PVLD Director's Blog

Text messaging the library

I'm at the Internet Librarian conference for the first time.  It's an annual gathering of librarians and others interested in technology and its application in libraries and despite my initial hesitation that it might be too "techie" for me, I'm getting some great ideas.

The last session by Nancy Dowd, Director of Marketing for the New Jersey State Library was about how New Jersey libraries are using text messaging to reach out to different segments of the community.

At PVLD we've talked about using text messaging as another communications tool for hold notifications and other circulation/catalog driven messages, but we haven't really talked about it as a marketing tool.

The New Jersey libraries are using what Nancy called a "boutique" text messaging service called Gold Mobile  to enable them to send, receive, and manage very targeted text messages at a cost of about $50/month/library.  The service itself looked very simple to use, with a web-based tool that library staff can use to compose and send messages and build /manage databases of subscribers to different types of messages.

Some of the ways the New Jersey libraries are using the service include -

• Sending Spanish-language information about library services to Latino community members who were hesitant to approach "Anglo" staff members. 
• Providing program information and reminders to teens, who are notoriously high users of text messaging, and also were prone to forget about upcoming teen activities
• Acknowleding how difficult it is for parents to participate in normal-length adult programs by conducting 10-15 minute long mini-programs on topics of interest to parents and then asking them to sign up to receive more information about that topic (e.g. information snippets, links to websites or books in the catalog) by text message.
• Sending text reminders of upcoming programs to  anyone who signs up to receive them.  This  one particularly struck me because one of the strongest requests from the focus groups we recently conducted was for reminders of upcoming programs a day or two before they take place  and it seems that text messaging might help us achieve that.
• Sending text-message mini-surveys with just one simple question.
• Asking people to send a text message to the library's text message code for a chance to win a prize as a way of building the library's text message contact database.

Nancy also gave examples of some interesting ways that businesses are using text-messaging as a marketing tool.  For example, Pottery Barn partnered with Barnes and Noble to reach out to college students.  They placed posters with an image of a comfortable Pottery Barn chair suitable for dorm rooms or apartments in Barnes and Noble stores near large colleges and universities with the message "Text 78709 for a chance to win this chair".  What a great way to build a list of people who might be interested in your product.

Nancy made it clear that text-messaging is not a panacea.  You need to make people aware that if they don't have unlimited messaging on their cell phone plan the messages could cost them.  You also need to have a targeted and compelling reason for people to sign up, based on their real needs and wants.  She also noted that success does not come overnight.  The New Jersey libraries have used pilot projects and trial and error to find what works.  They also have learned that it takes time for people to "catch on" so you need to be patient.

Caveats notwithstanding I can see how this might be a useful tool for PVLD as we work to improve how we market our services.  What do you think?  Would you sign up?

Social networking for small businesses

This is in response to a thought-provoking comment on my last post from Brian, who owns a small dance studio and was wondering about how social networking could be used by businesses like his that are very local.  I read Brian's comment at the airport last Friday en route to a long weekend visit to friends in Charleston, SC and the long flight gave me a chance to think about Brian's question.  Now I'm sitting on our friends' porch recovering from too much southern hospitality before heading out for more sightseeing so I thought I'd take the chance to put some of my thoughts in writing.

Some of the ways I think a small, local dance studio could use a social networking site like the one PVLD is planning to grow and sustain their business -

Use the "profile" page as a de facto website.  These pages usually have a unique web address that can incude the name of the business (much like the web address for this blog identifies me).  The profile page includes basic information about the business and can include photos, contact information, etc.  This can be a very low-cost way of developing an online presence.

Use the social networking sight to create an online relationship with your customers (along the lines of signing them up as "friends" on Faceboook"), which then allows you to blast out information to members of the group.  You could send out everything from promotional offers to information about new products and services.  The beuaty is that customers "opt-in" and you can really tailor your offers to their needs and interests.

Social networking groups can also be a means for customers to connect with each other, so for example all of the people taking a particular dance class could form a group and the instructor could send out tips, practice reminders, and other very targeted information.  SInce people attending a class together often also form friendships, the group could also use the social networking site to communicate with each other (for example to arrange to meet for coffee after class).  As the participants build their relationships with one another, they are also strengthening their relationship with your business.

Set up a blog to present news and information about your business. 

People seem to love to see themselves online so (with permission of course) videotape some of the classes or recitals and post them to your blog, and your profile page. Your customers will then direct their friends and family to watch the videos, increasing exposure for your business.  Some of your customers might also be willing to be featured in video testimonials.

Create a photo album featuring your staff and customers.  As with videos, people will direct their friends and family to the photos and increase the exposure of your business.

Create short instructional videos; for example, one of your instructors demonstrating a dance step, and make them available via your profile page or blog.  This becomes a virtual "free sample".

