Grassroots Strategies for Connecting with

your CommunityInstructor:

Penny Hummel pennyhummel@gmail.com

An Infopeople Workshop

Spring, 2009

This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project

Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis.

For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.

Today’s Agenda

• What is grassroots promotion?

• Identifying and working with audiences

• Developing your message

• Strategies for promotional success

• Implementing your promotional plan

Who Am I?

• Since 2001, Marketing & Communications Manager at Multnomah County Library (Portland OR)

• Librarian (since August 2007) • Past lives:

• Public relations consultant• Foundation and humanities council staffer • FOL president, library foundation trustee

Introductions

• Name

• Library

• Position

• One thing that’s happening at your

library that you feel really good about

Unleash your ferocity upon an unsuspecting world!

-Bette Midler

What is Grassroots Promotion? • Economical

• using the resources you have

• Entrepreneurial• creative and ingenious

• Engaging • connecting with people and organizations

• Evangelical• involving everyone you can think of!

Why is grassroots promotion essential--especially now?

• Our budgets and staff are not growing

• There’s more competition for our customers’ time and attention

• Our world is increasingly segmented

• In hard times, people need to know more than ever what the library offers them

Components of Effective Grassroots Promotion

• Connecting with audience needs

• Building relationships with individuals, organizations and the media

• Small steps (taken by many people) that make a big difference

PR and Marketing --What’s the Difference?

• Marketing: connecting customers to

products or services

• PR: fostering a positive image

The Four P’s of Marketing

• Product (what you’re offering)

• Price (the cost to your customers)

• Place (the channels that make it available)

• Promotion (how you communicate about it)

Question for the Group

• What comes first: the

audience/customers you want to

reach, or the program you want to

promote?

Programs/Services/Events

• Story times• Community forums• Reader’s Advisory• Book discussions• Citizenship classes• Online resources• Volunteering

• Chat reference• Bilingual services• Celebrations• Test proctoring• Author visits• Quiet rooms• Free computers

Audiences/Customers/Patrons

• Babies• Small business

owners• Immigrants• Knitters• Men• Zinesters

• Non-users• Baby boomers• The homebound • Opera fans • Parents • Job seekers• Elected officials

“…only connect.”

--E.M. Forster, Howard’s End

Exercise 1: What’s Your Project?

• Complete sheet, share with small

group

• Report the name of your project to

the full group

Your Audience

• Who are you trying to reach?

• Finding out about their needs and

priorities

• Creating a tailor-made strategy

Segmenting Your Audience

• Age

• Gender

• Race/Ethnicity

• Socioeconomic

status

• Neighborhood

• Language

• Interests

• Other characteristics

Secondary Audiences

• Library users (in general)

• Voters • News media

• Elected officials

• Volunteers

• Friends

• Donors

• Trustees

• Staff

Researching Audience Needs

• Demographic information

• Staff reports • Comments (cards,

e-mail, letters)

• Focus groups• Surveys • One-on-one

interviews

Question for the group

• How does your library gather data from your customers to accurately identify their needs?

Staff: The Internal Audience

• Your eyes and ears in the community

• Your mouth in the community

• Ensuring that their contributions are

for good (not evil)

Engaging Library Staff

• Include them in planning

• Keep them informed

• Provide training and tools

• Keep asking for their input

• Encourage your evangelizers

Exercise 2: Audiences

• Identify audiences for your project

• Detail how you’ll learn more about their interests and needs

• Think about engaging staff (your internal audience)

• Share with your small group

Community Partners• Multiply your ability to reach out throughout

your community

• Contribute expertise and tools that help you connect with specific audiences

• Leverage support from other partners

• Give credibility to library projects

How Your Partners Can Help • Distribution of library info

• Web site links and articles

• E-mail lists

• Donated programming, supplies, other resources

• Cross-marketing

Engaging Community Partners

• Include them in planning

• Utilize their expertise

• Keep them informed

• Provide tools that work for their needs

• Keep asking for their input

• Encourage your evangelizers

What About Sponsors?

• Offer a major cash, media or (major) in-kind contribution

• Participate to meet their own marketing goals

• Need to be acknowledged appropriate to their level of support

Identifying Partners & Sponsors

• Brainstorm to identify connections

• Involve other staff, library supporters, existing partners

• Clarify why their participation is a win/win

• Create a timeline and work plan

Exercise 3: Partnerships

• Brainstorm at least 10 community partners for your project.

