Promoting @ your library, school, community and beyond

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Teen Read Week

• Promoting _at_ your library, school, community and
  beyond
• www.ala.org/teenread

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Marketing why do it?

• Create awareness if no one knows about it,
  whats the point of doing it?
• Great opportunity to reach out to community and
  build relationships
• This will allow you to have a solid foundation
  and support for future projects, causes, etc.
• Chance to build awareness about the unique role
  the library plays in the community highlight
  what you offer that folks cant get anywhere else

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Three Easy Steps to Plan

• Decide who youre trying to reach
• Create the message
• Include relevant details
• Use language your audience will understand
• Does it need to be translated into more than one
  language?
• Assess your resources and determine needs
• What existing communication channels can you
  utilize?
• Do you need to reach out to the community for
  assistance? If so, who do you reach out to?

4
Get Organized

• Create a marketing plan schedule, by
  identifying
• The best vehicle(s) for getting the message out
  (library web site, schools, local radio or news
  stations, social media, community partner
  resources, etc.)
• The kind of promotional materials you will use
  (fliers, graphics for web use, emails, posters,
  etc.)
• When to get the message out and how often

5
Implement Follow-up

• Implement marketing plan
• Revisit and make adjustments as needed throughout
  the process
• Evaluate marketing plan
• What worked?
• What didnt?
• Did we reach our goals?
• Write down suggestions for next year

6
Engage Teens

• TRW Flier/Poster Contest
• Hold a TRW poster contest where teens create
  their own TRW promotional flier
• Flier can be of anything TRW related
• favorite book, theme interpretation, etc.
• Hang up entries around library/school
• Hold a vote to determine winner, or have local
  VIPs pick the winner
• Winner receives a free book of their choice (or
  whatever the library sees fit)
• Use winning flier to promote your TRW activities

7
Be Visual

• Create a TRW display at entrance
• Have interested teens create a TRW display or
  bulletin board
• Place display in an area with high visibility and
  patron traffic
• Provide little take home postcards or fliers
  with info about TRW

8
On the Web

• Place a TRW banner on library website that links
  to info about your TRW activities
• General TRW logo can be found on the TRW website
  under the planning tab
• TRW digital files can be purchased from the ALA
  Store.
• Create regular reminders and announcements about
  TRW on library website, Twitter, and Facebook
  accounts

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Other ideas

• TRW bookmark contest
• Create a TRW recommended book list
• Ask teens for their favorite titles of the year
• Compile the list and create a display of the books

10
Promoting in your community

• Press Release
• Use the press release template located on the TRW
  website and distribute to local media
• Proclamation
• Ask your local town councilor school board to
  make a proclamation about TRW in your community
• Bring teens with you to the meeting to make the
  request
• Be sure to get photos to post on your web site
• Use the sample proclamation on the TRW site

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Promoting in your community

• Public Service Announcements
• Contact local radio stations and ask them to
  promote TRW as a courtesy (sample PSA scripts
  recordings can be found on the TRW website)
• Contact local news stations and ask them to
  promote TRW
• Ask schools to promote TRW using their outdoor
  announcement display or closed circuit TV
• Make it easy for them by providing them with
  messaging and artwork/graphics

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Promoting in your community

• Presentations
• Ask teachers and after school providers if you
  can visit to talk about TRW
• Social Media
• Tweet local schools, community partners,
  bookstores, etc. and ask them to help promote TRW
  through tweets and retweets

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Other tips and ideas

• Promoting
• Be consistent!
• Make it a priority to promote TRW create a
  marketing schedule
• Clearly state the benefits
• What will schools, teachers, the community, and
  most importantly, teens get out of TRW?
• Make adjustments as needed to the message or
  method
• Contact the local college or university to see if
  any marketing students can help you out

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Other tips and ideas

• Enlist help of others on all levels
• Library, school, youth focused organizations,
  city, bookstores, the PTA, etc.
• Engage others
• Internal recruit circulation and reference desk
  staff and other library staff who interact with
  teens
• External reach out to parents, grandparents,
  local businesses, community centers, etc.
• Dont reinvent the wheel
• Get marketing resources by researching about
  similar events, causes, and cause marketing

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Resources

• For TRW planning and promotional materials,
  please visit the official YALSA Teen Read Week
  website at www.ala.org/teenread
• American Library Association Marketing Resources
  Wiki
• Media Relations Handbook

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Resources on Creating Marketing Plans

• Know This Principles of Marketing
• Curators of the University of Missouri
  Marketing
• Small Business Trends One Page Marketing Plans