A chapter-by-chapter guide to the topics covered, and the case studies contributed, of the Library Marketing Toolkit by Ned Potter. Published by Facet Publishing, and out now.

1. A preview of…
… by Ned Potter

2. The Toolkit is a book I’ve been
writing during 2011, for Facet
Publishing, on pretty much all
aspects of marketing libraries.
It covers Public, Academic and
Special Libraries, and Special
Collections and Archives too.

4. It is a toolkit of
ideas to inspire
action.

5. The Toolkit covers those important
marketing tools every library should
have, explained and contextualised
with advice on how to use them well.
It’s extremely practical, with tons of
ideas easily applied to your own library

6. It covers marketing with social media
and other new platforms in depth.
It demystifies strategic marketing and
explains the process of creating a
marketing plan.
It gives guidance for marketing on
every budget, including plenty that can
be done with no cost at all.

7. Best of all, the Library Marketing Toolkit has an
unparalleled list of case study contributors from the UK, the
US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
This includes 26 of the most respected, forward-thinking
and innovative marketers in the information profession,
from organisations like the British Library, the National
Archive, New York Public Library, JISC, and Cambridge
University, providing a mix of expert advice and details of
best practice at their own institutions.

8. chapter by chapter

9. The Introduction contains a plea for libraries to market
themselves and an examination of why this is
important, and details of the book and the case
studies.
The Introduction also emphasises that marketing should
not be a dirty word in libraries. Marketing libraries is not
like marketing shampoo – no one is stretching the
boundaries of truth or trying to hoodwink the public.
Library marketing is outreach.
You can download the whole chapter for free, via
CILIP's website (PDF).

10. This chapter introduces some important ideas which
underpin the techniques and tools described in the rest
of the book: in particular, the need to market benefits
rather than features.

11. Marketing is more successful when it happens as part
of a constantly renewing cycle.
The aim of this chapter is to demystify the process of
strategic marketing, simplifying it into seven key stages
with advice on how to implement each one. Particular
emphasis is put on dividing your audience and
potential audience into segments, and marketing
different messages to each group.

12. There are case studies from strategic marketing guru
Terry Kendrick, on all aspects of marketing strategy;
ace library consultant Rebecca Jones on running focus
groups and getting feedback from users and non-
users; and Library Journal marketing writer Alison Circle
on the importance of measuring in strategic marketing.

13. A library’s brand is the sum total of everyone else’s
perception of it – we can’t control this, but we can
attempt to influence it. The chapter looks at branding
your library with a high quality visual identity, designing
promotional materials, and even library merchandise.

14. In the case studies Jessica Wykes provides expert
advice on design on a shoestring and producing high
quality printed publications; Katy Sidwell takes the
reader through the University of Leeds’ hugely
successful “Sshhh…!” bag merchandising campaign;
and Stephen Pinfield discusses marketing a converged
Library and IT Service.

15. Closely related to the previous chapter, this section
looks at the design, layout and decor of the library and
how this can influence the way it is used. There is also
some insightful information on what tangible benefits
there are to redesigning and refurbishing library
premise

16. There are two case studies in this chapter: firstly Kevin
Hennah, Library Consultant, discusses visual
merchandising and library design; then Fiona Williams
takes the reader through the successful results of York
Explore’s recent renaming, rebranding, and
refurbishment process

17. This chapter covers the fundamentals of online
marketing: the library website (including Search Engine
Optimization), its mobile version, library apps, and
successfully marketing with e-mail.

18. The chapter features three case studies, starting with
library tech blogger extraordinaire David Lee King, who
talks about the 7 essential elements for an awesome
library website; multi-award winning Aaron Tay
discusses mobile websites and apps; and Alison
Walbutton gives great advice on how to make
marketing with email work

19. The development of social media is arguably the most
important thing to happen to marketing this century,
and more and more libraries are making use of various
platforms to talk directly to their audience. Your users
and potential users are using tools like Facebook and
Twitter, so this chapter gives step by step instructions on
setting up library presences on these platforms, and
then on taking them to the next level. It also covers
blogs and Google +.

