Navigating Common Library Marketing Challenges
When was the last time you heard, “I didn’t know the library did that”? I’m guessing it’s a routine occurrence and maddening at that. We have been listening to librarians and library staff for over 20 years and more recently have been seeking the voice of community members as well. In the past six years alone, we have worked with nearly 100 public library clients, facilitated over 600 community discussion sessions with over 8,500 attendees, and conducted 75 online surveys with over 20,000 total responses. We can honestly say that this sentiment is one of the most universal responses we hear time and time again in our community discussion sessions, regardless of the library size, budget, or level of usage.
The most astounding truth is that even regular library users don’t know all that the library has to offer. A 2013 survey by Pew Research supported this fact, indicating that only 22% of those surveyed felt that they were well informed of “all or most” of the services and programs offered by the library.
So how can this be? You hang posters, share bookmarks, post events on a website and a Facebook page but the message still isn’t getting through. One reason could be that often these messages are directed to current users and tend to be passive and generic in nature. They may rely on visiting the library or actively looking for an event on the website. Even if you are sending emails or alerts, these messages tend to be targeted toward current library users and often not a lot of effort is made to reach non-users limiting the potential audience greatly.
In addition, it’s often not enough to share a message two or three times and expect that it will be heard. Remembering the rule of “7 times, 7 ways” (and sometimes even more ) can help to ensure the message is received. It has been proven that repeated positive contact in a variety of ways dramatically increases the odds of patrons actually hearing the message. This may seem like a lot, but the great news is that the advent of social media has dramatically increased the ways a message can be expressed and has also expanded the opportunity to develop memorable messages which is also important to retention.
When messages aren’t very tailored or timely and they can get lost in the shuffle of a busy day. The starting point of creating relevant and memorable messages is really listening to your audience. We have found a lot of consistency over our years of working with community members across the country and here’s what library patrons want you to know.
First, don’t drown me in things that aren’t relevant—Everyone is busy these days and consumer marketing has become much more targeted than it used to be. Library users are looking for messages that are meaningful and quickly deliver information that matters to them. Senior citizens most likely don’t need the same information as new parents so don’t treat them the same.
Next, pay attention to what I’m doing at the library—Libraries have access to a lot of information about what their users are doing at the library, and patrons are aware of this. You know what programs they attend, what books they check out and what services they use. Based on that, they expect to be connected to relevant materials, invited to relevant programs, and informed of appropriate services.
Finally, give me control over what the library tracks—Libraries have historically been very concerned with protecting patron privacy and while that is still important, time has changed some things. Tracking data can help provide the personalized experience that many patrons desire. As long as patrons have the opportunity to choose the level of information that the library tracks they are often willing to make that trade-off.
This may sound familiar, and marketing is admittedly a challenge for most libraries, but another concern is how to address this issue. With limited time, money, and often, a lack of designated marketing resources or marketing competencies it can easily be moved to the bottom of the priority list. But here’s the thing, marketing has become both a significant (but somewhat unrecognized) crisis and a critical competency for the libraries across the country and can no longer be overlooked.
There are plenty of reasons that the prospect can make your head swim. Admittedly, marketing the library is one of the more complex challenges out there due to the broad audience, wide range of services, variety of places that services occur, and the numerous communication channels available. Add to that the realization that library services are changing rapidly, even pre COVID-19, and it is already a struggle to let constituents know what the library could provide and how to connect to those services. In addition, many community libraries are faced with the concern of flat or declining budgets while costs did nothing but go up. Enter a pandemic and the situation becomes even more strained with rapid changes to available services, library hours, and an even more tenuous financial outlook.
Without a concerted effort to share the library services, stories, and successes, it is not surprising that the library can take a backseat when budgets get stretched. The most successful libraries have learned, however, that their branding and marketing efforts matter when it comes to changing community perception and driving utilization of services. They have found a way to prioritize marketing and more deeply embed a positive image of their library. All libraries can take steps toward putting an effective marketing program in place by taking these critical components of effective library marketing into account.
Start with a Plan Library Journal’s 2018 Public Library Marketing Survey indicates that only 20% of libraries have a marketing plan and only 6% of libraries rate their marketing as “very effective”. They will send out announcements about programs and new services, but rarely do they connect to broader library strategies and convey a consistent message the supports the brand and mission of the library. Establishing a defined plan that ties back to library strategies will reinforce the library goals and amplify the image of the library.
Be Targeted Marketing starts with understanding and listening to the market being served. Undertaking these deep listening exercises helps to segment the audience and target key services to them. From there, memorable messages can be developed that better connect with the audience. It is much easier to create compelling messages when it is clear who they are being designed for.
Be Relevant This element goes one step further than being targeted by developing a deep understanding what specific groups of patrons are looking for and tailoring the messages in response. This takes a little more time and thought but reaps rewards by better engaging patrons through messages that truly speak to them.
Leverage Data An immense amount of data is available to libraries in a variety of forms. Patron data can provide information on patterns and preferences while some of the communication tools employed to deliver messages often come with their own dashboards of metrics. Developing goals and measuring results provides an indication of how effective activities are and provide opportunities for continual improvement. More comprehensive tools, such as the Patron Point platform allow for more sophisticated marketing by bringing multiple data sources together for a more comprehensive view of the patron and responsive automation of much of the communication process. Additional segmentation tools and dashboards allow for further targeting with more relevant messages for a more personalized experience.
Flip the Message Rethinking the model can also reinvigorate messages around the library and increase the value for the patron. Thinking of the patron as a member rather than a card holder has implications for on-boarding, community building, personalized connections, and overall improved engagement.
While not crucial, patron relationship management tools are also available to dramatically simplify the library marketing efforts, track statistics, and help to automate what used to be a very arduous task which was often left undone. All of a sudden the prospect of a personalized experience becomes much more plausible when patron activities and preference can be stored in a database and messages can be managed and deployed based on patron actions. If you are looking to step-up your marketing programs, Patron Point is one of the comprehensive tools available to both automate the market process and drive more relevant content across multiple platforms.
Libraries work hard to serve their communities and invest heavily in resources that improve lives. It’s worth the effort to be sure that those efforts are recognized, highly successful, and have the support to continue over time. If you need additional support and resources in your journey to improve your library’s marketing strategy, ReThinking Libraries is more than happy to help in solving your marketing challenges.
If you are interested in additional marketing information, we recently partnered with Patron Point to present a webinar entitled “The Library Does That? Navigating Common Marketing Challenges”.
