Librarians are as important a
service to patrons as services we pay for, such as Overdrive and Hoopla. We can
know all the best reader’s advisory resources and have great services in place,
but they don’t do our patron much good if they don’t know about them. In order
to best market your services, you must know your audience, ensure your service
is meeting their needs, and promote your service.
Audience analysis is something a lot of people skip when marketing their services. A key part of marketing is examining your current and potential audience and understanding their perspective. The Weymouth Public Library found that their patrons really responded to the personalized aspect of their reader’s advisory service, so they rebranded their service to emphasize the personal nature of it (Novelist, 2020). Taking the time to know your audience is important. Understanding your patrons can help you match them with services that are useful to them.
Your service
should also meet your patron’s needs. A study called “If It Is Too
Inconvenient, I’m Not Going After It” examines how users’ make choices when
searching for information based on convenience (Connaway, 2011). It looked at the source of
the information, how easy it was to access and use, and the time it took to
access and use. It found that people today are in a hurry and do not have time
to use a service that takes a long time, requires training to use, and isn’t
readily available. Take a look at your service through the patron’s side. Is it
difficult to find the form for book recommendations on your website? Does it
take a long time to fill out? Does it use language that is confusing to people
who aren’t librarians? Examining the steps a patron would make as they tried to
use a service can help you see what might be confusing or frustrating about it.
Use that information to rework your services to be more convenient. Ensure your
services are user-friendly, intuitive, and not time-consuming to attract users.
After you have taken the time to know
your patrons and reworked your service to best meet their needs, you can
promote your service. The marketing rule of seven states that people need to
see a message seven times before acting on it. Diversify the ways you market by
using promotional materials both in the building and online.
In the building, use signage like posters, brochures, book lists, bookmarks and displays. Many patrons don’t realize a librarian can recommend them books for pleasure. Promote that you can recommend their next great read!
Digital promotion is currently more important than ever. Send out a newsletter with book recommendations, read-alikes for popular books (this keeps patrons engaged when waiting on hold for popular books), and genre-themed lists. Social media is a popular way to promote your service. Have a book of the day on Instagram, share what staff is reading, make big announcements when the library is getting highly anticipated books. Engage your patrons in conversation and hold challenges to make your followers feel like a community.
Understanding who your audience is,
how they would like to use the library, and how you can reach those specific
people will help you decide which methods of promotion to put the most time and
money into. While promoting your reader’s advisory services is important, it is
essential when marketing to know your audience and find out what their needs
are and base your services around that. Audience analysis and promotion require
getting to know your patrons and have conversations with them. Find out what
their needs are and how your service can add value to their lives.
References
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, Timothy J.
Dickey, and Marie L. Radford. 2011. "'If It Is Too Inconvenient, I'm Not
Going After It.:' Convenience as a Critical Factor in Information-seeking
Behaviors." Library and Information Science Research,33:
179-190.doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2010.12.002 Pre-print available online at:
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2011/connaway-lisr.pdf.
Connaway,
L. S., Radford, M. L., & Dickey, T. J. (2008, September 17). Virtual
reference Services: On the trail of the Elusive non‐user: What research in
virtual reference environments reveals.
https://doi.org/10.1002/bult.2008.1720340208.
Novelist. (2020, December 7). Webinar: Form-based readers’ advisory when your readers (and staff) are at home. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN1gp3BXwdc
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI really love that you focused on the marketing aspect. I am currently taking marketing as well for the reason you stated - the best services in the world don't do much good if no one knows about them. Great topic!
This is a great topic and a common problem, especially when trying to engage current non-users. It does make me a little sad that the main concern people have is that it will take too much time. I think one of the key things that can make RA recommendations better is having a little extra time to really understand their likes and to do a thorough search for the right selections. I discussed form-based RA as part of my paper, and I do think that can be a great way forward - it allows the user to fill out a form relatively quickly, with a promise that they will get results, but takes the immediacy of the face-to-face interview out of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Christina,
ReplyDeleteThis topic is very timely. With less in-person contact it is more important than ever to market the library to the fullest extent. In my public library management course we have touched base on a lot of the points you make and I think it is always important to remember that word of mouth does not always work. I really like the bookmark idea. We do that and rotate out the genres based on what we get asked more frequently. Also it is nice to be able to give the patron something they can take with them. Different forms of marketing RA is a brilliant idea!
Abby Abbott
Hi Christina!
ReplyDeleteI liked that you honed in on the fact that a service cannot be successful without keeping in mind the needs of a library’s community. Also, the marketing aspect helps with getting the word out on not only new services that a library offers, but also various programs. The library where I work just recently revamped our readers' advisory service. The service has been personalized now, so that patrons can contact a particular librarian to select book recommendations for them. As for marketing this service, the library’s social media team posted this information across all social media platforms, the monthly eNewsletters, book displays with bookmarks, and now it is promoted at the bottom of receipts at the self-checkout stations. I agree that digital promotion is just as important as promoting within the library itself, especially during this time of the pandemic.
I like the idea (I saw it mentioned in another post as well) that patrons can contact a particular librarian for recommendations. Even when we're not face to face I think its nice to have a face to put with your readers advisor. I think some patrons would happily take time to build a relationship with an advisor while others want a quick and simple transaction. I want to offer it all!
DeleteGreat comments!
ReplyDeleteI found your recommendation to look at library services and processes from the patron side very useful. I think it is worth the time to really look at how the library operates and to consider the patron’s convenience (over staff convenience sometimes) when evaluating how things are set up. I have had this conversation with staff at my library recently, mostly concerning approaches to customer service. There is quite a difference between generations as far as needs and expectations, and now that libraries exist both physically and virtually, there are many audiences to consider. Staff have to quickly shift gears sometimes and be willing to change their approach in every patron interaction.
ReplyDelete