Looking to reach your business community?

library marketing; promoting services for businesses; online newsletters for libraries

The other day I came across a terrific online newsletter promoting library services for businesses written by Joan Divor, Business Services Librarian Burlington County Library System. It was good enough to get me to click right to the website which was equally exciting! So many libraries are offering great services and collections for specific communities such businesses, but have a tough time reaching the target audience. Joan has done a very good marketing job. She uses her outreach events, library programs, reference desk interaction, presentations to businesses to build a mailing list for her newsletter and then follows through -building the website around her customers needs and interests, sending the newsletter, using contacts to expand her outreach. It is what we like to call, the perfect marketing cycle because it continually propels forward. She started back in 2002 and now has quite a mailing list. Joan told me:

"The newsletter goes to somewhere between 300 and 400 addresses, largely obtained through attendance at expos, personal contact at the reference desk, my library programs, and presentations to business groups outside the library. I started it in late 2002. I get compliments from readers periodically -- and very few unsubscribes! I am thinking about morphing it into a blog at some point, and I've got some new ideas on content expansion in support of this. In addition, I am hoping to be able to change my web site to a wiki, once we have the in-house technology to support that.

Lately, some of the many "seeds" I've been planting in marketing to the business community are seeming to sprout. I've been getting contacted by business people and county government folks to meet with them, or speak at functions, based directly on my outreach or through someone who heard me speak and told someone else. That feels good, because marketing requires lots of various types of efforts, and its important to me to be able to see what bears results. "

I love it that she just keeps the ideas flowing! If you have a neat newsletter you send out why not email me and we can share on the M Word. ndowd@njstatelib.org