Over the Counter Help

Abstract

Effectively marketing library services and resources can be a challenge--and, often, more difficult than it needs to be. Promoting what the library has to offer should be simple and straightforward, speaking to users in ways that will resonate with them and that will make them want to experience what the library is all about. How best to accomplish that? Perhaps by engaging the users themselves, then incorporating their perspectives in efforts to raise awareness of the library and communicate its impact. In this column, Andrea Bartelstein offers inspiration and a prescription for library marketing in which staff and users partner to successfully get the word out.--Editor While at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago this past summer, I stopped at a small food vendor in the convention center to get something to eat at the end of a long day of walking many miles inside the vast building. As I contemplated the selection of upscale snacks and espresso drinks, I noticed a wall display of small, square containers with rounded edges, clearly all the same brand, all identical with similar labeling. The package trim colors and text were different on each, but each one said something like help[R] I have a headache, or help[R] I can't sleep, or help[R] I've cut myself. The label indicated that inside each tin was acetaminophen, sleep aids, or bandages, in the case of the products mentioned above. The design was simple yet eye-catching. What I found most striking about the display was that the Help Remedies company had actually conceived its entire brand, including its very name, on the idea of marketing its products in terms of the needs they address. Of course, all of this got me thinking about how we market and promote library services to our users, especially since the whole reason I found myself standing there trying to decide between high-end chips and attractively packaged dried fruit was because I'd been hiking back and forth inside McCormick Place all day to attend various programs and meetings about marketing and outreach. So by late afternoon I was pretty well focused on these issues, as well as worn out. I ended up buying a package of dried apples, although the help[R] I'm tired caffeine caplets were another available option. Framing a product or service in terms of the user's need isn't a new concept. It seems fairly obvious that if we post flyers that announce, for example, Web of Science Faculty Workshop, 12:00 p.m., we'll generate less interest than if we change the wording so that the largest size text on the page reads Who's Citing You? Learn How to Find Out, followed by Tuesday 12:00 p.m. Yet it's easy to forget this seemingly simple shift in point of view. Additionally, we routinely go out of our way to devise clever names for the services and products we offer, sometimes to replace the already less-than-clear name of a purchased or licensed commercial product with a name customized for our library. In doing so, we add another layer of obscurity and then must take extra steps to explain what the product or service is. This strikes me as analogous to the meaningless names given to drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. Our services and procedures are cryptic enough to our users; why increase their bewilderment? What I especially liked about the product line from Help Remedies, in addition to its simplicity and eye-catching design, was its straightforward, lighthearted, human voice. This is even more evident on the company's website (helpineedhelp.com), which provides a fun, interactive experience that expands on the personality of the brand and makes you want to explore the site. As I learned more about the company and its marketing techniques, I found numerous elements that seemed applicable to the library context. In some cases these were simply reminders of what we often already know but don't always successfully implement. Here are a few ideas we would do well to borrow from Help Remedies' marketing approach: * Call things what they are. …