11th National Library Technicians Conference

Marketing your library for competitive advantage

Lorraine Denny University of Wollongong Library

Keywords: Marketing Strategy, Marketing Plan, Libraries

Abstract
Traditionally libraries have believed that their products and services had intrinsic merit and that customers would automatically be attracted to the library. This type of thinking does not help libraries met the challenges of today which include securing sufficient funding, increasing client usage and developing and reinforcing the concept that the library is an essential service. Libraries need to focus on designing and delivering products and services to meet the identified needs of their community.

A managerial tool that will help meet these challenges is marketing, which has been used very effectively in the profit sector. Too often libraries have confused marketing with publicity and promotion. However, promotion and publicity are only components of marketing. This paper will explore the marketing concept, the marketing mix, marketing strategies and the need to see and apply marketing as an effective tool to achieve strategic organisational aims.

The University of Wollongong Library, like many other libraries, has been actively promoting its services and products for many years without developing a strategic, integrated and planned approach to marketing. This changed in 1999 with the development of a Marketing plan, which is now an essential component of the library's planning process. This plan reflects the changing educational marketplace in designing information products and services which are attractive to the different target groups and which are competitive with other information providers.

The marketing plan has been the catalyst for the development of a number of marketing strategies (for example market differentiation), resulting in both identifying gaps in meeting client needs and expectations; and to exploring opportunities to fulfill these needs. Marketing as a strategic tool continues to enable the University of Wollongong Library to deliver a more dynamic and responsive service to our clients and remain competitive in an increasingly challenging environment.

Introduction
Does your library have a marketing strategy? This is an essential question that every library and information service needs to ask themselves if they are to develop and survive in today's competitive environment.

In the past many libraries have confused the concept of marketing with advertising and promotion. In 1997 Herb White explained that 'Librarians do not market and they never have. Librarians count and report. Librarians advertise. Librarians orient and teach. But librarians do not market'. (Besant and Sharp, 2000, p22). While advertising and promotion are important components of marketing, they are only one component. Libraries need to develop marketing as a managerial tool which is integrated into the planning process to meet today's challenges, such as, securing sufficient funding, increasing client usage and developing and reinforcing the concept that the library is an essential service. Today, as never before, libraries need to be actively involved in marketing as our clients have a number of choices and alternatives for information, reading and entertainment.

This paper will examine:

• marketing concepts as explained in the current literature
• the practical application of marketing through the development of a marketing plan at the University of Wollongong (UOW) Library.

The aim of this paper is to provide some practical and useful information on how to develop a comprehensive, integrated and strategic approach to marketing in a library environment.

What is marketing?
There are many definitions of marketing. The following definition covers marketing in its broadest sense.

Marketing is concerned with satisfying the needs of the client by the means of the product/service and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering and consuming that product/service. (UOW Library Marketing Plan)

To develop this definition further there are eight key points that need to be taken into consideration:

• Marketing is a managerial process involving analysing, planning, implementation and control;
• Marketing is concerned with carefully formulated programs/plans - not random actions designed to achieve desired responses;
• Marketing selects target markets and does not seek to be all things to all people;
• Marketing is directly correlated to the achievement of organisational objectives;
• Marketing places emphasis on the target market's (clients) needs and desires (Weingand, 1999, p3);
• Marketing is an exchange of value in which both parties gain something;
• Marketing is the responsibility of all staff (UOW Library, 2001b);
• Marketing is an attitude, a philosophy which influences the style of management (Oiiambo, 1994).

The whole marketing process can be summarised into one key statement:

Marketing anticipates and meets customer demand. (Hart, 1999, p7)

This means that library management needs to focus on the identification of client needs rather than the library's needs (Oiiambo, 1994).

