I recently gave a speech about the Library Marketing Funnel, a concept I developed a while working in libraries and debuted in my keynote address at the 2018 Library Marketing & Communications Conference.

Every time I talk to Library professionals about this concept, they give me new insights and examples that support it. In the words of one library administrator, “we spend a lot of time thinking up reasons to say no.”

If you're wondering what the marketing funnel is, here's quick overview.

Picture a funnel. Now imagine pouring all of your potential library customers into the top, and as they move down, you engage with them at every level until you get them to take a desired action – check out a book, visit a branch, attend a program, etc.

The funnel gets narrower as you go down because people drop off, but ideally you keep as many people as possible. 

The challenge for libraries is that there are many holes in our marketing funnel. I often say it looks more like a sieve, or colander. We don’t realize how much we are undermining our own marketing efforts by allowing customers to escape – or even pushing them – out of holes that we have created. 

I have learned from my speeches about the library marketing funnel, and the ensuing conversations, that two things can be true at the same time: 1) libraries and library professionals are very committed to serving their communities and adding new library users to their marketing funnels; and, 2) library policies and practices are frequently not designed to put the customer experience at the center of library operations, thus creating "holes in the funnel." 

Interested in learning more? Read my blog post about the marketing funnel, watch my video, or send me an email.