)
Sharing your favorites

Del.icio.us
(http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00013233/01/BCLA2008_ItsDelici
ous.pdf)
95
And let’s not forget…




OPAC enhancements that engage users
Options for presenting search result lists
Wiki vs. blog?
Reference availability through IM chat or SMS/texting







24/7?
Mobile phone/PDA/e-book readers
Personalized circulation, ILL/DD and reserve notifications
E-newsletter
Twittering news
Podcasts, vodcasts and webinars






“Ask A Librarian”
Online training tutorials (http://www.screencast.com/users/ants)
RSS feeds
Communities of Practice (COPs)
Visualization tools
Tutorials
Dashboards
96
What is Your Ranking vs. Your
Competition?

Do you look at web metric reports?






Alexa, Compete, Google Adwords Keyword Tool
(https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal)
Social Network Sites
Mentions in newspapers that highlight current
information on your site and are picked up by web
search engine spiders
Getting reputable organizations, with sites
recognized as such by the search engines, mention
you/link to you
Awards and mentions on lists of “the best site for…”
Discussions on blogs or mentions in e-newsletters,
97
particularly those with influence
Engaging your users
98
Marketing literature (collateral)
and e-marketing techniques


Brochures
Catalogs










Copyright
Color


Skills
In/out-of-network
Add-on extras
Frequency of delivery

Print vs. web
Power words
Logo and graphics
Shifting online
MULTI-media
Technology and tools

Toggle online to how to
guides
Size
Copywriting



Fact sheets


Master brochure

Having something to say
Personalization/customiza
tion
Nature of authority and
referral
99
Transforming traditional (print-based)
marketing collateral to the online
environment?

Brochures



PDF the original
Essence becomes the
HTML version
Size



Catalogs



Master brochure
becomes your portal


Fact sheets

Toggle online to how to
guides, with handy 2page printable version
Copywriting



Density of site
Browser-ready
Telecom issues
(graphics)
Font & point size
Print vs. web
Power words
Logo and graphics



Copyright
Color
Using online tools
100
What marketing collateral
should…


Describe your services
Give pricing information





If applicable
Free
Tell clients how your products and services are delivered or
accessible
Convey confidence in the expertise and reliability of staff
(background info)
Emphasize the benefits and advantages to the client, not the
products’ features



Solutions!
50-55% of copy
Writing for the Web/mobile devices
101
Key questions

What is it?


What will it do for me?


Facts
Benefits sell: Stress the benefits
Why should I believe it?

Testimonials support benefit claims


Who?
Which words to use?
102
The e-promotional arsenal

Advertising informs and sells




Sales promotion



Short-run inducements supplement advertising
Smart coupons?
Public relations is a planned effort to shape attitudes and behavior






Google ad words
Vendor advertising
SEO
E-press broadcast
Diggs and tweets
SEM
Social networking aspect
Viral marketing effect
Effects of the Search Engine

Presenting search results
103
Advertising




Creates awareness
Serves as a
reminder
Pre-sells ideas
Can (sometimes)
eliminate
dissatisfaction







Ads in (paid) media
Direct mail/e-mail
Newsletters and enewsletters
Posters
Unexpected places
Web sites and
strategies for 2.0
Google ads
104
Branding




A range of inter-related products
With a similar “look-and-feel”
Logos and fonts employed
The message

Tag lines
105
Color does more than add
effect

Favorite colors of
adults from those
preferred by
children





Hues
Warm vs. cool
Vivid/strong
Deep-toned
Second colors




Color-blindedness
Culture
Dithering
Monitor quality
affects what’s seen
106
Sales promotion

Short-run
inducements to
supplement
advertising


Attracts new users
Penetrates new
markets






Contests
Give aways
Discounts
Coupons
Free trials
Training sessions
107
Public relations campaigns


Creates interest
Builds user
acceptance

News releases: How
important are they today?


