You could read hundreds of books on marketing, but keeping things simple should be your first objective. Let's assume you, as a hospital librarian, have had the good fortune to receive a windfall of money, which has been designated for a Consumer Health library, to be available for your usual patrons as well as patients and families in the hospital. What should you keep in mind?

 

Four P's

• Products
  These would include your books, journals, other media and possibly PC's, that may be open for use by your patrons, as well as your catalog. It should also include a list of free, credible, reliable websites to include MedlinePlus.gov (http://medlineplus.gov/). Packaging is part of your "product." You have little choice on packaging other than making your collection as attractive as possible. This might include appropriate shelving or furniture in which to house your collection and equipment.
• Price
  This one may be easy. I suspect you'll be providing this service for free. However, you may have a price for delivering the service. Make sure you can supply what patrons could be asking for. Do you have the reference staff to accommodate requests, copy materials, and promote the collection? Further, maintaining and promoting the collection will have a price. Make sure it's part of your annual budget.
• Place
  Where are your patrons accessing this information? It could be at your library, at different places in the hospital, or possibly in a lobby area. And where are the places you can market your materials?
• Promotion
  This will be the primary focus of our Four P's discussion. If you have a collection and you're not telling others about it, it probably won't be used as it should! Think competitively. How can you show added value? What do you have to offer that another entity might not be able to offer? Reference services, accessibility, a good collection?

 

Branding

There is much talk about branding these days. We see it all the time with entities like Target, Coke, or McDonalds. Creating an acronym and/or logo will give you some focus as you develop your marketing plan. Make it catchy, cute, and easily replicable!

 

Marketing

Your three primary audiences will be:

• Hospital Health Professionals
• Patients and Families in the Hospital
• Community

There are hundreds of different ways to reach each of your three groups. Following are a few ideas for each of those audiences.

Marketing to Hospital Health Professionals

For the most part, keep in mind that people want fast, informal, daily, rich content.

• First and foremost, schedule time on the staff meeting agenda of each of the departments of your hospital. Have a one-page handout available to hand out indicating what you are offering. This should include hours, services, and your contact information, and hopefully your "brand." Take no more than ten minutes to explain what you have, and how you can benefit the health professionals by providing information for them as well as their patients. For physicians, you might include information on InformationRX, the prescription pad for health information. See: http://www.informationrx.org/.
• Meet with people in your Public Relations department. They may be able to assist in creating some additional interest in your message.
• Submit articles or a recurring column in your hospital publication. Feature a book or service each time. Keep it brief.
• Hold workshops. Keep them in the 30-45 minute time range and hold them over the lunch hour to allow people to attend. Provide food if you can. It is always a great magnet!
• Develop an email list and send out a weekly blurb for those who are interested.
• Develop a blog. This can contain the information you send you via emails. It takes less than 10 minutes to set up a blog!
• Hold open houses at least once a year. Offer refreshments and a drawing for prizes. Pharmaceutical companies may be willing to supply the food and/or prizes. Add a contest. You could use a question such as "How many questions has the library staff answered in the last year?"
• Have a presence on the hospital intranet.
• Offer to do bulletin boards.
• Create table tents for the cafeteria.
• Tie-in your library when promoting health observances (like Breast Cancer Awareness Week). See: http://www.healthfinder.gov/library/nho/nho.asp.
• Include information in employee orientation sessions.
• Develop a monthly newsletter for distribution in the hospital. It could also be used on your website.
• Don't forget your "elevator" speech. As you are on an elevator, ask someone if they know about your library. Introduce yourself and your service.

Marketing to Patients and Families in the Hospital

Many people may not know that hospitals may have a library that is open to them.

• Develop a handout to be given to patients when admitted, or have your information added to the welcome brochure.
• Advertise services in a common space such as a lobby or cafeteria. You could use table tents.

Marketing to the Community

• Meet with public librarians to share your information. Invite them for a tour of your facility. Think about developing a joint brochure of resources, if it is appropriate.
• Consider appearing on a local TV or radio show. Time it to coincide with National Library Week in April or 4-11 (Medical Information Day), or National Medical Librarians Month in October.
• Write articles, as they are an inexpensive way to get your message out. Look at publications that people pick up at the library or the grocery store, and submit an article talking about your service.
• Speak at civic groups. They are often looking for speakers. Schedule yourself and talk about your library as well as readily accessible Internet sites - especially MedlinePlus.gov (http://medlineplus.gov).
• Promote the service with public health department nurses and school nurses.
• Develop a display board that could be loaned out for community health fairs.

Communication Vehicles for All Three Audiences

• Create a website. These days, a website is your public face. Keep it current. Include hours, services and contact information. If you're especially ambitious, you could even include a request form for information.

 

Resources

PR Tools and Resources. (American Library Association)
http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/prtools/prtoolsresources.htm

Resources - Library Public Relations and Marketing. (Medical Library Association)
http://mlanet.org/resources/index.html
Of special note: National Medical Librarian' Month: http://www.mlanet.org/resources/nml-month/2005/index.html

Chapter Council Roundtables - Marketing and Public Relations. (Medical Library Association)
http://www.chaptercouncil.mlanet.org/roundtables/2005/index.html

Marketing Treasures
http://www.chrisolson.com/marketingtreasures/

 

References

Kotler, P. (2003) Marketing Management, Eleventh Edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.