Marketing Strategies for the Use of HINARI

(module 6.1)

Overview

• Discussion of the concept of marketing

• Strategies for the implementation of a marketing plan

• Development of a HINARI and e-resources marketing plan for your institution

note: this module includes material from the Publicizing e-Resources at Institutions presentation of ITOCA (http:www.itoca.org)

Why market HINARI?

• Many information options for customers on the Internet; want HINARI and other e-resources to be key options

• To educate users about full potential of this resource - to enrich curricula, clinical practice and research

• To increase the use and justify the support by the publishers

Definition of Marketing in Libraries

“A planned process to identify, attract, satisfy and gain support in a way that furthers the goals of the library and the parent institution.”

Sterngold, A. Marketing for special libraries and information centres: the position process. Special Libraries: 1982:17(4)254

“Marketing is a way of thinking which has to pervade the whole approach of the library staff. It has to do with predicting and providing services that people need and with providing services of the best quality.”

Wakeham M Marketing and health libraries Health Information and Libraries Journal: December 2004:21(4)237-46

Marketing HINARI/ e-Resources is

• a whole process centered around your users’ needs regarding the use of full-text e-journals

• a strategic tool of management • to encourage the use of these resources over a

long period of time • identifying and knowing what users want and

communicating with them • supplying HINARI related resources to the

various user groups

Five variables of marketing

• product

• price

• place

• promotion

• evaluation

Product• The library or information organization

provides services:– an information resource– place to work, meet or study– place to read, browse– Internet and email outlet– place to photocopy or for other activities– other

For this module, we are focusing on HINARI and other e-resources

Marketing segments

• ‘Marketing segments’ is another phrase for ‘client groups’ – to identify and differentiate.

• Common groupings for health libraries include geographical, occupational, employer or status.

• Groupings also can be by information needs and/or skills

• Senior management is a marketing group – support is essential

• All these groups will have information needs that can be fulfilled by HINARI and other e-resources

Role of staff

• All staff promotes service when they interact with users.

• Staff creates relationships with users based on the quality of service.

• Regarding HINARI, the role of staff is to:– identify potential users and their information

needs– customize and package services for identified

groups

Exercise 1

• List your library’s or organization’s client groups

• For these groups, identify what information needs HINARI and other resources can supply

• Outline two or three ideas for promoting the use of HINARI to some of these groups

Place

The ‘place’ should be– welcoming and tidy – modern, well designed and centrally located– contain sufficient hardware and bandwidth for

HINARI and other e-resources

Regarding HINARI, – the ‘place’ is a ‘digital library’ - the website and

the various links – the access can be distributed throughout the

institution

Exercise 2

Describe your library or organization’s:

• physical environment – strengths and weaknesses

• manpower

• resources for Internet access

• needs – physical and virtual (electronic)

Price• Health libraries do not promote themselves in

terms of price. • Pricing options include:

– free (hidden additional costs)– visible (a reasonable option)– full (users probably can’t afford) – make a profit (not realistic)

Regarding HINARI and other e-resources, the ‘price’ is ‘free’ but there are many hidden costs.

Promotion

• Promotion or ‘marketing communication’ – is the key element to marketing

– must be clear and state what is being promoted, why and to whom and what the effect is

– is not synonymous with marketing in which significant data gathering and analysis are done

– is a tool of the overall strategy

– is campaign to communicate with a specific group of users about a specific service/resource (HINARI)

Promotion includes

• Institutional or Library websites

• Training workshops, seminars or meetings

• Direct mailing – targets limited audience and personalized

• Advertisements, banners and posters – attempts to reach a wide audience but with a simple message

Promotion includes (2)

• Leaflets and newsletters – reaches a wide audience, can convey considerable information; limit to one topic

• Events – reaches a wide audience; can convey considerable information and allows interaction between staff and users

• Word of mouth – referrals by teachers or colleagues and library staff particularly with users

Evaluation

• Evaluation

– notes if the library or health information center has been successful in achieving the objectives of marketing – the promotion and use of HINARI/e-resources

– confirms if the users’ needs have been correctly identified and met

– measures performance objectives (data on institution’s use of HINARI)

Marketing on Website

Exercise 3

• What promotion tools would you use to market HINARI and other e-resources?

• What would be the role of your unit’s staff?

• How would you evaluate your potential marketing plan?

Successful marketing• May include active bidding for funds from institutional

and outside sources • Can take up considerable staff time and staff may need

training • Will involve tools

– surveys – attendance at meetings – becoming involved in projects from other parts of the

organization– talks with visitors to the library– focus groups

Surveys

For marketing, a survey can be defined as

‘a detailed inspection or investigation that includes a gathering of a sample of data or opinions considered to be representative of a whole.’

The Free Dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/survey

Keys to surveys

• Write a good introduction• Ask questions that provide the information you

need• Ask important questions first, then demographic

ones• Organize the questions in logical groups• Use easy-to-understand language• Avoid technical terms, jargon and acronyms

Keys to surveys (2)

• Use even number responses (a,b,c,d) so that the respondent cannot use a neutral answer

• Be sensitive to the feelings of your respondents• Thank the respondents• Keep survey short, simple and to the point

Questionnaires and survey designs – a free tutorial http://www.statpac.com/surveys/

Exercise 4

• List 7-10 questions you would want to include in a survey of HINARI/e-resources users.

• How would you distribute this survey?

• How would you use this information to increase the use of HINARI?

Summary of marketing strategy

• Clear and to the point

• Avoid using technical jargon

• Keep it Simple (KISS)

• Packaged appropriately to suit audience

Ongoing strategy

• Create ‘listening posts’ for feedback– word-of-mouth, help desk, suggestion box, surveys

• Periodically– analyze effectiveness of communication strategy;

continue to evaluate– write report and present findings

• According to findings– fine tune communication strategy to meet user needs– there is always a better way to do things

• Marketing of HINARI is an ongoing activity!

This is the end of Module 6.1

Updated 2007 09