Pre-sell ideas

Develops goodwill
Provides wide
exposure








Do not forget elements
Example
E-newsletters
Media kits
Speeches and
presentations
Articles
Events
“Customer of the month”
108
Personality personality (and
learning) styles

Four primary dimensions






Dominance
Influence
Steadiness
Conscientiousness


Communicating social
style preferences


Myers-Briggs
Learning and working styles


Generational, without
generalizations
Howard Gardner’s Multiple
Intelligences
Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Learning Domains


Direct answers (short and
concise)
Entertaining, friendly,
emotional
Cooperative, patient, and
amiable
Sensitive, focus on detail
Liz Blankson-Hemans, Dialog-Proquest
109
Planning is the key to any
promotional campaign





Goals
Audiences
Key messages
Strategies
Partners

Storytelling
 What makes a
good story?
 How can you
capture/share
these stories?
@ Your Library Toolkit (ARL/ALA)
110
Winning marketing strategies


Develop products
ideally suited to the
information needs
of your clients
Tailor your
products to fit your
clients




Target marketing
Conduit marketing
Electronic delivery
Cross marketing
111
Marketing checklist






Define your target market
Clear service or product with benefits to the
client
Be sure that the service has a unique selling
point
Ensure a professional image
Be aware of the importance of established
clients
Build in consistent communication with
established and potential clients
112
Marketing checklist (cont’d)





Establish quality procedures
Create professional and appropriate
promotional literature
Target promotional activities carefully
Monitor quality of work and satisfaction
of clients by building in feedback loops
(product/service)
Monitor the success rate of marketing
activities
113
There’s power in social
networking tools and Web 2.0

What are we talking
about?




How are they used?
When to use which?
Going where your
users are
Understanding how
“they” work

Word-of-mouth
marketing in a 2.0
world


Community marketing
Viral marketing
techniques and
consequences
114
Collaborative approaches and
building community










Google Docs (http://docs.google.com)
Slideshare.net
(http://www.slideshare.net/group/tttworkshops/slideshows)
Socialcast.com (Free trial)
Tagging and social bookmarking

Connotea.org

Delicious

Furl.net is now diigo.com
Ning communities (Law Libraries and Librarians
http://lawlibraries.ning.com/)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-TX/LSC-NorthHarris-Library/75136419361)
Second Life
Digitization projects
Movie maker
Reference (http://ask.highlands.edu/)
115
When do I use a blog and when a
wiki?



Forum or Bulletin Board Discussion Group is
most suitable for Q&A
Wiki is most suitable for loosely controlled,
easy Web collaboration or highly
collaborative information gathering. Editing
by anyone allowed access.
Blog/Weblog is personal comment (diary)
made available for others to comment in
public (vs. CMS which has highly controlled
authoring and organized information
distribution)

Book/video/website reviews by clients
116
Examples of library use
Blogs













Best of the Web Blog Directory
(http://blogs.botw.org/Reference/Libraries)
Search Library Blogs on LISZen.com
Alternative Teen Services (http://yalibrarian.com/)
Senior Friendly Libraries
(http://seniorfriendlylibraries.blogspot.com/)
University of Virginia Library blog
(http://uvalibwebdev.wordpress.com)
Linda Hall Library (http://linda-halllibrary.blogspot.com)
NYU Bobst Library (http://liblink.wordpress.com/)
Newman Library at Baruch College
(http://referencenewman.blogspot.com)
UK library blogs (http://uklibraryblogs.pbwiki.com/)
Stark County Law Library
(http://www.starklawlibrary.org/temp/blog/index.html)
Special Library Blogs
(http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?ti
tle=Special_libraries)
Georgia State University library
(http://www.library.gsu.edu/news/index.asp)
Biz Ref Desk (http://www.bizrefdesk.blogspot.com/)
Wikis




How libraries can use wikis with their
patrons
(http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?tit
le=How_Libraries_Can_Use)
Blogging Libraries Wiki
(http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links
/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blog
ging_Libraries_Wiki)
Antioch University Library Training and
Support Wiki
(http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/antioch_
university_new_england_library_staff_tr
aining_and_support_wiki/)
Ohio University Libraries Biz WIki
(http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/b
izwiki/index.php/Main_Page)
117
E-newsletters