Expand your online presence by uploading videos to YouTube or photos to Flickr.  Make sure to "tag" them with your business name, location (e.g. Redondo Beach)  and a link to your social network profile. That way people searching for "tango" might find their way to you through a variety of online sites. 

Take advanatge of opportunities to connect with other business owners to share advice and experiences.  Post questions about particular business challenges you are facing and learn from others who have faced similar challenges.  There might also be opportunities to partner with other local businesses to cross-promote and share resources.

Those are just a few of my thoughts....I'm sure that other people can think of more.

And now, back to my vacation!

Growing Your Business Using Social Networking

This morning I spent an energetic few hours with the PVLD team that is working on a grant-funded project to, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, provide resources and support to small and home-based businesses with a particular focus on businesses and potential businesses operated by members of the Baby Boomer generation.

A key part of the project is to develop a website that uses social-networking tools to connect local business people with one another, help them promote and market their businesses, and given them quick and simple access to reliable information and other resources.

The morning was capped off by a very productive discussion with the Chamber about what the site should offer and how it should be designed.  Although there was a lot of interest and some great ideas, it was clear that our group has varying degrees of understanding of online social networking and how it might be leveraged by businesses.

Synchronicity struck when I got back to my office and found this post on a blog I follow regularly.  Accordig to a recent study by AMI Partners,

More than 600,000 small businesses (SBs, or companies with up to 99 employees) in the United States will deploy integrated social networking services in the next 12 months—up from about 300,000 currently, according to the latest study by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc.

Looks like our project is really timely! If you are a business owner (or someone thinking about starting a business) on the Palos Verdes Peninsula  we'd love to talk to you about your business needs and challenges.  Just leave a comment with your contact information below and someone from the library will be in touch!

What if a library did this?

As one of my "extracurricular" activities I serve on the Board of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. We spend a lot of time discussing how best to serve our members in a world where time is one of the most limited resources.  The old days when Chamber membership meant volunteering for committees and attending networking events like Mixers are fading fast.  People want value without involvement, and easy access to resources that will help them manage and grow their businesses.

In my "day job" I am working with small team of employees on a grant-funded project in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce to develop web-based services for people in our community (particularly Baby Boomers) who own or want to start a small or home-based business.  We are at the concept development stage of the project, and wrestling with what services and information will be most valued.

Today I was skimming some of the blogs I regularly follow, and via Seth Godin's blog found myself on this website from American Express.  While it's not as interactive and "social networking" oriented as what we hope to achieve, the site if full of interesting stuff...especially the videos. "Social networking - good for business", "No one cares about you". or "Loyal employees vs loyal customers" convey some thought-provoking insights in under 3 minutes each.  People can get useful information and insight FAST.

The whole site was a pretty good example of how information can be synthesized and presented in a way that encourages people to think about issues relevent to them, read further (via news articles and blog posts) if they wish, and draw their own conclusions. The American Express presence is clear, but apart from the requisite pitch to open an account none of the contents that I viewed were promoting American Express.  That said, it's a pretty effective marketing technique as it got airplay on Seth Godin's widely read blog and from there I'm sure will spread as people like me in turn blog about it.

Following on my last post I couldn't help but think how great it would be if a library  offered something like this...not just for business information (although that is on my mind lately) but for any topic of general interest....  

Libraries on a cereal box near you?

Libraries on my Cereal!
Originally uploaded by Kables.

How's this for an unexpected place to find a promotion for the library! In California the Vons Markets are part of the Safeway chain, so I'll have to check the cereal aisle next time I go shopping....

Getting the Word Out

After yesterday's post I don't want anyone to think that I am anti promoting the library....of course we want to let people know what we offer.  That said, I'm not sure traditional approaches to marketing, promoting, branding, etc. will work in the Web 2.0 world. 

As the blogs and articles referenced in yesterday's point out....in an era of "cheap, ubiquitous interaction" one of the goals is to "do something worth talking about" (worth talking about positively of course!)

Another goal is to find ways to get yourself into the conversation.  That's why having a presence in online communities is so important.  We still haven't had a good opportunity to get PVLD onto Facebook, Ning or some of the other social networking sites, but we re taking steps to get ourselves out ontp the social web.

We're now on the new LibraryThing Local, which allows us to make people aware of our libraries and our programs via the popular LibraryThing social catalog (and, by the way, mark us as a favorite, subscribe to an RSS feed of local events including ours,  or add comments to the "comment wall".

I'm also pleased to see that we now have 9 reviews on  Yelp.com - with an average rating of 5 stars.

Ways of getting into the conversation...and they didn't cost us a dime!

Marketing vs. Doing

While I was battling the forces of chaos at work and at home last week I missed a couple of great posts by Jeff Brooks on the always insightful DonorPower blog.  Both make the point that it's what you do and how you do it, NOT how good you are at marketing that determines success.

