My keynote from the LIANZA conference in New Zealand, #SHOUT15. This is a library marketing manifesto, focusing on how to be heard above the clamour of everyday life. How can libraries get engagement? 1. We will be community orientated 2. We will do what people need, but market what they want 3. We will cater for library novices and library experts 4. We will keep things simple 5. We will coordinate our marketing into campaigns

1. HOW TO
SHOUTSO YOUR USERS WILL
LISTEN
And LISTEN so your
users will SHOUT( )

3. Neil Gaiman is great. This quote is great.

4. But here are the top 10 Google Searches in NZ in 2014. Not
many have a ‘right answer’ for us to find.

5. When it comes down to it, we’re not truly in competition
with Google, and we don’t need to make the comparison.

7. A LIBRARY
MARKETING
MANIFESTO

8. WE WILL BE
ORIENTATED
COMMUNITY

9. You hear this a lot. It’s important to realise
this isn’t the economic definition of
market orientated. We aren’t talking
about the free market economy.

10. MARKET ORIENTATED: THE MARKETING DEFINITION

11. MARKET ORIENTATED: THE MARKETING DEFINITION

12. MARKET ORIENTATED: THE MARKETING DEFINITION

13. TERMINOLOGY MATTERS

14. TERMINOLOGY MATTERS

15. When we talk about
being the heart of the
community, we don’t
mean the heart as in
the centre. We mean
the heart as in the
vital organ which
allows the other
organs to function.

16. EMILY CLASPER

17. EMILY CLASPER

18. THE HEART IS NOT
PASSIVE…

19. THE HEART IS USEFUL.
Help get your community
where they already want
to go.

20. Does the way you’re useful have to be
traditional library activity?
Does the way you’re useful take
priority over our ethics and values?
Should we try and please everyone?

21. Does the way you’re useful have to be
traditional library activity?
Does the way you’re useful take
priority over our ethics and values?
Should we try and please everyone?
NO
NO
NO

22. We can do whatever our community needs us to
do…
…UNLESS it conflicts with our values and ethics, in
which case, no way.
Fear-based librarianship never got us anywhere. We
shouldn’t be trying to placate everyone. We should
be trying to inspire passion.

23. CHRIS WILD
(THE RETRONAUT)

24. WE WILL DO
WHAT PEOPLE NEED
BUT MARKET
WANT
what they

25. The three
services your
library offers
which you
think are most
important

26. The three
services your
library offers
which you
think are most
important
The three
services your
library offers
which your
users value
most

27. The three
services your
library offers
which you
think are most
important
The three
services your
library offers
which your
users value
most

28. So where do
you go from HERE?

29. So where do
you go from HERE?
Try and win
them round
to your way
of thinking?

30. So where do
you go from HERE?
Continue to
do what they
need, but
market what
they WANT?
Try and win
them round
to your way
of thinking?

31. So where do
you go from HERE?
Continue to
do what they
need, but
market what
they WANT?
Try and win
them round
to your way
of thinking?
Ask yourself: can
they get what they
want anywhere
else?

32. So where do
you go from HERE?
Continue to
do what they
need, but
market what
they WANT?
Try and win
them round
to your way
of thinking?
If you’re the only
source of what
they need, market
the heck out of it!

33. OR IS THERE A
THIRD
WAY?

34. WE WILL CATER
FOR LIBRARY NOVICES
AND
FOR
LIBRARY EXPERTS

35. Digital Natives are:

36. Digital Natives are:
1) BORN AFTER 1980
2) INNATELY GOOD WITH
TECHNOLOGY

37. Digital Natives are:
1) BORN AFTER 1980
2) INNATELY GOOD WITH
TECHNOLOGY
3) NOT ACTUALLY A REAL
THING

38. The digital native is a
MYTHOLOGICAL BEAST
(So too is the
digital immigrant.)

39. “There is no evidence that there is a single new
generation of young students entering Higher
Education and the terms Net Generation and
Digital Native do not capture the processes
of change that are taking place.”
Jones, Chris and Shao, Binhui (2011). The net generation and digital natives: implications for higher education. Higher Education Academy, York.

40. SO IF THE DIGITAL NATIVES IDEA DOESN’T HELP US
UNDERSTAND PEOPLE’S USE OF THE NET, WHAT DOES?

41. DAVID WHITE

42. DAVID WHITE
VISITORS
RESIDENTS
Use the internet like a tool to help them achieve a
particular task. They complete the task and move
on, usually leaving very little trace of themselves.
Use the internet more socially, to connect with people,
and share / obtain information about life and work.
There is an identifiable legacy to their online activity.

43. DAVID WHITE
VISITORS
RESIDENTS
(Perhaps the Library website or YouTube channel)
(Perhaps the Library Twitter or Instagram account)

44. DAVID WHITE

45. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS: a way of
understanding our users based on how they
interact (or not) with the services we offer.

46. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS
NOVICES
Are new to the library’s services, or perhaps even
completely unaware the library is relevant to their
interests. They need simple messages to hook them in.

47. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS
NOVICES
EXPERTS
Are new to the library’s services, or perhaps even
completely unaware the library is relevant to their
interests. They need simple messages to hook them in.
They already use the library’s services regularly and are
familiar with most of what we have to offer. They can
handle more complex ‘next-level’ information about what
we do.

48. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS: A CONTINUUM
NOVICE EXPERT

49. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS: A CONTINUUM
NOVICE EXPERT
Simple message Entry level More detailed Complex / niche
FREE
WIFI!

50. LIBRARY NOVICES AND EXPERTS: A CONTINUUM
NOVICE EXPERT
Simple message Entry level More detailed Complex / niche
FREE
WIFI!
The 14
different
ebook
Licence
types!
Everyone can identify with free wifi, so that’s a useful thing to market to
the library novices. But telling people right away about the many
different ebook types will create ambiguity and get in the way of the
message. First hook them in, THEN once they’re more informed you can
move onto the next level of marketing.

51. NOVICE EXPERT
AIM TO TURN YOUR NOVICES INTO EXPERTS…
BUT CELEBRATE BOTH!

52. WE WILL
SIMPLE
KEEP THINGS

53. AMBIGUITY IS THE
ENEMYof good communication!

54. We all know that
JARGONis bad – that unexplained
ACRONYMS
are bad, and we know that overtly
COMPLICATEDlanguage is to be avoided.

55. But so is
OVER-
SHARING!

57. This feels like it should be good marketing. The
Library does so much good stuff!

58. This feels like it should be good marketing. The
Library does so much good stuff!
But actually there’s too much information –
people can’t grasp on to what is most relevant to
them. It’s trying to shout to everyone, but not
actually being heard by anyone.

61. ANDY PRIESTNER

63. Market one thing at a time.

64. WE WILL
CAMPAIGNS
COORDINATE
OUR MARKETING INTO

65. PROMOTION ON ITS OWN
ISN’T MARKETING

66. THE PROCESS STARTS
WITH LISTENING

67. JUSTIN HOENKE

68. THEN GROUPING YOUR AUDIENCE INTO SMALLER SEGMENTS

69. IT ENDS WITH
MEASUREMENT
AND EVALUATION

70. AND IN THE
MIDDLE THERE’S
THE CAMPAIGN

71. What is a
campaign?
The same
message,
tailored across
different
platforms, for
a concerted
period of time.

72. Campaigns
aim high.
You should
aim to
CHANGE
BEHAVIOUR -
and be able to
measure that
change!

73. CAMPAIGNS
PROVIDE THE
HOOK

74. ALISON CIRCLE

75. If your campaign is about library
spaces, measure the difference
in the use of the space.
If your campaign is around an
electronic resource, measure the
difference in the use of the
resource.

76. It’s not about how many followers
you have on social media, it’s
about the ACTIONS they take.

77. It’s not about how many followers
you have on social media, it’s
about the ACTIONS they take.
WHAT DO YOUR USERS DO THAT
THEY WOULDN’T DO IF THEY
DIDN’T FOLLOW YOU?

78. So you have to aim high. Reach for the stars!

79. REMEMBER, YOUR MARKETING NEEDS TO GET
A GROUP OF PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING
THEY WEREN’T PREVIOUSLY GOING TO DO…

80. CALLS TO ACTION
So how do you SHOUT so
your audience will listen?

81. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL BE COMMUNITY ORIENTATED

82. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL BE COMMUNITY ORIENTATED
We’ll go where the people are
We will converse rather
than broadcast
We’ll be the vital organ that
empowers our community
We will listen, and we will
act swiftly on what we hear

83. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL DO WHAT PEOPLE NEED
BUT MARKET WHAT THEY WANT

84. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL DO WHAT PEOPLE NEED
BUT MARKET WHAT THEY WANT
We will not dumb down, or try
to ape the practices of
corporate business. We’ll
continue to provide what
people need.
But we’ll focus on the comms
on what they’re most
passionate about

85. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL CATER FOR LIBRARY NOVICES
AND LIBRARY EXPERTS

86. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL CATER FOR LIBRARY NOVICES
AND LIBRARY EXPERTS
We’ll focus on the
introductory messages to get
people through the door
(physical or virtual) THEN give
them the wider array of our
services once they’re here

87. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL KEEP THINGS SIMPLE

88. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL KEEP THINGS SIMPLE
We’ll market one thing at a
time, using the most relatable
and clear language and
imagery possible.
We’ll get rid of anything that
isn’t vital to telling our story.

89. CALLS TO ACTION
WE WILL COORDINATE OUR MARKETING
INTO CAMPAIGNS
We’ll give people a number of
hooks, and spread the same
message across multiple
platforms, subtly tailored for
each audience.
We’ll measure what we do,
and tweak it for next time.

90. Thanks for listening to me
SHOUT!
Find me online at
Talk to me!

91. WATCH
If you’d like to watch this talk as it
actually happened in the room, you can
do so by clicking anywhere in this box.

92. #SHOUT15

93. IMAGES
Gaiman quote via Flickr Creative
Commons, by Musgo Dumio_Momio
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30976576@N07/640
8104781/in/photolist-aLgdic-gBXhv
Icons via IconFinder:
https://www.iconfinder.com/morningtrain
https://www.iconfinder.com/iconsets/shift-
logotypes
https://www.iconfinder.com/iconsets/whsr-january-
flaticon-set
All other images are free of
copyright restrictions.
Sourced via Unsplash, Pixabay
and Gratisography.
Fonts via fontsquirrel.