Consider whether you want to
manage your e-newsletter in-house
or outsource it

List management and
broadcasting options

Content
Clean and maintain your lists
Test your emails before you send
them out!
Make the sign-up process easy
Decide which is most appropriate for
the target audience: Opt-in or opt-out
Offer both HTML and text-only
options (images disabled)
Include an “Unsubscribe” link at the
end of every issue
Provide a printable/downloadable
PDF e-newsletter option from your
website








Make sure that the e-newsletter
has a consistent look-and-feel
Make the Subject line relevant to
the user and place call-to-actions
at top right
Offer headlines, first paragraph, or
preview panes
Authenticate delivery, positive
flags, not filtered, open
Analyze opening days of week
and times of day
Consider where readers will land if
they click on a link
Make it easy for readers to print or
share with colleagues
(community)
Provide opportunities for reader
feedback
118
Podcasts, online tutorials, and
webinars





What are they?
How can I find one?
How can I create one?
The Podcast Network
(http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com)
Examples of podcasts

Online training tutorials
(http://www.screencast.com/users/ants)
119
Finding podcasts









Odeo.com
Podfeed.net

Podcasting Station
(http://www.podcastingstation.com/categories.php)

Podcast Directory

Podcast.net

Digital Podcast

Podscope


Podanza.com
Everyzing (formerly
Podzinger)
Feedster
(http://podcasts.feedster.c
om)
Podcast Pup
Every Podcast
SpeakWire
Podcasts.Yahoo.com
Casting Words
Blabline
Blinkx (video)
120
Creating podcasts






The Ultimate Guide to Podcasting
(http://www.cumbrowski.com/podcasti
ngguide.asp)
Podcasting “how to” guides
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetGold/message/14793)
Podcastercon.org’s “UnConference”
Podcasting made easy
(http://campustechnology.com/articles
/40978/)
How to make a podcast
(http://www.gsnyder.libsyn.com/index.
php?post_id=209540)
How to podcast
(http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make
-use-of-podcast-43-how-to-podcast/
and
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/makeuse-of-podcast-45-how-to-podcast-ptii/)






Transcription service $
(http://castingwords.com/)
EKU Library Learning 2.0
(http://ekulibrarylearning.blogspot.co
m/2007_08_01_archive.html)
Create podcasts using your PC
(http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/
pub/a/windows/2005/04/05/create_p
odcasts_with_pc.html)
Podcasting for information literacy
(http://209.85.165.104/custom?q=ca
che:HRxpNyGR48J:www.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/papers/
133-LeeRobertsen.pdf+information+literacy&hl=en&c
t=clnk&cd=4&gl=us)
Podcasting Equipment Guide 2009
(http://hivelogic.com/articles/podcasti
ng-equipment-guide-2009/)
dotSub
121
Examples of podcasts