20. Three amazing case studies come from firstly Frances
Taylor at the British Library and how they use several
social media platforms in their marketing, Kathy Saeed
of New York Public Library on their amazing use of
Twitter, and Sue Lawson on Manchester Library’s
excellent Facebook marketing.

21. There are plenty of new technologies which don’t
come under the umbrella of social media, but which
still make for exciting marketing possibilities. This
chapter contains advice on marketing with video,
using image-sharing sites, deploying QR codes and the
new wave of location-aware mobile applications such
as Foursquare.

22. Two case studies in this chapter, from Aaron Tay and
Justin Hoenke. Aaron rounds up various Web 2.0 tools
such as live-reference chat, and Justin talks about
marketing to teens using technology

23. This section covers collaborating with people and
reaching people, including Word of Mouth Marketing,
one of the single most important tools in the library
toolkit. Other topics covered include reaching remote
users, marketing to multicultural communities, elevator
pitches, and cross-promotion.

24. In this chapter there are three case studies, the first
from journalist Rob Green on how to utilise the media
in marketing your library; Oriana Acevedo provides
some much-need guidance on marketing to multi-
cultural communities; and Joanna Wood discusses
reaching remote users, on a budget.

25. Internal stakeholders often hold the purse-strings to our
libraries, so marketing successfully to them is absolutely
essential. The first part of this chapter covers language,
telling stories, using statistics, marketing upwards and
communicating your message well. The second part
covers marketing with internal stakeholders, such as a
parent company within whose branding guidelines you
must promote the library.

26. Rosemary Stamp, Director of Stamp Consulting,
provides the first case study of this chapter, on
delivering key messages to internal stakeholders; Andy
Priestner of Cambridge University covers the
importance of marketing upwards and generally
getting things done; and Susan Moore talks about
marketing within the strict branding guidelines of a
parent organisation.

27. We are all library advocates now as the industry and
profession face difficult times. This chapter looks at how
to utilize library advocacy in general to market your
library in particular, and also covers the echo chamber
problem and ‘Trojan Horse advocacy’.

28. We are all library advocates now as the industry and
profession face difficult times. This chapter looks at how
to utilize library advocacy in general to market your
library in particular, and also covers the echo chamber
problem and ‘Trojan Horse advocacy’.
Elizabeth Elford provides the case study for this
chapter, on advocacy and marketing.

29. Many of the techniques and strategies described in the
previous chapters apply equally to marketing special
collections and archives, but these areas come with specific
challenges of their own. Covered here are marketing digital
collections, promoting ancient materials with modern
methods, mounting displays and exhibitions, tapping into
cultural events at a national level and harnessing the power
of crowds to develop and market your collections. Some of
these ideas and techniques are applicable across the
board, so the chapter isn’t designed to be read only by
those working in special collections and archives

30. There are four case studies from real experts in the field – Lisa
Jeskins of the Archives Hub lays out the basic principles of
promoting an archive service; Caroline Kimbell at The
National Archive focuses on digitisation and ‘the halo
effect’; Alison Cullingford discusses the University of
Bradford’s successful 100 Objects campaign; and Ben
Showers of JISC talks about harnessing crowd-sourcing as a
marketing tool

32. …features supporting webpages with further reading and
links for all chapters, plus Essential Tools and Resources,
presentations, more information about the contributors, and
a blog to cover all the newest developments in library
marketing.
There are also brand-new case studies which were written
after the book was completed, from the likes of the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, and The UnLibrary.

34. In the UK it has just been released, in other countries such as
the US and Canada, Australia & New Zealand, India, Japan,
the Middle East, the Far East, Eastern Europe, Spain &
Portugal, Holland & Belgium and the rest of Europe, it’ll be
out shortly.
You can click here to buy in the US, via Amazon.com, or if
you're in Canada you can click to buy via Amazon.ca or in
the UK you can click here to order via Amazon UK.
Alternatively, go straight to Facet Publishing’s website to
order a copy there.

36. Main background image by SophieG*
- see the original at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12804795@N06/3880940774/
Front slide image, by Visualologist,
used by permission – see the original at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualogist/3200391521/sizes/z/in/photostream/