WELCOME TO THIS PRESENTATION ON MARKETING YOUR LIBRARY BY FESTUS K. NGETICH HEAD LIBRARIAN, JKUAT KAREN CAMPUS WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2008

INTRODUCTION  Marketing aims at convincing library clients that their information needs can be met and their problems solved by specific library services.  Historically, libraries were slow in embracing marketing concepts because they thought they were not in the business of selling.

INTRODUCTION - CONTD Today, marketing goes beyond selling to include:  Identification and meeting of human and social needs (Kotler and Keller, 2006)  Creation, communication and delivering of value to clients and managing client relationships (American Marketing Association).

INTRODUCTION - CONTD In this paper, I will focus on how marketing concepts can be applied in a library environment.

SELECTED DEFINITIONS FOR MARKETING  Marketing is a stimulus that creates an awareness of and demand for your services (Gray, 2006).  Marketing is about attracting interest in what you have to offer. In order to get the clients interested, you need to be positioned where they will see you and in such away that they will become curious about what you have to offer (Benjamin, 2004).

MARKETING IN THE LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT  Marketing in the library refers to all those events or activities that we do in order to create awareness and demand for our services and establish and maintain a direct contact with our clients.  In other words, everything that we do as information professionals, to enable our clients come forward to us for service is marketing.

MARKETING IN THE LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT - CONTD.  It is important to note that when you are marketing your library, you have to determine the kind of image you want to project to your clients.  You would probably want to project authority, confidence, friendliness, candor, expertise, competence and leadership in your operations.  Many libraries offer marginal or poor services because of poor marketing.

LIBRARY MARKETING ACTIVITIES 1.Market research 2.Marketing mix 3.Positioning your library 4.Making library services tangible 5.Packaging library services into products 6.Preparing library marketing tool

MARKET RESEARCH  Before you decide on what you will offer (products and services) to your clients, you must first determine their information needs through a market research.  Market research is done through survey interviews, observation and questionnaires.  Cost is a hindrance to market research

PREPARE A MARKETING MIX A marketing mix figures out how you will present yourself to the market place: 1.What products and services will you offer? 2.At what cost? 3.How will you promote your products and services? 4.What marketing strategies will you employ? 5.What contact addresses and telephone numbers will you use? 6.How will you approach the market (formally or casually?

COMPONENTS OF MARKETING MIX (SIX Ps) 1.Products 2.Price 3.Promotion 4.Place 5.People 6.Process

PRODUCTS Products - Physical goods or services offered to clients in the library: 1.Packaged services offered at a fee e.g. training programmes, audits, evaluations etc. 2.Expertise from professional librarians. 3.Library collections e.g. books, journals, conference proceedings etc. 4.Library facilities e.g. conference rooms, Internet facilities, study carrels, scanners, resting lounge, teleconferencing machines, washrooms etc. 5.Services for special groups of clients e.g. the visually impaired, deaf and physically impaired.

PRICE  Fees charged to your clients.  May be direct or indirect, expressed as a daily or annual rate or as a one time price.  Your price is an indicative of how competitive you are in the marketplace i.e. (quality for your products and services).

PRICE – CONTD: LIBRARY FEES 1.Direct annual library fee charged to students. 2.Indirect annual library fee charged to students through tuition fees. 3.Direct annual subscription fees charged to clients by special, academic and research libraries. 4.Direct hourly fees charged to Internet and users. 5.Direct photocopying fees charged to clients. 6.Direct printing fees charged to clients. 7.Direct faxing fees charged to clients.

PROMOTION  The means through which you will send your messages into the marketplace where your clients are.  Also called the marketing techniques.

PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES/1  Networking - Establish and maintain contacts with people and organizations bearing opportunities for building your service profile in the marketplace.  Speaking at seminars, workshops, conferences and participating in the professional development activities.  Creating publicity in the media raises your profile and indicates some credibility. These media include newspapers, advertising in trade or professional journals, magazines etc.  Having a website that is not only interactive, user- friendly but also regularly updated and maintained.

PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES/2  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. You may wish to donate some of your time and commitment to a worthwhile course as a gesture of goodwill e.g. promoting literacy and study activities in your local neighbourhood.  Teaching. There are many opportunities to offer your services if you are teaching for a university or community college. Your students and colleagues will be your potential clients.  Seek for free media exposure where possible which can provide you with credibility and develops public awareness of you as an expert or authority in one or more areas.

PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES/3  Listing your library in directories e.g. the Kenya Education Directory.  Preparing promotional literature such as brochures, fliers, advertising materials and exhibition and demonstration materials.  Using direct mail, preferably , to create awareness of and interest in your services.  Membership in professional associations. Join a professional group and be active in its meetings and functions.

PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES/4  Giving and participating in public lectures. Many organizations and associations need speakers for breakfast, luncheon or dinner meetings. This can be an avenue for you to talk about yourself and your library.  Participating in radio and television talk show where you can be give some airtime to say who and what you are.  Writing articles for publishing in professional journals.  Writing and publishing books.

PLACE  The distribution channels for your products or services.  The means that you will use to deliver your product or service to your client.  In a library, the forms of delivery are: 1.Use of People (library staff) 2.Internet. 3.Telephone. 4.Your place of business (the library itself).

