"If you don't know what's important,
then everything is important.
If everything is important,
then you try to do everything.
If you are attempting to do everything,
then people will expect you to do everything.
An in trying to please everyone,
you don't have enough time
to find out what's really important." ~ anon.
"Marketing is finding out what your customers want and need and changing when necessary to meet those needs." ~ Pat Cavill
"Marketing is about bringing them in and bringing them back." ~ Patricia Fisher and Marseille Pride
Drucker says that the only valid definition of a business is to create a customer. Our job is to create and manage services and collections in such a way that we create and retain customers. That's the purpose of marketing.
Non-profit organizations face some special marketing challenges. Typically, we serve multiple publics. Evaluating the benefits of services and collections is often elusive. Politics often interferes with objective analysis by community members and funding agencies. Increasing the number of users when resources barely allow meeting the needs and wants of present users is a constant challenge. Increasing the number of customers does not necessarily increase the amount of funding.
A good way to keep up with trends that impact markets and marketing is to visit trendwatching.com.
Everyone is a member of a special population. Special population is not simply a code name for the poor, Latinos, or African-Americans. For example, one metro public library has special programs for independent scholars. Those interested in genealogy and local history, for example, are members of a special population. A "target market" is a population or segment that is a priority or receives more attention.
Those who watch markets have commented on the "vanishing mass market." "Consumers are more individualized that ever, expecting every good, service, and experience to be addressing their unique and oh so important selves." "One marketing
It is difficult to decide which segment of the community served should be targeted. Examples might include [and there are many more possibilities]:
You may wish to visit the American Marketing Association Dictionary of Marketing Terms.
Marketing is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of carefully formulated programs [here collections and services] designed to bring a particular audience or community segment into the library. A market is a distinct group of people or organizations that have resources [time and effort] which they will exchange for distinct benefits such as education, pleasure, escape, advice.
We market a "product." That product "can be a book, advisory service, a quiet place to read, or interaction with others." Each library has an existing product line as well as possibilities for new programs such as IM reference service.
The market consists of:
Marketing involves the famous four Ps:
The demand for collections and services is quite variable.
The product mix includes all the product lines and items that the library makes available. The product line is a group of closely related products such as different kinds of genre reading or the different services for seniors. The product mix has length, width, and depth. Length is the number of product lines--collections and services. Width is the number of categories within a product line such as the SF or large print collections or the number of services for adults. Depth is the number of copies for each item or the number of times that a service is available.
Thus the product mix can be expanded by adding length or new product lines, width of a new category to an existing product line [graphic novels], or depth [adding more copies to make particular content more accessible.
The product is a distinct item within the product line. It may be a good or a service. There may be some confusion about the product. For example, is the product a particular SF novel or the experience that accompanies the reading of the content? Some argue that the experience is the product.
Products have attributes. Style is the distinctive look or feel of a product. A boxed set for a trilogy has its own style. Features are aspects or attributes that can be added to a product to make it more distinctive but without altering its basic purpose. For example, some books will include a CD that adds value. Product quality reflects how well it performs. Some content is more authoritative, more easily understood, or more attractive than others. Product packaging is the environment in which the product is received. The mass market paper edition is quite different than the hard cover one. The product brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design that clearly distinguishes the maker or the service provider from others. Oxford University Press has an excellent reputation.
Products have benefits. The greater the benefits, the greater the interest in the product. Benefits vary from customer to customer, but are often similar. The benefit of advisory service is a good experience in reading, viewing, or listening. The benefit of checking our a children's book may be a comfortable child - parent time.
Products have a life cycle. Popularity will change as the product is born, becomes visible, becomes popular [or not], becomes mature, and enters a period of decline. In order for many products to continue to be popular, they must be refreshed or have features added. For example, traditional walk-in reference may experience decline while IM reference is at the introductory stage.
What products can we market to adults? Consider both goods and services. Note that marketing involves products that people want or can be convinced to want.
All products have a price. "Price is what people give up to obtain a product." For public libraries, the user price consists of time and effort. As much as possible, we need to reduce that price. customer convenience is a major factor in adult library use.
How would you do that?
Review existing services and collections on the basis of centrality, quality, and market viability. Which collections and services are most central to the mission of the library? For example, is the provision of information more central than the provision of recreational content? Which services and collections have the best reputation for quality? Which collections and services have a market sufficient in size and growth? Which collections and services have a growing market? A declining one?
Consider appropriate segmentation schemes. The product market scheme focuses on one product for one market segment such as large print books for seniors. The product specialization scheme focuses on one product for different segments such as consumer health reading for different adults. The market specialization scheme focuses on a variety of products for one segment such as different services and collections for seniors. The full coverage scheme attempts to make the full range of products available to all market segments. Although libraries claim to do this, the resources simply will not allow it.
For a particular product and a particular audience, the library must decide which market position to adopt. Market leaders have the largest share of the market and attempt to maintain that. The public library is a market leader in providing audio books. Is the public library a market leader? For which products?
Market challengers have a smaller market share and attempt to expand that share. The public library may be a market challenger in providing digital films.
Market followers attempt to retain their current customers, but do not really compete with the challengers or leaders. The public library may be a market follower in providing access to periodicals.
Niche Marketers focus on particular market segments less likely to interest the leaders and others. They focus on a class rather than a mass audience.
The library needs to be a flexible, adaptable organization which monitors and interprets important environmental changes and revises its mission, goals, objectives, strategies, organization, and services and collections to match new threats and opportunities. Five major parts of the environment must be scanned:
Before beginning a marketing plan, the library must have a clear, accurate picture of available resources. Resources to be audited include:
Where deficiencies exist, they should be fixed. At the minimum, liabilities need to be considered as part of market planning.