Libraries launch academic podcasting
(http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/libraries/podcast.sju)
IWR (http://www.onlineinformation.co.uk/online07/pod_list.shtml?press_id=13980)
Talking with Talis (http://talk.talis.com)
The Law Librarian (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thelawlibrarian)
Elihu Burritt Library
(http://library.ccsu.edu/about/podcasts/index.php)
Johns Hopkins Medical Podcasts
(http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/Podcasts.html)
Edelman (http://www.edelman.com/podcasts/)
Records Management
(http://nuweb.northumbria.ac.uk/ceis_podcasts/index.php)
Top 25 hits
(http://www.podcastingnews.com/forum/links_tophits.htm)
122
SoundPractice.net
Models for online tutorials ($)
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Viewlet Builder (http://www.qarbon.com/presentationsoftware/viewletbuilder5/) or (http://www.p4you.co.uk/products.asp)
DemoCreator (http://www.sameshow.com/demo-creator.html)
Demofuse (http://www.demofuse.com/)
Adobe Captivate (http://www.adobe.com/Products/Captivate)
Camstudio (http://camstudio.org) free streaming video software
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Splashcast/Camstudio mashup
(http://danielrhood.com/2007/10/22/splashcastcamstudio-mashup/)
Voicethread
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
Wink (http://www.debugmode.com/wink/)
Screentoaster
FireShot ScreenShot Studio (http://screenshot-program.com)
Screenr.com
123
MySpace, Flickr and Twitter
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Spirit of community
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Communities of Practice (COPs)
LinkedIn
Second Life
Slideshare
Dealing with Facebook fatigue
124
IM and mobile devices
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Reference assistance
Overdue book notification
Audio tours of the library
Text message announcements of library
events
‘Tip of the day’
Polls
Coupons for library promotional freebies
Wallpaper
125
Community and viral
marketing tips
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Provide a great service
Offer access to tools that help users spread
the word
Create humorous, but informative videos
that leave the viewer wanting to learn more
Create and support user groups
Facilitate communication within groups
Don’t just observe (lurk): Participate!
Communities of Practice (COPs)
126
Event planning and giveaways
(beyond bookmarks)
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In the library
Virtual scavenger and
treasure hunts
Community events
Media events
ALA Communications
Handbook for
Libraries (2004)
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Go where your
users go
Make
communication
convenient, not
compulsory
Respect people’s
privacy and social
space
UKSG 2007 annual conference
127
RSS Feeds
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RSS in Plain English
(http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english)
RSS Feeds – Key Skills
(http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Learning/KeySkills/RSS/)
LibWorm for staff development
(http://www.libworm.com/rss/librarianqueries.php)
Law Journal Feeds (http://law.wlu.edu/library/feeds/)
Using FeedforAll, RSSPublisher, or Google’s Feedburner
to publish RSS Feeds (and podcasts)
128
Types of plans/planning
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Strategic
Annual
Operating
Marketing
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Communications
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Action
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Time horizon
Format
Audience
Level of detail
Relationship
among them all
129
The marketing plan: Chart a
course to success
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What are the components of a
marketing plan?
Do you have a model to follow?
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Format is less important than content
Does your plan agree with current
stakeholder expectations?
130
A strategic tool
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Analysis
Objectives
Action
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Plan the work and work the plan
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131
Elements of a marketing plan
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Management summary
Market
Trend analysis
Competition
Existing challenges and opportunities
Goals and objectives
Functional action plans
132
Communication Plan
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Goals: What do you want to happen?
Objectives: What will be accomplished?
Positioning statement: How do you want your
library/info center to be perceived?
Key message(s): What is the most important
message you wish to deliver?
Target audiences: Who needs to hear the
message (inside and out)?
Strategies: How will you deliver the message?
Evaluation measures: How will you know you
succeeded?
133
What must be done to reach the goals
and objectives set for each
product/service?
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Articulate the marketing mix
Include a schedule for completion of
each activity (milestones)
Assign staff responsibilities and budget
for each activity
134
How will you know when it
works? Measurement.
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Library-centered
Institution-centered
User/clientcentered
(Other)
Stakeholdercentered
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Process
responsiveness
Process input
quality
Productivity
measures
135
Marketing Campaign Design
Worksheet (ACRL)
Needs &
Benefits
Messages
Platforms
&
Vehicles
Frequency
& Strategy
Personnel
& Dates
Measures
136
Getting plan approval (buy-in)

Build rapport with all stakeholders and maximize
their involvement in product/service development
(including staff)
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Do your homework
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Don’t ignore objections
Keep everyone in the loop throughout the development
and launch cycle
Know the personality styles of your stakeholders and
which approaches are likely to work
Allow sufficient time to write the plan

Keep everyone informed
137
Evaluating your products and
your marketing plan/efforts
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The challenge: Get feedback
To ensure success, make changes!
138
Issues
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What do you achieve through
evaluation?
Do you know and use various ways to
evaluate your products and services?
139
The evaluation process
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An ongoing activity
A validation of your accomplishments
A way to determine how well your
products/plans are working
A process to spark change
140
A successful evaluation
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How well have products contributed to the library’s
objectives?
How well have products met customers’ needs?
(Refer back to your Needs Assessment)
Establish your budget objectives:
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How much is the product worth to you?
How much does it cost?
What is the impact of each product/service on your
operations?
Establish client objectives: How many customers
are needed to justify a product?

