Creating Marketing Plans on a small Budget A

Creating Marketing Plans on a small Budget A Toolkit and Proof it works! Karen Thistle, Service Team Lead - Capacity Building, Ontario Library Service – North Douglas Davey, Chair of the Marketing Committee - Halton Hills Public Library

Agenda Karen n Why libraries need to engage in marketing planning n What that means for a small / medium size library n The Toolkit Douglas n The HHPL’s marketing plan n How the plan was developed n Implementation & Evaluation n Q&A

Ontario Library Services - North Marketing Tool Kit

Marketing. What are we really talking about. n Marketing is: – Increasing awareness of the value of a product or service. – The process of through which services are planned, values are assigned to services, services are promoted and through which they are delivered.

For the Public Library Marketing is… n Making sure the public knows – Who you are – Where you are – What you do and – The Value you bring to the community

Why Market a Public Library? n Raise profile in community – Library users – Library non-users – Community Stakeholders and Decision Makers n Promote the Library as a Community Destination Point n Directly promote services and programs

Small and Medium Size Libraries… the quest for resources n Making the most of “free” opportunities n Using resources already in the library n Establishing a plan of action n Keeping it Realistic and Manageable

The Toolkit n Created by OLS-North to assist libraries in creating a marketing plan for the library.

Situational Analysis n To better understand Environment: – SWOT n Internal – – – Environment Mission Statement Vision Statement of Values

Understanding Services n What services does the library offer? – What value do they have to clients? n What services should be continued? n What services should be discontinued? n What services should be developed?

Assessing Goals n What are the long term plans for the library? – (Strategic Plans) n What are the libraries goals over the next three years? n Which goals are priorities? n What are the libraries timelines in achieving these goals?

Target Markets n Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral n Who is currently receiving the libraries message? n Who in the community is not receiving the libraries message? n Who in the community does the library want to reach?

Understanding Competition n Who are the libraries competitors? n What are the libraries “threats”? n How does the library compete? n How can threats be turned around?

Marketing Strategies / Budget n Direct Marketing n Advertising n Networking n Web Resources n Campaigns n Media n Events at the library n Public Displays

Drafting the Plan n Library Background n Mission Statement n Services n Goals n Target Markets n Strategy n Timeline n Budget n Measures of Success

Evaluations n What does success look like? n How will the library measure success? – – – Increased Public Awareness Increase in library usage Circulation increase Program Use Customer Satisfaction n Tools to measure success

And now for the proof… Halton Hills Public Library

Halton Hills Public Library

Halton Hills Public Library Halton Hills – Georgetown and Acton n 2 branches n Total Pop. 55, 300 n

Who Created our Plan? No marketing staff n The Marketing Committee – representatives from different departments and branches within the Library – input from other relevant staff n Met once a month during development n

Why a Marketing Plan? n n To remain vibrant and relevant To support current users and reach new ones To direct our resources effectively To meet the objectives of the Strategic Plan

Steps Called in an expert to teach us how to market our services n Decided to market ourselves via expanding and promoting our services n Research to get results n

Marketing – Then and Now n THEN = Broad-based marketing – traditional – focus is on product n NOW = Service-based marketing – modern – focus is on customer

Service-Based Marketing Shift the way we think about services n Instead of trying to please everyone, think about certain segments of users n What can you do for them? n

What is our Marketing Plan? In general, we followed these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. Segment the market Develop representative personae Develop service initiatives Implement service initiatives

Step One: Segmenting Our Market Defining the segments n What are our “hot” demographics? n Determined using info from demographic and other documents n Segment: Age (now part of registration) n Sub-Segment: Library use associated with that age

What are our Segments? n n n Youth aged 8 -14 Adults aged 40 -64 Adults aged 65+

Segmentation Worksheet

Youth aged 8 -14 Sub-segments*: n Youth who select library material for fun n Youth who select library material for school n Youth who use the library computers n Youth who use library as study space *These came from an earlier study we conducted

Adults aged 40 -64 Sub-segments*: n E-resource users n Small business users n Recreational users *These came from a desire to reach these groups

Adults aged 65+ Sub-segments*: n Recently retired and active n Elderly and homebound n Recently retired with ability issues *These came from a comparison of mobility and stage of life

Step Two: Developing Personae n n For each sub-segment representative personae were created Details of the personae were created by Marketing Committee members using a combination of personal experience and reasonable supposition

Persona Worksheet

Step Three: Developing Initiatives n n A service initiative was developed for each persona Each initiative matches its persona’s characteristics (age, etc. ) and also its values (e. g. a healthy community)

Initiative Worksheet

The Initiatives n Youth aged 8 -14 Film Festival - fun Exploration Stations - computers n Homework Help Zone - homework n n

The Initiatives n n n Adults aged 40 -64 HOP-ping Titles – recreational /e-resouce Information is Our Business – small business Are you E-Ware Pt. 1 – e-resource Are you E-Ware Pt. 2 – e-resource Stay Connected – e-resource

The Initiatives n n n n Seniors aged 65+ Coffee, Books and Conversation Expand Your World Silver Learning Volunteer Connection Are you an E-Ware Senior Friendly Faces

Step Four: Implement Initiatives n Each initiative has a detailed implementation strategy including: n Who will be involved? How will it be promoted? When/where will it happen? How much will it cost? What will be the outcomes? n n

When Will the Plan Begin? n n Half of the initiatives were to begin in 2007 The rest to start over the next four years An assigned Coordinator investigates the best possible timing for each initiative Initiatives will be rolled out progressively to avoid staff overload

What does the Plan cost? n n n Each coordinator will assess the cost of their initiative No initiative should cause undue strain Soliciting alternate funding has already begun

How is the plan evaluated? n Each initiative will have a complete report created to evaluate the different aspects of the program

Status of the Initiatives n n n Film Festival Ran one film festival (Indiana Jones) and just began another (Creature Feature) Approx. 10 teens per showing Increased interest in / cachet of library Moderate success

Status of the Initiatives n n n Exploration Stations Early Literacy Station - one up and running and one more on the way Approx. 600 uses / month Increased customer satisfaction, improved computer skills and literacy Huge success

Status of the Initiatives n n Expand Your World 9 displays targeted to seniors - displayed in prominent local spaces Statistics are hard to track Positive feedback – a success

Status of the Initiatives n n n Coffee, Books and Conversation – Acton 2 sessions have been held 8 first session, 5 second 2 circs / participant Increased interest, patron satisfaction and interaction Good success

Status of the Initiatives n n n CBC – Georgetown 3 sessions have been held 12 each session (12 on a wait list + more) Circ’d “stacks” Library knowledge and appreciation Amazing success

Status of the Initiatives n n n H. O. P. -ping Titles Available to public since Dec. 07 No stats yet Increased use, satisfaction and tech ‘cred’ Success? TBA

Questions? Contact Us: n n n Karen Thistle 705 -675 -6467 ext. 206 kthistle@olsn. ca www. olsn. ca marketing@olsn. ca n 705 -675 -6467 ext. 507 n Douglas P. Davey n 905 -873 -2681 n ext. 2508 n daveyd@hhpl. on. ca n n www. library. hhpl. on. ca