Developing Strategic Marketing Plans That Really Work

Many government and other reports stress the need to get public libraries back into the lives of potential users, and this requires significant marketing effort on the part of the libraries. However, it quickly becomes apparent to public librarians that marketing is far more than simply creating a set of leaflets, as part of a series of disconnected programmes throughout the authority. What they need is a simple, practical guide to an integrated marketing planning process, from initial goals to implementation of marketing strategies. And along the way they need to troubleshoot the barriers that such activities meet. This highly practical and down-to-earth book, with free, downloadable templates and forms on the web, will de-mystify the marketing planning process and set it in the context of modern public library services. Through a series of easy-to-implement process steps, the reader will see not just what is possible but what is likely to work quickly, and deliver real impact on performance indicators, in a public library context. The book is structured as follows: ambition as the basis for marketing planning; making sense of the market for public library services; creating segment-specific value propositions for users and non-users; priorities: making sound choices; clear objectives and winning strategies; attention-grabbing marketing communications; and; implementation and quick progress. The text is fully international in scope and is written for those practitioners at all levels of library management who recognize the importance of marketing planning in shaping and positively influencing the direction of public library services.