• Pick at least three as action items

• Discuss with small group

The Rules of Engagement• Communicate frequently and emphasize

success

• Make course corrections if needed

• Do what you say you’ll do

• Move towards “the tipping point”

• Acknowledge contributions!

OK, what’s your message?

• A call to action

• Short, clear and to the point

• Focuses on what your audience needs, not on what the library offers.

Examples of Library Messages

• Turn to your library for help finding a new job.

• Learn new computer skills by attending free classes at your library.

• Have fun playing the Summer Reading game!

Good message or bad?

• With 63 databases available to its customers (some of these can be accessed from a computer at home or at work; for others, the library user would need to visit a library location), the Smith Library is ready to serve the information needs of the Bedford community…

Exercise 4: Messages

1. Write up to three key messages for your external audiences. (Keep it simple!)

2. Discuss messages and audiences (from Exercise 2) with your small group

3. Share one message with full group

Traditional Promotional Tools

• Newsletter• Checkout receipts• Giveaways • Logos • Events

• Signs• Billboards• Banners• Advertising• Print stuff

Electronic Promotional Tools

• Website • E-mail lists • E-newsletter

• Library blogs

• Podcasts

• RSS feeds

• Twitter (microblogging)

What Makes a Tool Successful?

• Focused on the audience’s interests and

needs (not what we want to say)

• Presented in a format they pay attention to

• Clear, easy to figure out

• Aesthetically pleasing

• As un-wordy as possible

Looking at an Example

• What works about this promotional piece?

• What doesn’t work?

• How would you improve it?

Exercise 4: Promotional Tools

• Identify tools that you will use and how you plan to use them -- be as specific as possible

• Choose one new tool to try for your project

• Discuss in your small group

Working With the Media

• It’s a reciprocal relationship

• Libraries have an important story to tell

• We need to understand their needs in

order to get ours met

The rules of the media game have changed…

• How people are receiving information

• Who’s creating it

• The rise of social media, the decline of newspapers

• The implications for libraries

Examples of social media

• Blogs • Twitter• Facebook• MySpace• YouTube

• LinkedIn

• Yelp

• craigslist

• Second Life

Communications media…

• Space designed by media owner• Brand in control• One way/delivering a message and

repeating it• Focused on the brand• Entertaining• Company-created content

--”What’s Next in Media,” Neil Perkin

…and social media

• Space designed and controlled by consumer

• Two way/being part of a conversation• Adapting the message/beta• Focusing on the customer/adding value• Influencing, involving• User created content/co-creation

--”What’s Next in Media,” Neil Perkin

Working with social media

• Include bloggers on your news release distribution lists, or contact them directly

• Post on community blogs

• Monitor what they’re saying about your library by signing up for Google News

Blog Postings: Best Practices

• Keep it brief: 1 - 3 lines

• Link back to your library’s website

• Where possible, use an image

• Tag your posts with your library’s name and other tags that relate to what you’re promoting

Questions for the group:

What have been your experiences working with social media?

What’s your comfort level with these new forms of communication?

Working with traditional media• Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

• A glut of information about too many things

• Constant shifts to new and unfamiliar topics

Media Magnets: Examples

• Positive• making a dent in big social problems• bringing the community together• an individual’s triumph over adversity

• Negative• conflict• good guy vs. bad guy• disaster and destruction

How to Engage a Reporter

• Think about the particular interests of the

audience he/she is trying to reach

• Become familiar with his or her work--read

articles and blogs

• State your conclusion, then demonstrate it

• Avoid library jargon

Things to focus on:

• The 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where and

Why)

• Up to three key messages you want to

convey

• Stories

Tools for Media Outreach

• Pitch e-mails

• Phone or personal contact

• News releases and media kits

Question for the Group

What’s been your most challenging

experience working with the traditional

news media?

What did you learn?

Exercise 6: Pitching Your Story

• Draft an e-mail to a reporter promoting your project, emphasizing:• key messages• aspects of the project that would be of

particular interest• critical details (omit the extraneous)

Implementing Your Plan

• Keep listening to your audience, partners and staff

• Use your tools effectively

• Reach out to social and traditional media

• Stay on message

• Evaluate

Evaluating Your Success

• Document• usage or attendance• exposure• did you meet your initial goals?

• Analyze• what worked• what didn’t

Find out who you are and

do it on purpose.

- Dolly Parton