Word-of-Mouth
Marketing for
Libraries
Instructor:
Ann Miller
annkenneymiller@yahoo.com
An Infopeople Workshop
Summer/Fall 2006
This Workshop Is Brought to You By
the Infopeople Project
Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project
supported by the California State Library. It
provides a wide variety of training to California
libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered
around the state and are open registration on a
first-come, first-served basis.
For a complete list of workshops, and for other
information about the project, go to the Infopeople
website at infopeople.org.
Workshop Overview

What is word-of-marketing and why you
should care

Making the most of social networks

Electronic word-of-mouth marketing

Case studies

Action plans
Introductions

Name

Library

Position

Burning desire that brought you to
this workshop
What does the word
“marketing”
mean to you?
Marketing - Textbook Definition:
The activities of listening to customer needs,
assessing the competitive landscape and then
designing and creating products and services
accompanied by messages that shape
audience perceptions, leading to
opportunities for revenue.
Translation

Find out what they want

Give it to them at a reasonable cost

Tell them about it
Four P’s of the Marketing Mix

Product

Place

Price

Promotion
You ARE a marketer, now deal with it!
From the blog, creating passionate users
http://headrush.typepad.com
Old School vs. Neo-Marketing
OLD
NEW
Marketing department
Everyone’s responsibility
Library controls
Users have power
Library’s content
Users’ content
Focus groups, surveys
User feedback
Advertising
Evangelizing
One way broadcast
Two-way, iterative conversation
Exercise #1
Word-Of-Mouth Bingo
What is Word-of-Mouth Marketing?
Activities that generate personal
recommendations and referrals for your
library, its services, or “products”
Why Should I Care ?

Traditional marketing is becoming less
effective

information overload

skeptical public

“narrowcasting”
Technology Pumps It Up!

Potential for the exponential

Message is recorded (somewhere!), no
longer ephemeral

Vital for “hard-to-reach” groups

Affordable for libraries!
It All Begins With One-to-One
One-to-one is:
 Trusted
 Timely
 Tailored
I Thought Viral Was a Bad Thing …?

Word-of-mouth – person to person

Viral – word-of-mouth enhanced by online
interactions

Buzz – Everyone is talking about it –
message is no longer moving linearly
Word-of-mouth Is Not Appropriate When:

Product is complicated

Forced, fake, or bought

Product is a dog
Creating a Buzz

Let’s give them something to talk about!

The Wow! factor
“Six Buttons of Buzz”

Taboo

Outrageous

Unusual

Hilarious

Remarkable

Secrets
(from Mark Hughes, Buzz Marketing)
From David McCusker and American River College Library’s Chimes newsletter:
“In an attempt to minimize the inevitable confusion between JSTOR and J-Kwon,
we’ve prepared this handy chart for quick reference for you and your students:”
•Librarians can help you and your
students navigate JSTOR.
•Unfortunately, if you have any difficulties
with J-Kwon, you are on your own.
•Full-text articles in JSTOR are
available only to students, faculty, and
staff of participating institutions.
•Full text J-Kwon lyrics are available to
anyone with an Internet connection.
•JSTOR is a “scholarly tool of
enormous potential.”
•Issues of journals in JSTOR are
never “out"; they are always available.
•It remains to be seen what potential this
young mc may possess.
•Our fruitless attempts to contact J-Kwon
suggest that he is frequently out and rarely
available.
Exercise #2
Adapt a Case History
The People Who Make it Happen
“Influentials”




Mavens
Ambassadors
Salespeople
Connectors
(From Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point)
Exercise #3
Are You a Connector?
Tapping Into Social Networks

Who are three “connectors” you can use to
spread your message?

“Sales people”?

Mavens?

Ambassadors?
Spreading the Word

Listening not telling

Use the feedback loop- even if it hurts
Audience expectations

Customized

Content driven

Creative

Connected
Napa Valley Register –
comment on a story
The Long Tail
Distributing more of niche
market items
Santa Clara County Library on Wikipedia
Networking in Organizations

Staff

Library volunteers

Service organizations

Participate in your community
Introducing Yourself to a New Network

Your “elevator speech”

clear, concise, compelling

no mumbo jumbo

end with invitation for interaction
Exercise #4
Words to Avoid
You Can Only Go Up From Here…
http://www.elevatorspeech.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=videos
Not so good…
Hi, my name is Ann Miller and I am head of Collection Development for Boring
Public Library. My job is to expedite the workflow of our catalogers and cataloging
techs and to purchase digital and print collections that provide reciprocal and parallel
functionality with the other partners in our consortium.
Sample “Hooks”
•
Americans go to the library 16% more often than they go to the
movies.
•
There are more libraries in the U.S. than there are McDonalds.
•
California libraries spent an average of $25 per capita for one year
of public library service. That’s less than the cost of one book...
•
Our library buys over 25,000 items every year. That’s over 2,000
new books, movies and music CDs that are on our shelves every
month.
•
Our library has 60 computers with high-speed Internet access.
That’s $360,000 work of Internet access for free.
Exercise #5
Your “Elevator Speech”:
What can you say in the
time it takes for an
elevator ride ?
Electronic Word-of-Mouth

Email newsletters

Link building

Blogs
Email Newsletters




Publish for pennies
Opt in
Privacy policy
Measuring email
marketing
 good: Opened
 better: click-through
 best: forwarded
E-newsletter
Example of an E-newsletter Report
Writing for the Web


Reading online is different
than print
Users:





skip intros
scan headings
Register first words of headings
Average 51 seconds reading an
e-newsletter
http://www.useit.com/al
ertbox/newsletters.html
Eye-tracking heat map
Library Blog: Why?

Build relationships

Listen, get feedback

Preview new services

Build communities

Solve problems

Collaborate to create new and better
library services
Qualities of a Blogger

Time and commitment to blog

Well-informed

Opinionated

Truthful

Good writer

Authentic voice
Link Building



The “usual suspects” – schools, newspapers,
& cities
Unexpected links – blogs, hobbyist groups,
tourism sites, etc.
“Link bait” – using the outrageous or
unexpected to drive people to your site
Writing a link request





Write to a person not just a title (webmaster)
Start a dialog, be helpful
Reference something in their site that shows
you are an avid reader
Be specific about how your site is relevant to
theirs
Give an example of what the link might look
like
Hennepin County Library on MySpace
Individual Librarian on MySpace
Boston Public Library on Wikipedia
Libraryman on Flickr
St. Joseph County PL on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrtYdFV_Eak
Wikipedia Discussion about Boston PL
Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrtYdFV_Eak
Exercise #6
Write Your Action Plan
One thing you learned today?
Evaluations