Marketing the Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando ... Laura Armstrong: Marketing the RTSO Library Marketing the Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando Library The following report

1 Laura Armstrong: Marketing the RTSO Library

Marketing the Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando Library

by Laura Armstrong

LIS 5602: Marketing Library and Information Services

Analysis of Nonprofit Marketing Project

December 5, 2014

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Laura Armstrong: Marketing the RTSO Library

Marketing the Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando Library

The following report looks at marketing strategies for the Reformed Theological Seminary

Orlando Library (RTSO Library). Current marketing done by the library is considered in order to

understand the strengths and weaknesses of the library marketing plan at this time.

Recommendations are made to encourage the library to move forward in becoming a more user-

centered library as they serve their students, staff, faculty, and the larger Orlando community.

I. General Introduction to the Organization

The Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando Library (RTSO Library) was founded in

1989 when Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) opened its second campus in Oviedo, FL.

RTS is a theological graduate school that was started in Jackson, MS in 1964, which now has

five campuses throughout the southeastern United States with plans for further expansion

(Muether, 2007). The campuses are connected under one board of trustees with a Dean of

Libraries heading all the libraries in the system. Each individual campus library is led by a

Library Director as well as other staff members and student workers (Reformed Theological

Seminary [RTS], 2014c).

The RTSO Library has one librarian (the library director), one full-time library

assistant, and 5 part-time student workers. The library serves students, staff, and faculty at RTS

Orlando as well as members of the surrounding community, providing resources for their

theological information needs. There are close to 400 students currently enrolled at RTS

Orlando. This Fall Semester there were 73 registered full-time students, 79 part-time students,

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and 78 distance students (L. Conley, personal communication, Dec.1, 2014). Many students take

only summer or winter term classes due to scheduling. The campus also has 22 faculty members

(including adjunct and emeritus) as well as 14 full-time staff (RTS, 2014b; RTS, 2014d). RTS

Orlando has four graduate degree programs and one doctorate program. Four of the degree

programs are theological in focus and one graduate program is in counseling (RTS, 2014a). Most

community users are Orlando pastors or Christian organization staff, students from other

theological schools in the area, or local Oviedo residents.

The RTSO Library is located in Oviedo, FL right outside of Orlando. This is a growing

area of Central Florida with 1,225,267 residents in Orange County (which includes Orlando) and

428,104 in Seminole County (location of RTSO) (Office of Demographic & Economic Research,

2014). Several colleges and universities are also in the Orlando area, including one of the largest

universities in the US, the University of Central Florida, as well as many others (Orlando

Magazine, 2014). The Orlando area also has three public library systems: Orange County Library

System (2014), Seminole County Public Library (Seminole County Government, 2014b), and

Winter Park Public Library (2014).

The RTSO Library is a member of the Florida Theological Library Association which

notes that there are two other member theological libraries in the Orlando area (American

Theological Library Association, 2014), though there are other theological schools in the area

that are not part of the organization (Orlando Magazine, 2014). RTSO Library is the largest

theological library in Florida, housing over 98,000 items and providing access to 9 online

databases (Farrell, 2014). The library shares their resources through reciprocal relationships with

several other theological schools in Florida as well as through inter-library loan services.

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The library currently does not have a budget for marketing. The budget for the library is

determined by the larger institution and marketing has not been a focus in funding the library.

The library has not created any strategic marketing plans in the past. Most marketing has been

focused on promotion, though the library staff now see the need for a more holistic approach to

the marketing process. This goal will be considered throughout the report and recommendations.

II. Mission of the Organization & Organizational Goals and Objectives

A. Reformed Theological Seminary Library Mission Statement

1. Current Mission Statement for RTS Library:

“The mission of the libraries of RTS is to provide resources and services to support the

curriculum of the institution, the research interests of faculty, and the general needs of

the local Christian community. The libraries seek to serve in the implementation of the

seminary’s commitments to the inerrancy of Scripture and the Reformed faith as set forth

in the Westminster standards” (Reformed Theological Seminary, 2012).

