How to Write a Marketing Plan

In recent years, libraries of all types have found it necessary to compete for both money and clients as major changes have occurred. Corporate librarians have realized that they must show management why they are useful and how they contribute to the bottom line. Public libraries face stiff competition for funding. Additionally, the Internet brings a whole new dimension of competition that public, academic, and corporate libraries are facing daily. Whereas budget problems have been around for some time, the recent competition from the Internet can translate into fewer users, despite the fact that the Internet is also a crucial tool used by librarians for research and marketing.

In an interview for this article, Suzanne Ward (author of Starting and Managing Fee-Based Services in Academic Libraries, JAI Press, Inc., 1997) told me that “students are no longer a captive audience” because many do their own research using PCs (and at the beach at that!). She says that both students and faculty are seeing less value in the library infrastructure, and this is creating a need for more proactive strategic planning and marketing to keep libraries from being discounted even more. Ward also explains that academic libraries sometimes create planning documents that are updated periodically. She contends, however, that not many even do this. Eric Lease Morgan asserts that, “As the perception of worth decreases so do tax dollars or other administrative support.”

Because of all of these existing challenges and intensifying changes, it is not surprising that at least a handful of libraries have turned to “tried and true” business models for improved planning and development, and that they are employing marketing plans as one method for moving forward. Indeed, Suzanne Ward believes that “as time goes on [libraries] must think in this way to achieve goals.” Recent library literature supports the concept of marketing. (See reading list at end.)

Read the entire article here.