Marketing is not:

• Selling - marketing starts with the clients and selling starts with the product or service;
• Advertising - as mentioned this is only one component of the marketing process;
• Just for the marketing department - few libraries would have their own marketing staff. Every staff member in a library needs to consider what they do from their client's perspective and to help the library adapt to the needs of the clients;
• Always about making money - whether you wish to make a profit or not marketing will help you achieve your organisational goals and objectives;
• Just for organisations that sell products - services like products can be marketed;

Types of marketing
The literature discusses many different types of marketing. These include product marketing, service marketing, transactional marketing, relationship marketing and permission marketing. While concepts from all these types of marketing are useful, relationship marketing best describes marketing in libraries as its emphasis is on developing long term associations/relationships.

Within our industry we need to develop relationships with our clients, stakeholders and suppliers. We not only need satisfied clients for our particular library but also satisfied clients of libraries and information centres in general. For example, today's ten year old child gaining help and assistance from the local library, becoming an avid and ardent advocate of the library profession in adulthood, strongly urging their own children to use the resources of their local library.

Relationship marketing focuses on the need to:

• know the challenges and pressures of the environment in which clients live and work;
• understand clients' concerns and goals;
• tailor service priorities to meet those concerns, preferences and goals; and
• establish a brand that clients can identify with and trust (de Sticker, 2000, p4).

Why market?
Traditionally libraries have not had the need to market aggressively but with the increased competition for funding and from bookstores and the Internet libraries now need to attract and keep their clients. Allen Paschel, Gale Group CEO, says 'Prior to the electronic age, they were the undisputed foundation for information in their communities, and now there is competition from AOL and Yahoo. Thus there is the danger that the virtual library will pass them by if they don't let people know they are at the center of the information universe'. (cited in Guscott, 2001)

The marketing mix
There is some debate in the literature regarding the use of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) of marketing within libraries (de Stricker, 2000; Besant and Sharp, 2000; Hart, 1999; Weingand, 1999). However if we incorporate services into the product principle, the 4Ps of marketing provide a useful guide for marketing analysis.

Product (and services) - What do we offer our clients? For example: books, journals, databases, document delivery, knowledgeable staff, information literacy, website, study facilities.

Price (the cost of services and resources to the clients of the organisation) - What does it cost? For example: photocopying, information skills books, laser printing, fines, fee for service workshops.

Place (availability, responsiveness, access and environment) - What is available? For example: personal visit, staff consultation, email, phone, library website, e-mail a librarian, library buildings.

Promotion (communicating with customers using various media) - How do you promote your products/services? For example: newsletters, advertising, direct mail, open days, promotional evenings, client consultations.

The following is an example of how the 4Ps can be used within a library:

Marketing plan
The most critical step to developing a comprehensive, strategic, focussed marketing strategy is the development of a marketing plan. It allows a planned rather than ad hoc approach to your marketing strategy. The development of a marketing plan overcomes:

• a tendency to view marketing as only advertising;
• poor knowledge of client behaviour and attitudes;
• a failure to segment the market;
• the adopted marketing strategy at odds with organisational goals.

Ideally the following information will be obtained through the development of a marketing plan:

• market information ;
• market segments;
• identification of competition;
• strengths and opportunities;
• potential risks;and
• marketing objectives and strategies;

The plan itself is less important than the knowledge you gain by asking questions and analysing your market (Hart, 1999). The plan does not sit in isolation. In order to be effective it needs to be integrated into the organisation's planning process and linked to the organisation's mission. Information gained from the processes involved in strategic planning will be useful in developing the marketing plan, for example, SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis and identification of organisational goals. Two essential components of the marketing plan that will be discussed in more detail are:

• segmenting your market;
• knowing your competitors.

Segmenting your market
Library products and services can be packaged and promoted like almost any other product (Helton and Esrock, 1998). A critical step in the development of your market plan is to divide your user base into target market segments. Sherkow (cited in Oiiambo, 1994) defines market segmentation as the: 'process of identifying various groups of users and modifying your services and information based on those different groups and their different needs'. The aim of this process is to make library services relevant to each group of current and potential clients.

The one-size-fits-all philosophy will not allow us to market effectively. While we may adopt a core image (for example, client friendly, technology innovators) that is marketed to all groups, we also need to create services that meet specific needs, and then try to motivate each segment in the most appropriate way. Segmentation allows the library to identify gaps between current services/products and what the client needs. Strategies and actions can then be developed to close these gaps.

