Keynote from the BLA Conference, July 2014. #BLAle14 This talk is all about communication - specifically about how to make your communication stand out amid all the white noise. If you want to get a feel for what I was talking about alongside the slides, you can read the tweets from the talk, embedded at http://thewikiman.org/blog/?p=2595. Thank you very much to the BLA for having me!

1. Tuning out the white noise
marketing your library services

2. Tuning out the white noise
marketing your library services

7. Make your contribution count.

8. Business
School

10. All-staff / all-student emails,
reminders on the website,
noticeboards, posters

11. All-staff / all-student emails,
reminders on the website,
noticeboards, posters
Appearing on your users’
radar in a place they might
not expect

12. All-staff / all-student emails,
reminders on the website,
noticeboards, posters
Appearing on your users’
radar in a place they might
not expect
Direct and targeted
communication in person, via
email, via social media

15. All-staff / all-student
emails, reminders on
the website,
noticeboards etc
Which of these categories does your own
communication with Departments fall into?
Appearing on your
users’ radar in a
place they might
not expect
Direct, tailored and
targeted
communication in
person or via email

17. White noise can be useful, as part of a
coordinated campaign

20. No one ever rushed home
from a race to buy mayo.

22. The key is to
market only one
of them at a
time.

26. Got non-library-specific
expertise? Offer it via non-
library-specific channels.

27. 28 hours of Web 2.0 training over
12 months, reaching 408 researchers

28. 28 hours of Web 2.0 training over
12 months, reaching 408 researchers

29. Yes No

30. Yes No
0% 18%

31. Yes No
0% 37%

32. Yes No
0% 58%

33. Yes No
0% 77%

34. Yes No
2% 98%

36. At the University of York

37. At the University of York

38. At the University of York

39. At the University of York

40. At the University of York

41. SEO deal with the devil + mobile ready +
relevant and useful content
= 125,000 impressions
At the University of York

43. Be timely.
Talk benefits.
Personalise.

45. Features are just
more white noise.

46. Features are just
more white noise.
Benefits stay in
the line of sight.

47. Do what people need.

48. Do what people need.
Market what they

49. www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk

50. 3 surprisingly useful things libraries can
learn from the way people pay

51. “So what we do is we simply tell
people something, which is true,
which is 9 out of 10 people in
Britain pay their tax on time.
And by putting that single bit
of information into the top of a
letter, it makes people much
more likely themselves to pay
the tax on time.”

52. “90% of students visit the
Library every day”
“We now have reading lists from
all but 5 academics…”
“The students who use the
library most get the best
degrees”

53. “If you say most people in
Westchester County are paying
their taxes on time and it’s
going for that new park that
we’re building… you can get
the take up rate up by as
much as 5 percent.”

54. Tell people where their fine
money goes.
Or even better, allow them to
CHOOSE…
Furniture DVDs Wall art

56. “Of course people are like ‘oh
my God, but how can that
possibly be practical?’ Well
we’ve now just got the results
in. It turns out that for every
pound or every dollar that you
spend on getting, you know,
someone to write on the
envelope, you get $2,000
return. A one to 2,000 return.”

57. The personal touch should be
applied as far as is humanly
possible. Divide your audience
into groups, and get into
everyone’s line of sight.
It takes a large amount of
time, and makes a huge
amount of difference.

58. Twice a year, students
can order any books
they like, for a month

59. Feb 2013 Feb 2014 Feb 2013 Feb 2014
OVERALL DEPARTMENT
Percent

60. Feb 2013 Feb 2014 Feb 2013 Feb 2014
OVERALL DEPARTMENT
Percent

61. Feb 2013 Feb 2014 Feb 2013 Feb 2014
OVERALL DEPARTMENT
Percent

62. Percent
365%
1,605%
White Noise
Line of Sight

64. Can you meet every
single member of
staff at least once?

66. Amen, Grace Hopper.

69. Make exceptions.

70. Make exceptions.

71. Make exceptions.
SAID NO ONE EVER.

74. Admit your fallibility early. Be as
open as you can. Forget spin.

75. Admit your fallibility early. Be as
open as you can. Forget spin.
“Build relationships”
isn’t just a phrase.

76. Calls to action

77. Run coordinated
campaigns, market
one thing at a time,
but otherwise
Calls to action

78. Run coordinated
campaigns, market
one thing at a time,
but otherwise
Calls to action
Get on your users’
radar – utilise all
your expertise, and
make sure you

79. Run coordinated
campaigns, market
one thing at a time,
but otherwise
Calls to action
Get on your users’
radar – utilise all
your expertise, and
make sure you
Divide your users up
into the smallest
groups and

80. Run coordinated
campaigns, market
one thing at a time,
but otherwise
Calls to action
Get on your users’
radar – utilise all
your expertise, and
make sure you
Divide your users up
into the smallest
groups and

81. That was quite long,
I appreciate you listening.

82. Ask and tell me stuff!

83. www.slideshare.net/thewikiman
bit.ly/BLAform

84. TV by Mike Shaheen on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeshaheenphotography/8719297954/sizes/l
Cell phone tower by @notnixon on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sansbury/2224487362/sizes/l
White noise watcher by Marty McFly on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_mcfly/10671468875/sizes/l
Radar telescope by slworking2 on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/slworking/9716259724/sizes/h/
Line of sight diagram by Aaron Hanson on better-biking.com: http://better-biking.com/?p=816 – used with author’s permission
Stack of coins by Sharon Drummond on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dolmansaxlil/6012147519/sizes/o/
Big pile of cash by aresauburn™ on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/aresauburnphotos/2678453389/sizes/l
Logpile by heretakiks.com on flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/heretakis/7087802879/sizes/l
Leaf on table by c_ambler on flickr: h
ttps://www.flickr.com/photos/chazoid/2598478591/sizes/l

85. Man and wall by e3000 on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/e3000/256560692/sizes/l
Camera by kayvee.INC on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kayveeinc/5458354264/sizes/l
Nascar by John Harrelson on NNSRacing: http://www.nnsracing.com/2010/09/photos-nascar-nationwide-series-in-atlanta-on-Saturday
Ipad and books by John Larson on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johanl/6966883093/sizes/l
Social media chalk by MKHmarketing on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8468788107/sizes/l
Hand holding Google results by chalo84 on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chalo84/2680150477/sizes/o/
This camera pic by Yogesh Matre on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mhatrey/6912434671/sizes/
Explosion by Kevin Dooley on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/958854135/sizes/
TVs on top on one-another by Funky64 on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/funky64/4293098263/sizes/o/
Orb by Tortured Mind Photography on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pdamsten/5558448144/sizes/l
Ice cream globe by h.koppdelanet on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/5981532224/sizes/o/
Clock eye by Bramstone Photography on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/badboy69/2333409688/sizes/l

86. The fonts used in this presentation are Caviar Dreams (this one)
Both were downloaded from www.fontsquirrel.com
– follow the links to do the same.
All the images from Flickr’s Creative Commons were located using
www.compfight.com which searches Flickr better than Flickr searches itself.
I learned the stuff about tax and the Behavioural Insights Team from
Freakonmics Radio, which you can listen to here. Click the quotes on the
slides to be taken to the source of each one.
The stats and the things about my own work all relate to the wonderful
University of York Information Directorate…