2. Evaluation of the Mission Statement

The mission statement of the library is part of a larger institution operating manual

that was last revised in 2012 (Reformed Theological Seminary). The library mission was

not changed at that time. The mission statement aligns with the larger institution’s

mission: “The mission of Reformed Theological Seminary is to serve the Church by

preparing its leaders, through a program of graduate theological education, based upon

the authority of the inerrant Word of God, and committed to the Reformed Faith”

(Reformed Theological Seminary, 2012). It is used by the five libraries in the RTS

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system, allowing consistency and cooperation throughout the larger organization, though

the focus in this report is specifically on the RTS Orlando Library.

The mission statement makes it clear that the focus of the library is on supporting

the curriculum, faculty, and Christian community. This makes staff, library users, and

other stakeholders aware of the intended customer group. The statements about inerrancy,

the Reformed faith, and the Westminster Standards make the focus of the collection and

services up front for those in the community that may question why it doesn’t include

other resources, programming, etc. This also may help with purchasing decisions. The

reason the library exists is stated: to provide resources and services for curriculum

support, research, and general needs in order to implement the seminary’s focus.

In evaluating the mission statement, it is seen that the main customer, students, is

not explicitly stated. This is indicated through saying the library supports the curriculum,

but it does not show that the first priority is student needs. The statement “general needs

of the Christian community” does not clearly state what is meant either. It does make it

clear that the focus is not the public at large, but instead the Christian community in the

area, but it doesn’t state what the library actually aims to provide this customer segment.

The mission includes information that may not be familiar to some customers (Reformed

tradition, inerrancy, Westminster Standards), which may cause confusion instead of

explaining the organization’s purpose and inspiring commitment (Koontz & Mon, 2014,

16). The mission statement is not completely distinctive in stating what the library

uniquely offers. This could keep it from being more motivating and inspiring for staff.

The mission should be changed to support the RTS institution mission while remaining

understandable to the variety of library customers.

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3. Revised RTS Library Mission Statement

“The mission of the RTS libraries is to support the theological studies of the students,

staff, & faculty of RTS, as well as those in the local Christian community, by serving in

the implementation of the seminary’s commitments to the inerrancy of Scripture and the

Reformed faith through relevant physical and electronic resources, programs to support

the curriculum, and instruction for using all the library provides.”

B. Goals and Objectives of the Reformed Theological Seminary Library

Each library in the RTS library system creates its own goals and objectives though the

mission statement is the same for all. At the Orlando campus, the goals are listed as categories

with very little explanation. All explanation is dependent on the objectives. There is little criteria

listed for evaluation, though they are evaluated at the end of each year as goals are set for the

following year.

In order to improve the goals and objectives for the RTS Orlando Library, they need to

be more specific to the year and able to be evaluated. The difference between the current goals of

the library and the newly created ones below is that the new ones are more detailed and specific

to the year. The original goals and objectives were simple and to the point which could be

helpful, but they served more as lists to check off instead of motivational tools. Updated goals

should inspire a vision for the library mission and objectives should be achievable and

measurable (Koontz & Mon, 2014, 17).

1. Example of current goals and objectives:

a. Bibliographic Instruction:

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1. provide bibliographic instruction and reference support as needed

2. train desk workers to provide basic bibliographic instruction

3. research informational videos for using database tools and other bibliographic

processes to provide instruction for students

4. provide two formal bibliographic seminars in spring and fall

b. Special Library Events:

1. Provide 4-5 Storytimes for the year – inviting RTS families as well as others in

the community

2. Hold a Reformation Day Tea

3. Provide Coffee Breaks during exams for both Fall and Spring semesters

4. Consider other events and programs to build community & provide unique service

(RTSO Library, 2014a)

2. Suggested goals and objectives:

a. Goal = Public Services: The library will provide excellent pro-active support and

instruction to customers as they learn to access and then use resources and

information.

1. Objective: The library staff will create a training program for the student desk

workers so they know how to use the resources themselves as well as confidently

provide support to customers.

2. Objective: The library staff will find or create instructional resources for using

databases and other online resources which will be made available for access in

the library as well as on the Website.

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3. Objective: The statistics for student workers helping library users with accessing

and using resources will increase by 10%.

4. Objective: One-on-one instruction by full-time staff with students will increase by

10% through promotion of availability and proactive engagement with students.

