This presentation summarizes the results of an international collaborative project between 100 libraries to benchmark their marketing of electronic resources. The project involved libraries participating in a 16-week timeline to collaboratively plan, execute, and assess a marketing campaign using emails. Survey responses and usage statistics were collected for assessment. Key findings included variation in marketing approaches between different types of institutions and limited conclusions due to low survey response rates. Lessons learned focused on the challenges of large-scale collaboration and suggestions for future research.

1. Marie R. Kennedy
Loyola Marymount University
This presentation reports on the results of an international collaborative project
with 100 libraries to benchmark the marketing of electronic resources. I will
describe the impetus for the project, the project planning, the execution and
results of this effort. The talk will highlight the collaborative aspect of the project.
Presented at the annual conference of Electronic Resources & Libraries, Austin TX 2012
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2. INTRODUCTION
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3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/5964727769
NO WHEEL.
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4. What’s
marketing?
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5. Lindsay, A.R. (2004), Marketing and Public Relations Practices in College Libraries, CLIP Note, ALA, Chicago, IL.
http://orgmonkey.net/?p=1136
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6. Dubicki, E.I. (Ed.)(2008), Marketing and Promoting Electronic Resources: Creating the E-Buzz!
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7. academic staff as collection developers; collaboration; collection
policy; faculty/professionals as marketing tools; phone call/office
visit; students as marketing tools; surveys; word of mouth;
Blackboard; branding; email (external); email (internal); feedback
forum; home/office; mascot; online social network; screen saver;
usage statistics; Web page, customized; banners/posters;
bookmarks; calendar; flyers/brochures; giveaways; incentives;
newsletter; newspaper alert; pins; postcards/letters/direct mail;
FAQ; native language education; patron training (group); patron
training (individual); slide show/demonstrations; staff training
(group); staff training (individual); use guide
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8. ‣ Kennedy, Marie R. 2010. “What Are We Really Doing to Market
Electronic Resources?” Paper presented at the annual conference
of Electronic Resources and Libraries. Austin, TX.
‣ Kennedy, Marie R. 2011. “What Are We Really Doing to Market
Electronic Resources?” Library Management 32(3): 144-158.
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9. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 9

10. ‣ Kennedy, Marie R. 2010. “Cycling Through: Paths Libraries Take to
Marketing Electronic Resources.” Paper presented at the Library
Assessment Conference. Baltimore, MD [included in conference
proceedings at http://libraryassessment.org/bm~doc/proceedings-
lac-2010.pdf].
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11. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 11

12. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 12

13. http://orgmonkey.net/?p=1268
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14. MAKE WHEEL TOGETHER?
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15. PROJECT IDEA
research question
methods
findings
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timothymorgan/4420821913/
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16. RESEARCH QUESTION
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17. RESEARCH QUESTION
Is a collaborative model of benchmarking the marketing of
electronic resources feasible?
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18. What’s
benchmarking?
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19. BENCHMARKING
1. Decide what to benchmark
2. Plan the benchmark project
3. Understand your own performance
4. Learn from the data
5. Use the findings
Boxwell, R.J., Jr. (1994), Benchmarking for Competitive Advantage, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
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20. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 20

21. ‣ Kennedy, Marie R. 2011. “Collaborative Marketing for Electronic
Resources.” Library Hi Tech News 28(6): 22-24.
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22. METHODS
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23. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 23

24. Timeline
1 (October 5-11, 2011) : Project description
2 (October 12-18, 2011) : Current market
3 (October 19-25, 2011) : SWOT analysis
4 (October 26-November 1, 2011) : Target market
5 (November 2-8, 2011) : Goals
6 (November 9-15, 2011) : Strategies
7 (November 16-22) : Action plan
(holiday break)
8 (December 7-13, 2011) : Draft e-mails, choose dates to send them
(holiday break)
9-12 (January 2012) : Send e-mail #1, send e-mail #2
13 (February 1-7, 2012) : Generate survey for assessment
14 (February 8-14, 2012) : Gather usage statistics
15 (February 15-21, 2012) : Measurement
16 (February 22-28, 2012) : Assessment
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25. http://benchmarketing.wetpaint.com/page/Map+of+participants
53% of the participants do not have marketing/promotion/
outreach as part of their formal job description
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26. http://benchmarketing.wetpaint.com
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27. note: the next 8 slides have been removed from this
archive file of the presentation so the file size could be
reduced. They look just like this one, with circles around
the other components of a marketing cycle.
Kotler and Keller, 2006
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28. FINDINGS
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29. university college community college
3
4
25
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30. THE E-MAILS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/epublicist/3509141813/
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31. QSR NVIVO 9
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32. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 32

33. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 33

34. PERSONALITY
‣ sender status ranking (use of “I”)
‣ convincing ranking (use of “help” and “please”)
‣ collaboration ranking (use of “we” and “our”)
‣ positivity ranking (use of “!”)
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35. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 35