Knowing your competitors
In developing your marketing strategy you must identify your competitors and learn how to position yourself in relation to them. As Neat (2001, p 40) points out Assembling credible marketing intelligence to create competitive advantage is a key role for businesses whose leaders have insight into their environment.

Once you have identified both your direct and indirect competitors, you can determine how and why your services are special and benefit users in a particular way. Your unique position in the marketplace can then be promoted in your marketing programs, strategies and literature (Kassal, 1999).

University of Wollongong experience
Like many other libraries the University of Wollongong Library was involved in advertising and promoting its products and services, however, we did not have a marketing strategy or focus for these activities. The need to remain sustainable, position ourselves competitively and meet our goal of recognition of the library as integral to the current and future success of the University meant that we needed to seriously consider how we were perceived by our clients. In 2000 a marketing plan was developed to provide us with a strategic, integrated and planned approach to marketing.

The plan aims to reflect the changing educational marketplace in designing products and services which are attractive to the different target groups and which are competitive with other providers of information products.

The following processes were identified as providing essential information to the marketing plan:

• market analysis;
• market segmentation;
• identification of client needs and expectations.
• development of a risk continuum;
• knowing our competitors;
• development of a values exchange matrix;
• development of specific marketing strategies/action;

These processes cannot be described as a linear step by step process as many of the processes overlapped, nor was the plan developed in isolation. The Marketing Plan is interlinked with our planning processes. Information obtained through the planning process is fed into the marketing plan.

Market analysis Information on client information needs and attracting and retaining clients was gathered from:

• the marketing department within the University;
• trends in higher education;
• trends within our own information industry.

This information was then examined to identify trends which would impact on Library services and resources. For example:

• clients are demanding services and information resources immediately and at their point of need;
• clients are demanding a return on investment. They want to see that their fees are providing resources and services they expect and require;
• services need to be customised for client groups with specific needs.

Market segmentation
This can be a difficult step as it is hard to determine how detailed the client segments should be. On the surface it may appear that an academic library has three main client segments: students, staff, visitors. However, when examined more closely our clients and stakeholders fall into nine distinct categories:

1. University management;
2. Prospective students;
3. Students;
4. Reciprocal Borrowers;
5. Academic staff;
6. General staff;
7. Other libraries;
8. Illawarra community;
9. Suppliers.

As students currently studying at the University of Wollongong and staff are our largest client groups, we further segment these into the following categories:

1. Students
   • undergraduate students
     • directly from high school;
     • mature aged;
     • international;
     • part-time;
     • honours/research;
     • flexible learning/distance.
   • postgraduate students
     • directly from an undergraduate degree;
     • mature aged;
     • international;
     • part-time;
     • course work;
     • research (masters/Phd) ;
     • flexible learning/distance.
   • disabled;
   • non-degree students;
   • indigenous students;
   • Business School - Sydney;
   • Business School - Wollongong;
2. Staff
   • Academic staff - teaching;
   • Academic staff - research;
   • Research Assistants;
   • General staff;
   • General staff - management/executive;

As mentioned it is difficult to determine how detailed the segmentation should be, however, examining where our clients come from identified the above segments.

Identifying client needs and expectations
The UOW Library has used a number of strategies to identify client needs and expectations. These include client satisfaction surveys; exit interviews using the critical incident technique; workshop and program evaluation; client feedback scheme incorporating compliments, comments and complaints captured through both formal and informal methods; focus groups across various client groups and client observation.

However, what is missing from information obtained in this way is the service attributes clients perceive as being the most important for a quality library and information service. This was overcome through the Quality Deployment Function technique with a significant number of client representatives in 1996. The process was undertaken again in 1999 resulting in two additional attributes (number 7 and 8). These attributes are ranked in order of importance:

1. Resources.
2. Availability (access) .
3. Responsiveness.
4. Information.
5. Facilities.
6. Environment.
7. Training.
8. Customised services.