5. Objective: Two instructional seminars will be held to introduce users to the

library and research. The seminars will be promoted through a campaign on social

media, the Website, and communication to new students. The seminars will be

evaluated through a survey given to the attendees three months following the

seminar to see if it aided in their studies as promised.

b. Goal = Special Library Events: The library staff will create programs for the RTS

community as well as the surrounding Orlando area that provide opportunities for

community building and support the seminary curriculum.

1. Objective: The library staff will continue to provide Storytime programs, coffee

breaks, and the Reformation Day party as well as create 1-2 more events/

programs that focus on community building during this academic year.

2. Objective: The library will work with faculty and staff to facilitate the current

library supported book program (The Current Read), but will also create 1 new

academic program that will fit the needs of the student population.

3. Objective: The library staff will include questions about desired events and

programs in the yearly student survey in order to evaluate the current offerings as

well as consider new programs to include in upcoming years.

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III. Environmental Influences

The RTS Library does not conduct any formal scanning of the environment at this time.

As they move forward, they should consider scanning the environment on both a macro and

micro level, taking into consideration both external and internal influences on the organization.

The staff team acknowledges many of the environmental influences as they make decisions and

plans for the library, but they have not taken the time to formally note the influences and what

impact they have on the library. The result is that many of the actions the library takes are

reactionary instead of in preparation. The following are possible macro and micro-environmental

influences that have impacted RTSO Library as well as others to consider in future marketing.

A. Macro-environmental (External) Influences:

1. Economic Influences: The RTS library has been impacted in the past by economic

struggles. RTS as a whole is a non-profit organization that relies completely on the

donations of individuals and on grants. The library is one department in the larger

organization. As a result, the library has felt the impact of decisions that have been

made overall due to the economy and will probably continue to be impacted as

choices have to be made for the organization as a whole.

The library is affected as the prices for resources go up. This has impacted and

will continue to impact the purchasing budget. Each year the library has to cancel

periodical subscriptions and standing orders.

Economics will also continue to impact hiring. The library recently went

down to two full-time staff from three. This cut one librarian position. There are no

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plans to hire another librarian in the future. This also has meant less student worker

hours.

The economy has also impacted the library positively in that many students

rely more heavily on the library resources during their studies because they can’t buy

the resources. Statistics and personal accounts of this situation could be recorded in

order to help the library show the larger institution that they are providing for

students’ needs.

2. Sociocultural Influences: The organization as a whole is aimed at becoming more

diverse because the environment they serve is diverse (RTSO, 2014). It is a

theological institution focused on training church leaders for specific denominations,

but the range of ages, nationalities, races, and genders represented continues to

change. Specifically the need for resources for international students continues to

develop. There is also a need to provide resources for a growing number of

denominations that are being served by the organization. As the school develops

programs focused on these different denominations, the library has to meet the needs

of those programs.

3. Technological Influences: The area of technology will potentially have the biggest

impact on the library as it moves forward. As students use e-readers more and more,

the library will need to change to meet those preferences. At the moment, surveys of

students have indicated that they still prefer the library maintains its print collection

as the focus (RTSO Library, 2014b), but this is sure to change to some degree each

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year as they move forward. Providing more e-resources could impact the library

greatly when it comes to finances. The library needs to prepare for this now as much

as possible.

The library continues to have more databases for students. This means more

training is needed for staff to be able to aid them in use. It also means the staff have to

consider ways to promote the resources and make them accessible for students as

much as possible.

Social media as a tool has been explored by the library in the past. The larger

organization has restricted department use and has centralized all communication.

This impacts the library because they don’t have control over what is communicated

to students and they must compete for space with all other departments. If the library

wants to communicate with students in this form, they must work with the larger

institution to give an understanding of what the library has to offer. The library staff

can also consider proposing different uses of social media to help the library and

organization as a whole.

4. Political Influences: Politics impact the library because the organization does not

currently accept any government funds. Understanding what grants can be applied for

to stay within these regulations is important. The library has also recently purchased a

scanner. This has impacted a need to communicate copyright laws even more clearly

to students so they observe them when it comes to using resources.