PEOPLE  The attributes (qualities or characteristics) possessed by your staff and which will positively or negatively influence the decision by your clients to use or not use your products and services.  These personal attributes include: 1.Appearance. 2.Attitude. 3.Body language. 4.Your experience and qualifications (competence). 5.Your language of business (communication). 6.Speed of delivering the service.

PROCESS  The experience that your clients achieve when they do business with you.  This requires that you should adopt some forms of best practices which may include: 1.Giving your mobile number to your clients so that they can reach you when you are physically absent from your place of business. 2.Giving your clients forms to fill and leave their queries for your action and subsequent relay of feedback. 3.Referring your client to another service point be it internally or externally. 4.Seeking feedback from clients through evaluation forms on what they think about your products and services.

POSITIONING YOUR LIBRARY/1  Positioning your library in the marketplace depends on how you will assemble the components of the marketing mix.  Positioning is the continual evaluation of the space that your library occupies in the market arena.  True positioning comes from what your clients perceive of you.

FACTORS DETERMINING YOUR POSITION IN THE MARKETPLACE/1  Competition - What puts you on top of your competitors? This requires that you do benchmarking (Looking at the best practices of your competitors and comparing with your own with a view to improving)  Quality of your services – How often do you improve services to meet client requirements?  Range of services: Provision of a variety of quality services gives you an advantage over the others. Your library will be preferred just like customers prefer to go to a supermarket where they get most of the merchandise they need. Providing a range of services to your clients saves their time, money and energy.

FACTORS DETERMINING YOUR POSITION IN THE MARKETPLACE/2  Price: The pricing for your services should be commensurate with the quality of those services. If you charge a high price and you provide a poor quality service, then your clients will express dissatisfaction.  Availability of services: Clients will feel satisfied if they always get the service when they come for it. This is an issue of reliability of your library services.

FACTORS DETERMINING YOUR POSITION IN THE MARKETPLACE/3  Access to post-service assistance: Are your clients able to obtain service after the regular service hours? Your services will be preferred if you are able to assist clients beyond the normal working hours. This can be done through: 1.Providing information to clients via SMS or Call service. 2.Meeting and assisting clients outside the library e.g. over tea or coffee. 3.Adopting technologies that ensure that some library services are provided regardless of time and day of the week.

IMPORTANCE OF TANGIBLE SERVICES  Libraries offer intangible services.  The value of your library services will not be proven until they are delivered.  Your clients will prefer your services if they experience some tangibility in them.  Why? – Tangibility gives an impression of quality.  The tangible part of your service includes those elements that your clients can see, hear or experience in some sensory dimension.

MAKING YOUR SERVICE TANGIBLE  Yourself – you can make your service tangible by-: 1.Being visible. 2.Be polite to them. 3.Always handle library matters in an official manner and in accordance with library regulations. 4.Being friendly 5.Being helpful 6.Listening to your clients 7.Establishing a rapport with clients

MAKING YOUR SERVICE TANGIBLE/2  Use high quality marketing tools.  Choose the most effective media for promoting your services.  Provide service commensurate with your fees?  Your associates – The kind of institutions you partner with matter a lot in terms of your reputation and positioning.

PACKAGING YOUR SERVICES  When you package your offerings into products, you stand to benefit in the following ways: 1.The products will assist a lot in developing your profile. Your profile is what people know about you. You will be more famous if your clients know more of your products. 2.The products enable people to see what you do 3.Your products justify your very existence 4.Products will enable you to gain market entry.

TYPES OF PRODUCTS YOU CAN PACKAGE/1  Diagnostic products 1.Library or information centre audits 2.Information needs analysis 3.Library stakeholder surveys 4.Knowledge gap analysis 5.Library feasibility studies 6.Information market surveys 7.Library evaluation

TYPES OF PRODUCTS YOU CAN PACKAGE/2  Documentary products 1.Book publications 2.Periodical/journal publications 3.Library and other manuals 4.Researched articles in specific subjects 5.Research and funding proposals 6.Abstracts for theses and dissertations

TYPES OF PRODUCTS YOU CAN PACKAGE/3  Facilitation Products 1.Trainings programmes 2.Facilitation programmes e.g. organizing for conferences, workshops and seminars 3.Coaching programmes 4.Motivation talks 5.Resource sharing programmes  Electronic Products 1.Online resources 2.Offline resources

MARKETING TOOLKIT  Contains marketing information materials: 1.Business cards – Show the staff’s name, library name, mobile number, dedicated landlines, fax numbers, library location, library postal, electronic address and website. 2.Letterhead 3.Profile document or flyer – Range between three to seven pages. Show the range of your services, contact details, statement of track record, Testimonials 4.Testimonials 5.Brochures 6.PowerPoint presentations 7.CDs 8.Postcards 9.Small gifts

CONCLUSION  In conclusion, successful marketing in a library requires preparation of a basic marketing tool kit, paying attention to the tangibles of your services, creating product packages, using the marketing power of organizations and networks to promote your name and services, doing your own marketing audit to ensure that you are conveying a consistent message with your six Ps marketing mix and being proactive and friendly.

THE END THANK YOU

INTERACTION  QUESTIONS  OBSERVATIONS  COMMENTS