It is difficult to engage in marketing if you do not have current and reasonably comprehensive information about your markets. A key question here is when marketing research studies of library users and likely users was done? How well does library management understand the size, needs and wants, and attributes of its markets?
If marketing information is inadequate, the appropriate information must be gathered in a thoughtful manner. Librarians should have an advantage in being able to find, evaluate, and summarize the needed information. Census data usually provides a good beginning.
Mission, goals, and objective statements based on solid information about the community provides a clear focus for what needs to be done. The Library's mission should be feasible, motivating, and distinctive. The mission statement clearly and persuasively answers these questions:
It is essential that we know our competition so that we may compete effectively. Typically, we face four types of competition:
Libraries may be placed in four responsiveness levels. The first level is "unresponsive." The library does not encourage inquiries, complaints, suggestions or opinions from customers. The library does not measure current customer satisfaction, wants or needs. The library does not train its staff to be customer-minded.
The second level is "casually responsive." The library encourages customers to inquire, complain, suggest, and voice opinions. The library makes periodic studies of customer satisfaction.
The third level is "highly responsive." The library surveys current consumer satisfaction, but also researches unmet consumer needs and preferences to discover way to improve its service. It selects and trains staff to be customer-minded.
The fourth level is "fully responsive." The library encourages customers to actively participate in services and collections. The library vigorously responds to the wishes of the customers. Considerably emphasis is placed up customer-minded staff.
How would you rate your public library? What needs to be done to improve this rating?
Ideas for new collections and services, or improving existing ones, come from inspiration, serendipity, customer requests, or peer libraries. Ideas are quickly screened to see if there is a real need or want in the community. We may begin with an idea independent of a particular audiences or the idea may be specifically related to a specific audience.
We become aware of particular audiences via:
Testing involves gathering reactions from target customers and then evaluating those reactions. The product must first be developed and made available for product and consumer testing.
Careful selection of an appropriate sample size for the survey or focus group is essential. Here are typical questions about the collection or service:
Promotion, publicity, and other initiatives are used to make the new program highly visible in the community and encourage its use. Concrete steps must be taken to create interest, maintain interest, and make it easy for customers to sample the new program. Libraries need to do a better job of developing a simple, powerful, consistent, persuasive and memorable message for all of its audiences.
Program attributes play a crucial role in adoption or success. These variables make a difference:
Learn as much as you can about single parents in general and in your community so that you have a realistic understanding and are not victimized by stereotypes. Consult the library literature for information. Contact peer libraries, especially those with visible services for this audience and learn from their experience.
Find and explore the educational literature on home schooling. Become familiar with laws and regulations in your state that govern home schooling. Find and contact local, regional, and state-wide home schooling organizations. Contact the local school system. Consider partnerships or alliances with appropriate organizations. Add these organizations and their contact people to your community organization directory and make it visible via the library's web pages.
As much as seems reasonable, create focus groups consisting of home schooling parents to learn more about their information needs and wants. Be certain to create realistic expectations. Consider the value of an advisory committee.
A library staff member needs to be selected to be responsible for this program. Qualifications include:
Particularly in a public library system, several questions must be asked:
In particular, we are concerned with particular content needs. We need to know more about the content needed to support their instruction, especially that content that is not specifically religious or doctrinal. We might begin with age or grade level of the needed content and the focus on the subjects and formats. Since home schooling is often individualized, we look for common patterns.
Typically, content needs focus on information about instruction -- including legal issues -- and then on the various subjects. While the public library cannot become a school library media center, many items in the collection will prove useful for home schooling. Other items would also interest non-home scholars. The home schooling parent's evaluation of the existing collection is also needed. Other questions might include:
On the basis of the results of the analysis, the library will evaluate its collections and services and consider the addition of improvements or changes.
The benefits for any product must be clearly identified. How would this product benefit the customer? Benefit the community? Benefit the library? How tangible are the benefits? How variable will the benefits be?
What additional resources will be needed to provide this product? Are the resources required likely to increase over time? What skills or experience must customers have to use the product? What skills or experiences must the staff have to provide the product?
The appropriate role of the public library must be determined. In some cases, this would involve the library board. If other community organizations or agencies meet the content needs identified, the public library may need to do little except find tune existing collections and services. If resources are limited, and home schooling parents are a relative small audience, that may also encourage continuation of the status quo. However, if this is a growing audience, if resources might be made available, and if service matches well with the library's mission statement, the program should be developed.
It's not likely that all home schooling needs can be met. In particular, those that involve religious doctrine are likely out of scope. Priorities will need to be set.
When these and similar questions are answered, appropriate policies and procedures need to be revised or developed.
What services and collections would you develop? Would a Home Schooling Center be a good idea?
Select, order, and place the new materials. Select and train staff. Monitor progress toward program goals and objectives.
Since there is some tension between home and public schooling, the promotional initiatives may need to be developed with some care. Making the services and collections visible requires knowledge of home schooling organizations in the community, the region, and the state. Informative announcements should be sent to contacts in organizations and agencies. A news release should be sent to local media, especially those likely to be seen by this audience. This may result in an article or feature. Best lists, displays, and exhibits should be prepared. Library staff should attend meetings, give talks, and become visible. Generate word of mouth.
Evaluation needs to be built into the program from the beginning rather than being an add-on at the end. Consider how success will be measured?
