Word-of-Mouth Marketing for Libraries

1. Word-of-Mouth Marketing for Libraries Instructor: Ann Miller annkenneymiller@yahoo.com An Infopeople Workshop Summer/Fall 2006

2. 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.

3. 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

4. Introductions • Name • Library • Position • Burning desire that brought you to this workshop

5. What does the word “marketing” mean to you?

6. 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.

7. Translation • Find out what they want • Give it to them at a reasonable cost • Tell them about it

8. Four P’s of the Marketing Mix • Product • Place • Price • Promotion

9. You ARE a marketer, now deal with it! From the blog, creating passionate users http://headrush.typepad.com

10. Old School vs. Neo-Marketing

11. Exercise #1Word-Of-Mouth Bingo

12. What is Word-of-Mouth Marketing? Activities that generate personal recommendations and referrals for your library, its services, or “products”

13. Why Should I Care ? • Traditional marketing is becoming less effective • information overload • skeptical public • “narrowcasting”

14. Technology Pumps It Up! • Potential for the exponential • Message is recorded (somewhere!), no longer ephemeral • Vital for “hard-to-reach” groups • Affordable for libraries!

15. It All Begins With One-to-One One-to-one is: • Trusted • Timely • Tailored

16. 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

17. Word-of-mouth Is Not Appropriate When: • Product is complicated • Forced, fake, or bought • Product is a dog

18. Creating a Buzz • Let’s give them something to talk about! • The Wow! factor

19. “Six Buttons of Buzz” • Taboo • Outrageous • Unusual • Hilarious • Remarkable • Secrets (from Mark Hughes, Buzz Marketing)

20. 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. • Full-text articles in JSTOR are available only to students, faculty, and staff of participating institutions. • JSTOR is a “scholarly tool of enormous potential.” • Issues of journals in JSTOR are never “out"; they are always available. • Unfortunately, if you have any difficulties with J-Kwon, you are on your own. • Full text J-Kwon lyrics are available to anyone with an Internet connection. • 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.

21. Exercise #2Adapt a Case History

22. The People Who Make it Happen “Influentials” • Mavens • Ambassadors • Salespeople • Connectors (From Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point)

23. Exercise #3Are You a Connector?

24. Tapping Into Social Networks • Who are three “connectors” you can use to spread your message? • “Sales people”? • Mavens? • Ambassadors?

25. Spreading the Word • Listening not telling • Use the feedback loop- even if it hurts

26. Audience expectations • Customized • Content driven • Creative • Connected

30. Napa Valley Register – comment on a story

31. The Long Tail Distributing more of niche market items

32. Santa Clara County Library on Wikipedia

33. Networking in Organizations • Staff • Library volunteers • Service organizations • Participate in your community

34. Introducing Yourself to a New Network • Your “elevator speech” • clear, concise, compelling • no mumbo jumbo • end with invitation for interaction

35. Exercise #4Words to Avoid

36. You Can Only Go Up From Here… http://www.elevatorspeech.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=videos

37. 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.

38. 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.

39. Your “Elevator Speech”: What can you say in the time it takes for an elevator ride ? Exercise #5

40. Electronic Word-of-Mouth • Email newsletters • Link building • Blogs

41. Email Newsletters • Publish for pennies • Opt in • Privacy policy • Measuring email marketing • good: Opened • better: click-through • best: forwarded

42. E-newsletter

43. Example of an E-newsletter Report

44. 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/alertbox/newsletters.html Eye-tracking heat map

45. Library Blog: Why? • Build relationships • Listen, get feedback • Preview new services • Build communities • Solve problems • Collaborate to create new and better library services

46. Qualities of a Blogger • Time and commitment to blog • Well-informed • Opinionated • Truthful • Good writer • Authentic voice

50. 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