Regularly reviewing these attributes is extremely important in an ever-changing environment. The addition of training and customised services to the service attributes is indicative of the increasing complexity in locating information resources within an academic environment.

These service attributes, as articulated by our clients, have made a significant contribution to our marketing strategies and strategic planning process. Our performance indicators, critical success factors, goals and strategic initiatives encompass these service attributes.

Knowing your competitors

The rapid reshaping of the world of publication and scholarly communication has challenged the current paradigms of information access and information management as well as teaching and learning paradigms. The Library is no longer seen as the singular repository of information and knowledge, alternate information access points and providers are constantly emerging. ... The Library faces the challenge of positioning itself competitively in a volatile market and changing the stereotypes, often assigned to libraries, to demonstrate the Library's competence and capacity to provide excellent services and programs to meet client and stakeholder expectations. (UOW Library Marketing Plan, 2001, Appendix 2, p1)

In addition to identifying our competitors we also identified their characteristics/features, their benefits to clients, risks to the Library and opportunities for the Library. Competitors identified include:

• Internet.
• Other university libraries.
• Virtual universities and virtual learning providers.
• Private information providers.
• Pre-packaged course materials.
• Other non-university libraries and resource centres.

Development of a risk continuum
In order to prioritise the identified client segments a risk continuum was developed. This continuum places our client segments on a risk continuum from high to low. Strategies to minimise risk are also included in this continuum and fed into the marketing plan.

An example from the Risk continuum:

Development of a Value Exchange
One of the eight key points of marketing is the exchange of value in which both parties gain something. To understand and explain this concept further a Value Exchange by Market Segment matrix was developed. This matrix identifies the market segment, the value each segment brings to the Library and the value each segment receives from the Library.

An example from the Value Exchange by Market Segment:

Putting it all together
As can be seen from a description of the above process a wealth of information was gathered for the marketing plan. To document and make sense of this information the Four P's (products and services, price, place and promotion) model was used with the identified client segments and the quality attributes of the library (identified by our clients). Arrangement of the information into this matrix allows the Library to see clearly the groups that are well served and those that are at risk.

Marketing strategies
A number of strategies have been undertaken as a result of the collection and analysis of information in the Marketing Plan. Two examples are discussed in detail:

• Branding
• TV Monitors

Branding
Based on the analysis of our competitors and the risks and opportunities associated with each of these, the Library embarked on a process of identifying a brand that symbolises the unique suite of services and facilities offered and the attitudes and values of the staff who deliver these to our clients and stakeholders.

Initially, in our branding journey, we found it difficult to find an image that represented the ideas and words we had on our service to clients. As a result two branding concepts were developed:

• an internalised image - one that we have in mind when we are talking to clients that helps to maintain our high level of client service;
• an external image.

The internalised image is an image and words that staff focus on in order to deliver excellence in service - Just picture it! Going the extra mile, people in mind, friendly knowledgeable staff, we'll help you get there.

The external image is similar to a slogan where e is @
In this slogan 'e' refers to more than electronic resources:

• electronic resources;
• educating;
• e-reserve;
• extensive services;
• extra assistance;
• experienced staff;
• expertise;
• excellence;
• e-mail-a-librarian;
• essential to your education.

So is this slogan our brand. At the time of writing this paper it is too soon to tell. We have developed this into a bookmark and will live with it and use it for a while before we decide if it is a brand.

The development of this internal and external image has taken approximately twelve months to allow the opportunity for all staff to have an input as it is our staff who need to believe, own and portray these images. We also invited some students to participate in our discussions and workshops to gain a client perspective. This proved very interesting as our clients frowned upon concepts we thought useful.

