Brick by Brick: Marketing Strategies for Building an Open Educational Resources Office

Abstract

Introduction: This article examines the current marketing and advocacy trends utilized by librarians who work within the realm of open educational resources (OER) and posits that utilizing marketing industry trends, such as relationship marketing, when building an OER office can enhance current marketing trends—as illustrated at Texas Tech University—and aid in the sustainability of the office or program. Literature Review: The literature review begins by providing a broad definition and understanding of relationship marketing as marketing industry strategy. It then continues with literature that explores popular OER marketing and advocacy trends that are used by librarians, specifically trends that focus on building relationships with faculty. Incorporating Relationship Marketing into the Texas Tech University OER office: The Texas Tech University OER office was created in 2021 and has found ways to incorporate relationship marketing strategies into the development of the office. These strategies build upon current trends by prioritizing faculty relationships and needs in the development of workflows, advocacy efforts, and funding programs. Next Steps: The Texas Tech University OER office is continually using faculty feedback to make changes and determine next steps to create a sustainable OER program.