What changes are necessary? New groups to target?
Timetable? Responsibilities?
141
Characteristics of effective
evaluation
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Evaluates each product independently
Has structure
Identifies internal & external forces
Determines CSFs for each product
Commits adequate resources to the process
Allows sufficient time for evaluation
Fosters cooperation between staff & clients
Involves many groups
142
How to get started
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Establish criteria
Design surveys & questionnaires
Assemble client lists
Obtain feedback from key clients
Compile measurable data on expenses &
revenues
Ask staff and superiors for feedback
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What do they recommend you do?
Vendors can also play a valuable role
143
Questions to pose concerning
facts
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Why should I believe it?
Does the claim need evidence to
support it?
If there is evidence provided, how
good is the evidence?
Other plausible interpretations?
What reasonable alternative
conclusions are possible?
144
Four basic approaches
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Top-down
Bottom-up
Interactive (negotiated)
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Wider range, including outsiders
Objective (factual data)
145
Role of feedback in evaluation
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Helps evaluate effectiveness
Provides a framework for modification
Helps distinguish fact from fiction
Communicates a serious image
146
Ways to obtain feedback
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Take into account
corporate culture
Be sensitive to individual
preferences
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Formal techniques
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Evaluation forms
Questionnaires/surveys
Personal interviews
Focus groups
Informal techniques
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Budget data
Meeting notes
Usage logs
Conversations with clients
Letters of
recommendation
Memoranda of praise or
complaint
147
Tips for obtaining feedback
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Compel the client to complete
evaluation forms
Distribute evaluation forms with your
product
Ask for a response in person
148
Continuing forward
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Summarize the evaluation, determine
necessary changes
Estimate cost of changes; establish
timetable for implementation
Discuss proposed changes with staff,
clients & superiors
Implement most effective changes
149
When your plan fails to deliver

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Reassess actual clients vs. target market
Reevaluate how the product was managed

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Are changes indicated?
Compile a list of alternatives
Discuss possible changes with staff &
clients
Develop & implement appropriate action
steps for integrating changes
Set a new timetable for re-evaluation
150
Some common problems
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The evaluation is not an end in itself:
The process must result in an action
by the library
The evaluation process is too complex
Surprising customers with a change in
service
151
Defining success
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Meeting objectives
Creating a market presence
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Standing in the community
Prestige
Expanding markets (and market share)
Financial expectations
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Not necessarily for profit
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Cost recovery
Breakeven
152
Defining success: An
information context
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Financial issues
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Private sector
Public sector
Peer evaluation
Standing within the information
industry
153
Proven techniques for creating
client satisfaction
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Motivated staff, trained and
empowered to solve clients’ problems
Management commitment
Client focus
Client requirements known
Friendly systems
Make sure clients know that you
appreciate their “business”
154
Measure…
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Focus of your efforts
Flexibility of your staff
Competitive nature of your operations
Consistency of processes with stated
objectives and goals
155
Measuring success
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Understanding business objectives
Cutting unnecessary work
Continuous improvement
Eliminating waste
Empowering the worker
Learning from others
Experiencing your services from the client’s
point of view
Creating value for the client
156
Presenting outcomes, results,
progress, and impact

Speak the language of your clients
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Know what they measure (and methods
used)
Connect the dots
Link to the university’s goals/strategies
Use competitive information effectively
Wrap it all up in a pretty picture
Source: Dow Jones
157
The 5 A’s
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Ambition
Assertiveness
Aggressiveness
Appearance
Attitude
Corilee Christou, Lexis/Nexis
158
Key factors for success

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Skills and quality of staff
Appropriate marketing
Proactivity
Creativity
Strategy for pricing
Projecting the image of credibility
Understanding the legal framework
Joint forces
159
Winning strategies for libraries
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Understanding the competitive ladder
Making quality your product
Getting the most from your people
Defining product
Growing your business
160
Comments? Questions?
Suggestions?
Thank you!
Barbie E. Keiser
Barbie.Keiser@gmail.com
bkeiser1@jhu.edu
161