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38. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 38

39. E-MAIL CHARACTERISTICS
‣ use of images
‣ type of tutorial
‣ linked or embedded tutorial
‣ format of e-mail
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40. images no images
40
30
20
26
10
6
0
use of images in the e-mails
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41. self-created vendor-created
40
30
20
29
10
0 3
type of tutorial
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42. don’t know HTML rich text plain text
40
30 1
4
20
26
10
0 1
format
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43. MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT
survey + usage statistics
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44. SURVEY
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45. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 45

46. 48% Of those who had used
the resource before, 82%
learned something new
87%
3.3
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47. USAGE STATISTICS
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48. increase same or decrease no data
15
11
8
14 13
4
4
0
usage statistics
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49. LESSONS LEARNED
Limitations + Future Research
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50. DO E-MAIL CHARACTERISTICS PREDICT A
HIGH RATE OF CONFIDENCE?
DV=confidence rank
IV=sender status rank, convincing rank, collaboration
rank, positivity rank, images in e-mail, type of tutorial,
linked or embedded tutorial, format of e-mail
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51. LIMITATIONS OF THIS PROJECT
‣ results of benchmarking for this specific marketing strategy are
inconclusive (due to too few survey responses?)
‣ model doesn’t scale with one leader
‣ 16 weeks is a long project, leading to attrition
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52. FUTURE RESEARCH
POSSIBILITIES
‣ Yet to consider assessment data
‣ Continue as working groups, with those who completed this
project as team leaders of their own groups
‣ The model of collaboration related to benchmarking
marketing is possible using a wiki/e-mail format
‣ Possible that future increased survey responses would give us
enough data
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53. SUSTAINABILITY
“I had never really considered the importance of marketing to
library staff before, but I see now just how critical it is to make
sure we market resources internally.” - jsholman
http://libguides.uwlax.edu/DBtraining
TIMING
“I do not have a plan in place BUT the summer could be ideal to
go through steps and be ready for the fall” - turkishvan13
CHOOSING A STRATEGY
“Email is too easily buried and forgotten. We have more success
with in-person demonstrations, such as brown bag lunch and
learns or attending team meetings. Our staff want to learn more
about all the resources we provide, and they get more out of
watching demonstrations and asking questions.” - lauraedwards
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54. Institutions included in the analysis
Belmont University (Courtney Fuson) Pennsylvania State University (Nancy Adams)
Bethel University (Carole Cragg) Rockhurst University (Jennifer Peters)
Coconino Community College (Estelle Pope) Roger Williams University (Susan McMullen)
College of Saint Elizabeth (Amy Schleigh Hayes) Seneca College (Dan Michniewicz)
Columbus State University (Jacqueline Radebaugh) South Dakota State University (Linda Kott)
Dominican University (Margaret Heller) University of Baltimore (Natalie Burclaff)
Duquesne University (Melodie Frankovitch) University of Connecticut (Galadriel Chilton)
Eastern Kentucky University (Laura Edwards) University of Dayton (Katy Kelly)
Fontbonne University (Jane Theissen) University of Evansville (Kathy Bartelt)
Francis Marion University (Tammy Ivins) University of North Dakota (Lisa Martin)
Georgia College (Jolene Wertz) University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (Jenifer Holman)
Ithaca College (Calida Barboza) Washburn University (Lori Fenton)
Langara College (Emma Lawson) Washington University-St. Louis (Rudolph Clay)
Loras College (Kristen Smith) West Virginia University (Linda Blake)
Mesa Community College (Janell Alewyn) Western Carolina University (Kristin Calvert)
Midwestern State University (Andrea L. Williams) Wilkes University (Kristin Pitt)
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55. Boxwell, R.J., Jr. (1994), Benchmarking for Competitive Advantage, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Dubicki, E.I. (Ed.)(2008), Marketing and Promoting Electronic Resources: Creating the E-Buzz!
Kennedy, M.R. (2010), “Cycling through: Paths libraries take to marketing electronic resources”,
paper presented at Library Assessment Conference, October 27, Baltimore MD, available at:
http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/librarian_pubs/3.
Kennedy, M.R. (2011), “What are we really doing to market electronic resources?”, Library
Management, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 144-158.
Kennedy, M.R. and LaGuardia, C. (2012), Marketing Your Library’s Electronic Resources: A How-To-
Do-It Manual, Neal-Schuman/ALA, Chicago, IL.
Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2006), Marketing Management, 12th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, NJ.
Lindsay, A.R. (2004), Marketing and Public Relations Practices in College Libraries, CLIP Note, ALA,
Chicago, IL.
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56. Tuesday, April 10, 2012 56

57. Marie R. Kennedy
Loyola Marymount University
marie.kennedy@lmu.edu
http://orgmonkey.net
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