Transcript Marketing for health libraries and information organizations

Marketing Strategies for the
Use of HINARI
(module 6.1)
Overview
• Discussion of the concept of marketing
• Strategies for the implementation of a
marketing plan
• Development of a HINARI marketing plan
for your institution
note: this module includes material from the
Publicizing e-Resources at Institutions
presentation of ITOCA (http:www.itoca.org)
Why market HINARI?
• Many information options for customers on
the Internet; want HINARI to be key option
particularly for e-resources
• To educate users about full potential of this
resource - to enrich curricula, clinical
practice and research
• To increase the use and justify the support
by the publishers
Definition of Marketing in
Libraries
“A planned process to identify, attract,
satisfy and gain support in a way that
furthers the goals of the library and the
parent institution.”
Sterngold, A. Marketing for special libraries and
information centres: the position process. Special
Libraries: 1982:17(4)254
“Marketing is a way of thinking which has
to pervade the whole approach of the
library staff. It has to do with predicting
and providing services that people need
and with providing services to the best
quality.”
Wakeham M Marketing and health libraries Health
Information and Libraries Journal: December
2004:21(4)237-46
Marketing is
• a whole process centered around your users’
needs regarding the use of full-text e-journals
• a strategic tool of management
• engaging people in a relationship to encourage
the use of HINARI over a long period of time
• identifying and knowing what users want and
communicating with them
• supplying HINARI related resources to the
various user groups
Five variables of marketing
•
•
•
•
•
product
price
place
promotion
evaluation
Product
• The library or information organization
provides services:
–
–
–
–
–
–
an information resource
place to work, meet or study
place to read, browse
Internet and email outlet
place to photocopy or for other activities
other
For this module, we are focusing on HINARI
resources
Marketing segments
• ‘Marketing segments’ is another phrase for
‘client groups’ – to identify and differentiate.
• Common groupings for health libraries include
geographical, occupational, employer or status.
• Groupings also can be by information needs
and/or skills
• Senior management is a marketing group –
support is essential
• All these groups will have information needs that
can be fulfilled by HINARI and its resources
Role of staff
• All staff promotes service when they
interact with users.
• Staff creates relationships with users
based on the quality of service.
• Regarding HINARI, the role of staff is to:
– identify potential users and their information
needs
– customize and package services for identified
groups
Exercise 1
• List your library’s or organization’s client
groups
• For these groups, identify what
information needs HINARI can supply
• Outline two or three ideas for promoting
the use of HINARI to some of these
groups
Place
The ‘place’ should be
– welcoming and tidy
– modern, well designed and centrally located
– contain sufficient hardware and bandwidth for
HINARI
Regarding HINARI,
– the ‘place’ is a ‘digital library’ - the website and
the various links
– the access can be distributed throughout the
institutions
Exercise 2
Describe your library or organization’s:
• physical environment – strengths and
weaknesses
• manpower
• resources for Internet access
• needs – physical and virtual (electronic)
Price
• Health libraries do not promote themselves in
terms of price.
• Pricing options include:
– free (hidden additional costs)
– visible (a reasonable option)
– full (users probably can’t afford)
– make a profit (not realistic)
Regarding HINARI, the ‘price’ is ‘free’ but there
are many hidden costs.
Promotion
• Promotion or ‘marketing communication’
– is the key element to marketing
– must be clear and state what is being
promoted, why and to whom and what the
effect is
– is not synonymous with marketing in which
significant data gathering and analysis is done
– is a tool of the overall strategy
– is campaign is to communicate with a specific
group of users about a specific
service/resource (HINARI)
Promotion includes
• Institutional or Library websites
• Training workshops, seminars or meetings
• Direct mailing – targets limited audience
and personalized
• Advertisements, banners and posters –
attempts to reach a wide audience but with
a simple message
Promotion includes (2)
• Leaflets and newsletters – reaches a wide
audience, can convey considerable
information; limit to one topic
• Events – reaches a wide audience; can
convey considerable information and
allows interaction between staff and users
• Word of mouth – referrals by teachers or
colleagues and library staff particularly
with users
Evaluation
• Evaluation notes
– if the library or health information center
has been successful in achieving the
objectives of marketing – the promotion
and use of HINARI
– confirms if the users’ needs have been
correctly identified and met
– measures performance objectives (data
on institution’s use of HINARI)
Marketing on Website
Exercise 3
• What promotion tools would you use to
market HINARI?
• What would be the role of your unit’s
staff?
• How would you evaluate your potential
marketing plan?
Successful marketing
• May include active bidding for funds from institutional
and outside sources
• Can take up considerable staff time and staff may need
training
• Will involve tools
– surveys
– attendance at meetings
– becoming involved in projects from other parts of the
organization
– talks with visitors to the library
– focus groups
Surveys
For marketing, a survey can be defined as
‘a detailed inspection or investigation that
includes a gathering of a sample of data or
opinions considered to be representative
of a whole.’
The Free Dictionary:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/survey
Keys to surveys
• Write a good introduction
• Ask questions that provide the information you
need
• Ask important questions first, then demographic
ones
• Organize the questions in logical groups
• Use easy-to-understand language
• Avoid technical terms, jargon and acronyms
Keys to surveys (2)
• Use even number responses (a,b,c,d) so that the
respondent cannot use a neutral answer
• Be sensitive to the feelings of your respondents
• Thank the respondents
• Keep survey short, simple and to the point
Questionnaires and survey designs – a free
tutorial http://www.statpac.com/surveys/
Exercise 4
• List 7-10 questions you would want to
include in a survey of HINARI users?
• How would you distribute this survey?
• How would you use this information to
increase the use of HINARI?
Summary of marketing
strategy
•
•
•
•
Clear and to the point
Avoid using technical jargon
Keep it Simple (KISS)
Packaged appropriately to suit
audience
Ongoing strategy
• Create ‘listening posts’ for feedback
– word-of-mouth, help desk, suggestion box, surveys
• Periodically
– analyze effectiveness of communication strategy;
continue to evaluate
– write report and present findings
• According to findings
– fine tune communication strategy to meet user needs
– there is always a better way to do things
• Marketing of HINARI is an ongoing activity!
This is the end of Module 6.1
Updated 09 2007