In Advertising Can't Buy Me Love Jeff has a link to this post on Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims blog, which makes the point that "You cannot advertise your way to greatness." 

In the library world you often hear people say that one of our problems is that we're just not very good at telling people what we do and why they should love us.  That's why I thought Jeff's comments were particularly relevent:

"It's a common delusion in brand advertising: That you can -- through superior creativity, some elbow grease, and a lot of media spending -- become loved and admired.

Maybe it used to be possible. Back when there weren't very many brands, there was no easy way to find out what other people beyond your immediate social circle were experiencing, and the average person had a pretty weak BS-filter. Now, people see right through your claims, and can find out the real truth in a few minutes online.

The only way to get people to love you is to be consistently lovable, and to do something worth talking about. And the only way to be "iconic" is to stay that way for a long time. Advertising hardly helps at all. And when it reeks of BS, it only makes things worse.

So take that creativity and money you might have spent on advertising, and use it to actually become great. Then you won't need advertising."

Jeff followed that post with another challenging the orthodoxy that "branding" is the key to success. He quotes a recent Harvard Business School blog posting by Umair Haque on The Shrinking Power of Brands about how in a web 2.0 economy "characterized by cheap, ubiquitous interaction... the very economic rationale for orthodox brands actually begins to implode: information about expected costs and benefits doesn't have to be compressed into logos, slogans, ad-spots or column-inches -- instead, consumers can debate and discuss expected costs and benefits in incredibly rich detail."

As Jeff points out on DonorPower - "If you want to have a powerful brand, you need to do something very cool, very useful, and very worth talking about."

Do libraries need to pay attention to the fundamental blocking and tackling of marketing and promotion - e.g. getting our events into the local papers, telling our story in the community, and making people aware of our services - of course we do.

The challenge for libraries is to do things that are, to re-quote Jeff, "very cool, very useful, and very worth talking about ".  Recent experiences here at PVLD would support this theory -

• Our Meebo instant messaging reference service was rolled out with no PR the day before thanksgiving and was immediately discovered and used
• The online homework help service has been largely promoted via flyers in the library and a few presentations to PTAs and school groups...and we now routinely exceed 300 tutoring sessions/month

If what we offer isn't cool, useful, and worth talking about then no amount of marketing will make it succeed.  If it is, it will succeed even if we don't market it well....

Permission Marketing for Libraries

Thank you to Nancy Dowd of "The M Word - Marketing for Libraries" blog - http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/ - for pointing me to this fascinating video of Web 2.0 marketing guru Seth Godin speaking to Google staff.  I'm a fan of Seth's and regularly read his blog - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/ - but this is the first time I've seen him speak.

The video is a bit long, so I suggest grabbing a coffee or some lunch before you start watching, but it is worth the investment of time!

While Seth is obviously directing his comments to Google, there is a lot that libraries can glean as well.  All to often we say that libraries need to do more marketing.  I think many "library people" think that marketing means "selling" - telling people why they should use us more often and more creatively.  What Seth's video makes clear is that it is not about blasting out more messages, it's about providing something that people want to hear about, and telling them about it when they want to hear it.  If you do that, they will likely also talk about it to their friends and that is how your business grows.  In that context it is not surprising that use of our Tutor.com online homework assistance service is growing by leaps and bounds despite the fact that the only promotion we have done is by talking to students, teachers, and parents.  It delivers a service people need when they need it...and once they've tried it they tell their friends.  What other services could libraries design or offer that do the same?

One other comment that I found particularly thought-provoking was the statement that people don't really "surf" the web - they poke it.  They do a search, click on a link, and if that's not what they want they click something else or try another search.  Through this process people assemble clues until they have enough information to allow them to take action.  This can be a frustrating and inefficient process and Seth share his opinion that success in Web 3.0 will ultimately go to to those who develop systems that put enough clues in one place that in one second I can get enough meaning to enable me to take action without poking around further.  As we redesign our systems at PVLD we should be aiming for this!

Finally, I thought the story of the Hallmark Christmas ornament program was a fascinating example of the power of "permission marketing" - getting people's permission to tell them about things that they are interested in.  We libraries do this on a limited basis through things like our "opt in" email newsletters and notifications but there is potential to do so much more.  What if we were able to take what we know about people's reading habits and library use and send them (with their permission of course!) targeted emails that said "Susie, I know you enjoy John Grisham's novels so I thought you might want to know about this book by a new author of legal mysteries.  If you would like us to reserve it for you, click here"?  OR "John, thanks for attending our last foreign film at the library.  We wanted you to know that we will be showing xxxx movie next Thursday at 7PM and we hope you can join us"?

But enough of what I think.   Watch the movie and tell me what YOU think!