What's on TV?
An innovative solution to alert clients to new services and essential information saw the introduction of three Multiscreen Billboard units in the foyer. This in-house television network advertises and promotes services and facilities using a combination of text and images. Alert themes have included the student suggestion for purchase scheme, information literacy workshops and changed opening hours. (UOW Library, 2001)

Other examples of marketing strategies undertaken in 2000 include:

• review and change of opening hours;
• expansion of E-Reserve to include course notes and lecture notes;
• increased number of comfortable lounge chairs in study areas;
• printing options from all computer terminals;
• links to library resources via subjects using Web CT;
• electronic document delivery directly to desktop;

Examples of marketing strategies for 2001 include:

• developing a postgraduate promotional brochure for student recruitment sessions;
• assessing information literacy needs of international students to develop targeted programs;
• establishing a checklist on access to Library resources for academics delivering off shore/off campus;
• preparing information packages for new academics and researchers on the range and scope of services;
• gathering data on client IT support requirements with the view to increasing IT support.

These examples illustrate that developing marketing strategies involves far more than identifying strategies to promote and advertise your library.

Summary
As mentioned when referring to the process of developing a marketing plan, the plan itself is less important than the knowledge gained. While the collection and analysis of the information required for the plan was initially time consuming and daunting, the knowledge gained regarding our clients and their needs and expectations was extremely rewarding and valuable. We not only identified our client segments, services that we currently provide and opportunities for future services but also client segments that we were over servicing. It is also important to understand that a great deal of material incorporated into this plan was collected in our strategic planning process, however, through the development of the marketing plan the information is focussed and in a format easily accessible and useable.

The UOW Library is now into the second year of producing a Marketing Plan. Now that we have the basis of the plan and vital information gathered in the one place, the updating of the plan was a relative easy task. Information collected in our strategic planning process was incorporated, marketing strategies completed were incorporated into the marketing plan matrix and new marketing strategies were identified and listed.

In summary the development of a comprehensive marketing plan at the UOW Library:

• highlights that marketing is more than the promotion of your products and services;
• provides a strategic tool that enables the us to deliver a more dynamic and responsive service to our clients and remain competitive in an increasingly challenging and changing environment;
• provides a focus for our marketing (including promotional) strategies linked to the achievement of organisational goals and objectives;
• provides us with a competitive advantage.

A marketing plan is an important tool for making your library victorious in this age of change, where working smarter is necessary to achieve your desired results (Kassel, 1999).

Conclusion
In today's library environment effective marketing is a managerial tool that will help libraries face the challenges of today and tomorrow. The future sustainability of a library will not only be determined by how they can best meet the information needs of their clients but also on how well they can collect, analyse and utilise information about their client needs and expectations.

References
Besant, L X and Sharp, D (2000) 'Libraries need relationship marketing' Information Outlook, March, p17-22.

De Stricker, U (2000) 'Relationship marketing: getting to know you'. MLS: Marketing Library Services. Vol. 14, Part 7. p 4-5.

Guscott, J (2001) 'Tapping into the zen of marketing' Library Journal, Vol. 126, Issue 8 [Online] Available URL: http://global.umi.com/

Hart, K (1999) Putting marketing ideas into action. London: London Library Association

Helton, R and Esrock, S (1998) Positioning and marketing academic libraries to students. Marketing Library Services, Vol 12, No 3, April/May. [Online] Available URL: http://www.infotoday.com/mls/apr98/howto.htm

Kassel, A (1999) How to write a marketing plan. Marketing Library Services, Vol 13, No 5, June. [Online] Available URL: http://infotoday.com/mls/mls.htm

Neat, G (2001) Hear ye, hear ye. Management Today. April. p 40

Oiiambo, J B (1994) Application of marketing principles and techniques to libraries and information centres. Library Review, Vol 43, No 2. [Online] Available URL: http://www.emerald.com/brev/03543be1.htm

University of Wollongong Library (2001) Library 2000 Annual Report. University of Wollongong Library

University of Wollongong Library (2001b) Marketing Plan. Wollongong: University of Wollongong Library

Weingand, D (1999) Marketing/Planning library and information services 2nd. Ed. Englewood Cliffs: Colarado Libraries Unlimited Inc.

Author
Lorraine Denny is currently employed as the staff development officer at the University of Wollongong Library. In this role Lorraine has prepared and presented a number of training programs to a range of libraries and organisations. Qualifications: Library Practices Certificate, BA, Assoc Dip Bus (Hum Res Devt), Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training and Certificate IV in Frontline Management.