| Marketing
is the key to the success of any new service. Unless you promote your
chat reference service, your potential users will be unaware of this
high-quality (and free!) alternative to Google
Answers.
Fortunately,
one of the products of the Statewide VRS Project is marketing
guidelines, providing steps for brand development, identification
of target audiences and creation of promotional strategies.
“Branding”
includes the name, logo, tagline and descriptions of the service.
A brand makes a promise, then consistently delivers.
Target
audiences and appropriate promotional
efforts must be identified.
Let’s
take a look at some innovative, creative and successful marketing
efforts.
Libraries in New Jersey use a memorable name —Q and A NJ —for
their chat reference service. The Baltimore County Public Library
Web site features
a prominent link to its chat service. Links from all parts of the
Web site will increase traffic to the service.
L-net created a promotional kit for its member libraries.
In Whitman,
Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties, the libraries partnered to promote
their new 24/7 chat reference service. Their marketing efforts included
articles in local newspapers, billboards, a booth at the county
fair, and visits to schools, chambers of commerce, and city councils.
T-shirts for their teen summer reading program asked “Dude,
where’s my library?” and answered with the URL for the
chat reference service.
An overall
marketing plan provides the roadmap to deliver the "brand promise"
to the target audiences, defining the promotional strategies and
budget needed. |