Presentation: NC LIVE - Working for North Carolina
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NC LIVE WORKING FOR NORTH CAROLINAA statewide awareness campaign supporting economic development and quality of life through North Carolina libraries
Report from the field presented by Jill Robinson Morris, Outreach & Promotions Librarian at NC LIVE
Reference Renaissance 2010Denver, COAugust 10, 2010
What is NC LIVE anyway?
Setting the scene…Setting the scene…
•Busy developing a new website
•It was February…and National Library Week was coming up in April
•We wanted to begin driving traffic to our new website in its Beta version
Our Mission: NC LIVE provides North Carolinians with online library and information solutions that support their education, enhance statewide economic development, and increase their quality of life.
Goals for this campaign:•Introduce North Carolinians to NC LIVE’s new website
•Increase usage of NC LIVE resources/content
•Increase awareness of NC LIVE’s content and services among North Carolina citizens
•Develop on-going support for NC LIVE among key decision makers
STEP 1: SCANNING OUR ENVIRONMENT
•We didn’t yet have a well-developed marketing or “promotions plan” in place telling us what to do and who to target
•“What’s going on in the world, and how do we fit in?”
•Recession/Job-hunting resources are getting libraries a lot of good press, and for good reason
•High unemployment rate in North Carolina > 10%
•Push for job creation and small business growth
•State Library of NC started their JobSearch Program in 2009
•We started talking to our committees and local experts
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO OFFER?•We already had great tools to support those seeking jobs, careers, and business information:
•LearningExpress Library
•200 Career/Job-search eBooks
•Career Library
•Business databases, such as ReferenceUSA, SimplyMap, Business Source Premier, Morningstar, etc.
•The problem: These tools were not easy to find – and we weren’t doing a great job of highlighting these tools within our current website.
We are still relatively new to the reference game… a screenshot of our old website complete with hard to find resources
The “old” way
EXAMPLE CHAT QUESTIONS
IM from guest416423@libraryh3lp.com: How do I find ReferenceUSA?
IM from guest405010@libraryh3lp.com: what if i'm looking for jobs throughout north carolina
IM from guest377734@chat.libraryh3lp.com yes how do I research the beverage industry
IM from guest343066@chat.libraryh3lp.com: i need to find information on being an event planner. could you please let me know where to go in order for me to find the information I need??
IM from guest340915@chat.libraryh3lp.com: I am on nclive and trying to figure out where to find pharmacy tech practice exam
The “new” way
STEP 2: DEFINING OUR TARGET AUDIENCES:
1. Job-hunters and unemployed in NC
2. Those seeking career information
3. Those thinking about going back to school
4. Entrepreneurs & small business owners
STEP 3: THE HOW - GATHERING FEEDBACK & IDEAS
Talk to potential partners & audiences:•State Library of North Carolina•NC LIVE Publicity Advisory Committee•BLINC (Business Librarians in North Carolina)•Member library staff •End-users via chat, Twitter, etc.•Vendors
The Feedback: •Go forward with promoting job, career and business resources – there is a market for it.
•Make sure these resources are easier for patrons to find and access!
•Don’t forget to train library staff along the way.
•Communicate with career centers on campuses.
The Job & Career Accelerator was funded by the State Library of North Carolina, and purchased by NC LIVE
in April 2010
BRAINSTORMING WITH COLLEAGUES TO DEVELOP A THEME
Focus on resources for the unemployed, career seekers, and small business owners.
NC LIVE can provide people with financial benefits - positively changing their life in some way.
NC LIVE is saving people time and money.
NC LIVE is working for North Carolina. Put NC LIVE to work for you.
Breaking Down Barriers & Making Access Easier
Step 4: Making what we had more marketable
Draft Portal Sketch Done in Photoshop - Used to Collect Feedback
www.business.nclive.org
www.jobs.nclive.org
STEP 5: PROMOTION, PUBLICITY, COMMUNICATION
Collaborated with vendors to help us spread the word – radio commercials & more
Developed a promotional kit with a press release template for member libraries
Encouraged communication with college career centers or other related organizations and departments
Distributed press releases to local media outlets
Utilized social media (blog, Twitter, Facebook)
Emailed newsletters to our listservs and other relevant lists
WORKING WITH VENDORS
•Radio commercials across popular NC radio stations in major markets
•Developing logos and graphics used to help promote our new portals
GETTING MEMBER LIBRARY STAFF READY & ON BOARD:
Sample Newsletters:March 2010April 2010
WE DEVELOPED HANDOUTS FOR LIBRARIES TO USE
STEP 6: ANALYZING THE RESULTS
During April 2010, Visits to Our Beta Site Increased By more than 45%
Since the portals were launched on April 12, 2010
People have viewed the Jobs Portal more than 3,900 timesPeople have viewed the Business Portal more than 2,300 times
When counting unique pageviews since the launch of our
website in 2010, the Jobs Portal is currently our 9th most popular page, and the Business Portal is our 15th most popular page on our website.Resource April 2009 April 2010
Business Source Premier
123,170 sessions 198,569 sessions
LearningExpress
3,360 sessions 5199 sessions
SimplyMap
554 sessions 674 sessions
MORE RESULTS…
Full article available from: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6727368.html
WHY MARKET LIBRARY SERVICES?
Marketing is essential to establishing or reminding patrons of the library’s value in their everyday lives. Sometimes that means repackaging what we already offer in a way that is relevant to our customers.
Marketing ≠ Advertising
The end-result?
Increased usage and awareness of library resources and improved perception of libraries.
TAKEAWAYS & LESSONS WE LEARNED:
Start early.
Partner when possible.
Although they’re nice to have, you don’t need a formal plan in place to get started.
Use in-reach and outreach to get the word out. Get others involved in what you’re doing, they’ll do the promoting for you.
Talk about it, but don’t use library jargon, and don’t expect patrons to know the names of databases.
Use a variety of communication tools, and consider your audience.
THANK YOU!
Contact Us:www.nclive.org
Jill Robinson MorrisOutreach & Promotions LibrarianNC LIVEjill@nclive.org
Find us on Twitter: @ncliveFind us on Facebook
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