Trends in Marketing: From Traditional to Virtual

            Marketing. It is a simple word, one that can make or break many institutions. The library is no exception. When people generally think of the library, they can tell you that it exists. There are those who know the types of materials and services they provide, while others know only bits and pieces of the library. Therefore, it is essential for libraries to take marketing seriously, especially in a new digital age where materials are becoming much easier to access at home rather than in the library.

            Libraries are in a transition period. There are many people who are visiting less and they are using in home search engines such as Google to have quick access to information (Cipkowski, Cole & Graves, 2009).  This is becoming a not so much a problem, but a gap in the fact that many users fail to realize the importance of the library and how it can meet the users needs (Cipkowski et al., 2009). Clearly, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but libraries are as Cole describes, “librarians have more in common with marketers than you would think” (Cipkowski et al., 2009).

            Being able to readily predict where library needs will lead is an important step. Libraries need to be proactive, and the authors provide steps in order to reach the desired goals. The first step is researching your market because this can tell you exactly what they need and what the users characteristics are (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is crucial as this first step provides the detailed information the library is seeking in order to fully recognize and then meet the needs of the users to the best of its ability.

            The second step is the SWOT analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Cipkowski et al., 2009). Knowing what your users think is a key component to the marketing strategy. For instance, a user can come up to a librarian and tell them what they think is working within the library. It’s these types of interactions and feedback that provide the library with many answers that can create a better atmosphere for the users.

            Third, is the SMART analysis, taking into account the specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is a very precise analysis that makes it so the library has something to set its standards to. Think of it as a guideline that they follow when they ask questions to themselves or the staff. Is this going to be something we are going to be able to measure? Is it even realistic? How long will this take? These are all questions that can be applied to the SMART analysis when dealing with new marketing strategies.

            The final step is brainstorming (Cipkowski et al., 2009). This is the time when everything comes together and you can start planning. It is during the brainstorming process that all the tough questions are asked and an overall consensus can be reached. Generally, there needs to be a five minute session where all this can be processed in a “brain off” zone (Cipkowski et al., 2009).

            Now, there is also the idea of having to market a completely online experience. In order to do that you have to make sure your electronic resources are easily searchable and are customized in the best way possible (Fagan, 2009). By having a robust online system to easily search items, the librarian must be able to create something that offers a wide variety of services including email, downloadable PDF’s, and online tutorials among many others (Fagan, 2009). Another good strategy is to promote the virtual space within the physical space (Fagan, 2009). What this means is that librarians showcase the online catalogues, databases and journals in revealing places in the actual library, typically with promotional tools (Fagan, 2009). However, part of the marketing strategy is to also bring people who would otherwise be in the virtual world to come to the library to seek information that is only available in bound form (Fagan, 2009). These tools are used to effectively persuade the users to move to the virtual world if they would like to.

            Marketing the library is a necessary, but often times difficult task. With the advancing technology and an extremely tech savvy user base, libraries must change with the times. Being able to identify the users needs the library can provide the types of services they are seeking. This is especially true when the physical space of the library is seemingly taking a back seat to the virtual space. Therefore, libraries need to implement smart, effective marketing strategies to make sure they don’t go unnoticed.

References

Cole, K., Graves, T., Cipkowski, P (2010). Marketing the library in a digital world. The Serials Librarian, 58, 182-187.

Fagan, J.C. (2009). Marketing the virtual library. Computers in Libraries, 29, 25-30.