Marketing the library

MARKETING THE LIBRARY

Presented byPhi l ip Blake

Australian School Library Association Inc.

Australian School Library Association Inc.

Housekeeping

Sue JohnstonASLA Board DirectorChair ASLA

ProfessionalLearning Project Team

Facilitator for this webinar

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Australian School Library Association Inc.

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Questions

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Questions and Comments here

‘I trust a good deal to common fame, as we all must. If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods.’—Ralph Waldo Emerson

A better mousetrap

‘Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.’

‘The world will beat a path to your door…’

No it won’t.

The only way the world will beat a path to your door is if you tell them about the better mousetrap behind the door.

This applies to libraries too. It doesn’t matter how good you are, or how

innovative the library is; if you don’t tell people about it, nobody except the regular users will know or care.

How to tell the world

Your library needs to be in the public eye. There are plenty of ways to get it in the public eye:

Send out a regular newsletterFind out what themes the teachers are

working on, and talk to them about how the library can help.

Set up displays and advertise them.Organise competitionsGet guests or speakers into the library

How to tell the world (2)

Keep up with current affairs, make the library topical – and advertise it.

Have a ‘library opinion’ about everything in the school – and publicise it.

Offer the library as a venue for school eventsTake the library on the road – go with kids on

excursions, or put together an outdoor library event.

If nothing is happening –Make something happen.

You need to be creative

You need to be creative

How to tell the world (3)

If you’re not creative, get the help of people who are. (Lots of kids are creative.)

When you want to do something different, don’t listen to people who say either:

‘That won’t work – it’s never been done before’ (and they do say things like that) OR

‘We tried that and it didn’t work’.

Key facts

FEATURES AND BENEFITS, PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Ask yourself these questions

What are the library’s main resources?What can the library do for its users?

(WIIFM)What is the library’s main problem?Can you turn that problem into an

opportunity?Where is the library ahead of the

competition, and where is it behind them?Who or what is the library’s competition?

Positioning

VERSUS AT LEAST TWO MAJOR COMPETITORS

Positioning: ‘The one that…’

Positioning simply means placing yourself in relation to major competitors.

So first you need to find out who or what your competition is.

If people aren’t using the library, what are they doing? That activity is your competition.

It’s not your library versus another library.

Who or what is the competition?

If people are not coming to the library, what are they doing?

The competition

Are they doing nothing?

And can you provide them with a more comfortable environment to do nothing?

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The competition

Are they texting or playing games?

And can you text to them?

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The competition

Are they being too busy?

Note the difference between ‘Are they too busy?’ and ‘Are they being too busy?’

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Positioning

Whatever they are doing instead of using the library, you need to tell them that ‘The library is the place where…’(for example)

You get the answers It’s warm You will be safe It’s fun We can do some of the work for you

That’s positioning. Decide on your own positioning statement.

Key communication

IF YOU COULD ONLY SAY ONE THING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

One thing

If you only had ten seconds in which to tell someone why they should use the library, what would you say?

(N.B. This is one of the most important questions you need to ask yourself. From this comes a consistent message that you can hammer home with every communication.)

Target audience

Who are your targets? Students? Teachers? Heads of department? Parents? The Principal? Visiting specialists? Others? All of the above?

Preach to the converted

Never use the library

Always use the library

Hardly ever use the library

Sometimes use the library

Target Audience

Your audience is different people at different times. But don’t forget that you are really only speaking to one person at a time. Others will see your message, but they only read it one at a time. So be personal, be direct, as if they were in the room with you (which is what you want to achieve anyway.)

And the principal is a primary target. Because the principal has the power of life and death over the library. So whatever you’re doing, make sure the principal knows about it. Unless something goes wrong, in which case create a diversion.

Promise

WHAT WILL THE LIBRARY DO FOR ITS CONSUMER BETTER/MORE THAN ITS

COMPETITORS?

Promise

‘Promise, large promise, is the soul of advertising.’ Samuel Johnson

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Promise

What can you promise? It isn’t just a library. It’s what the library can do. Make a list of what the library can do for its visitors – both the regulars and those who are not using it at the moment.

Remember also that it does different things for different people.

Promise

‘We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice.’

Samuel Johnson

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Examples of promisesIt can get you out of the rain; it’s warm, cosy, comfortable…

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Examples of promises

You should be able to find what you want

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Examples of promises

It’s fun

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Examples of promises

The school pets like it here.

(If you haven’t read Dewey the Library Cat I suggest you do. I’m not a cat lover but I found it an enchanting story.)

Supporting evidence

WHAT PROOF CAN YOU OFFER THAT YOU CAN DELIVER WHAT YOU ARE PROMISING?

Supporting evidence examples

Take surveys from people you have helped. Ask them what the library has done for them, and then use their responses as testimonials.

Supporting Evidence

‘He wasn’t interested in South America – but he had a one-track mind about

soccer. The library showed him the other sides of both soccer and South America!’

Supporting evidence

‘I didn't know how many different ways to search there were…’

Supporting evidence‘In the last month, the library has had 1000 visitors. There must be something here worth doing! ’

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Tone and style

HOW DO YOU WANT THE LIBRARY TO COME ACROSS? IS IT FRIENDLY AND

WELCOMING? IS THERE A LOT OF LAUGHTER? IS IT A PLACE FOR SERIOUS STUDY ONLY? WHATEVER IT IS, THAT’S

HOW YOU WRITE ABOUT IT.

Net take-out

HOW OR WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THE LIBRARY?

Net take-out

Examples: ‘I didn’t know you could do that in a library.’ ‘That’s cool.’ ‘Not just for nerds, then.’ Well, if they’re going, I’ll go.’ ‘That looks interesting.’ ‘What they do on Tuesdays at lunchtime looks like

fun.’

Desired consumer response

WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO DO AS A RESULT OF YOUR COMMUNICATION?

Desired consumer response

Examples:Make the library the first port of callAttend an eventTake a tourSee a displayHear a speakerEnjoy what you send themOr even: Stay out of the library while it’s

being repainted

AIDA

When writing advertisements, the simple formula is ‘AIDA.’

Attract AttentionArouse InterestCreate DesireAsk for ActionAnd everything you send out of the library by any

medium is an advertisement for the library. A side issue is that the most effective advertising of all is word of mouth. So make sure you are delivering what you promise.

Attract attention

REMEMBER THE MOUSETRAP, AND REMEMBER YOUR COMPETITION. BEFORE YOU CAN DO ANYTHING WITH PEOPLE’S ATTENTION, YOU HAVE TO ATTRACT IT.

Arouse interest

Now that you have their attention, give them a reason to read on.

Create desire

You’re trying to sell something. Make them want it.

Ask for action

It’s incredible how frequently advertising writers forget to tell people what they want them to do. People are very much more likely to do what you want if you ask them to do it.

(Salesmen call this ‘closing the sale’; it’s the moment when you ask them to commit.) We may not be able to ‘close the sale’, but we can open the way.

And if you get stuck…

If you are scratching around for ideas and coming up with nothing

If you’re getting fed up If you’re feeling lost If you think the library is becoming a poor

relation…

Read your way out of trouble!

The internet is full of advice about how to market your library.

Australian School Library Association Inc.

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