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5. Competitive Influences: The library faces several outside organizations that could be

considered competition when it comes to the services that are provided. The RTS

Orlando campus currently has a used bookstore which provides resources for students

at a low cost. This store partners with the library, but can also be considered

competition because they provide similar services and many students prefer

purchasing at a low cost instead of sharing resources with other students. They are

also competition at the institution level because they bring in funds to the seminary

while the library relies on the seminary budget. The benefits that the library brings to

campus are not always seen when compared to the economic benefits of the

bookstore.

The library is also located in an area with several other academic and public

libraries which can be considered competition on different levels. The University of

Central Florida, Rollins College, Valencia College, and Seminole State College are

all in the area (Orlando Magazine, 2014). They may not compete as far as providing

resources since use of each institution is limited according to their policies, but in

terms of publicity and awareness of what is provided, RTS Library is much smaller

and competes with the institutions when it comes to events and programs for the

community.

The library also competes with businesses in the area that provide places for

study such as coffee shops. There are two coffee shops located within a mile of the

library and several others within 10 miles. These businesses draw students away from

campus. The library has to consider this as they coordinate hours, food & drink being

allowed in the library, and the environment they create for extended library use.

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The library also competes with online resource providers when it comes to

providing information for students. Students are often accustomed to finding

information online on their own and look there first before coming to the library.

They also look online to purchase both print and e-books and often have access to

low-cost materials through these outlets. As a result, the library is not always the first

place they think of for finding resources they need.

C. Micro-environment (internal) Influences:

1. One Department in a Larger Institution: One of the main microenvironment forces

that impacts the library is the fact that it is part of a larger institution. This impacts

every decision made by the library director concerning the budget, hiring, mission,

goals, purchasing, etc. The library has to consider how they impact the whole when

making decisions and promoting library use.

2. Relationships with Vendors: Database, Inter-library loan delivery, binder, periodical

subscriptions, and many other aspects of the library are managed through vendor

contracts that must be maintained and that impact the library services.

3. Facilities: The library is housed in a building that was not originally intended for

library use. This means that the library staff have to be creative in making decisions

about layout, seating, lighting, signage, etc. when it comes to making the space usable

and welcoming to customers. One of the biggest impacts of this is that lighting is not

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good throughout the library. Recently updates have been made to the space – new

comfortable furniture and window blinds – which have made the space more useful.

4. Collection: The collection is made up of over 98,000 items as well as 9 online

database subscriptions (Farrell, 2014). A major aspect of the collection is a library

that was donated by a former professor which includes over 35,000 items. The

addition of these materials has led to a major project for the small staff team as they

add the materials to the collection and make room in the shelving for the items,

weeding out damaged items and making repairs as needed. It has also expanded the

collection greatly which is a benefit to faculty, students, and those that the library

loans to through ILL. The library also has a rare book room and archive housed in

another part of campus which has not been catalogued at this time.

5. Library staff: The library staff is made up of 1 librarian (the director), 1 full-time

library assistant, and 5 part-time student workers. The size of the team is appropriate

for the number of students at the institution, but the smallness leads to challenging

time management situations. One benefit of the current staff team is that both full-

time employees are graduates of the institution which allows them to serve in an

approachable and knowledgeable way.

IV. Stakeholders/Publics

. The Reformed Theological Library does not have a formalized list of stakeholders. It would

benefit the library to create this list and consider conflicts that may arise due to those that have a

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stake in the success of the organization. It would also benefit the library as they seek to

understand who they serve and how they are supported by stakeholders.

A. Reformed Theological Seminary Stakeholders

1. Current students

2. Alumni

3. Donors for the institution

4. Campus Administration

5. RTS Board of Trustees

6. Area churches

7. Library staff

8. Faculty

B. Possible conflicts between stakeholders:

1. Between administration of larger institution & the library staff: The larger

institution has a larger purpose that the library’s purpose and this can potentially

lead to conflict. The administration is making decisions for the institution as a

whole and the library must prove their worth when it comes to budgeting,

staffing, and other decisions. Both serve the same mission, but have different

responsibilities in fulfilling the mission. Keeping statistics, focusing on the

mission of the institution, and working to align the library goals with the larger

institution are three ways that the library can help resolve any potential conflicts.

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2. Between students and the library staff in regards to policies: The main way that

there can be conflict between the students and library staff is when it comes to

library policies. Conflict can be avoided and resolved by staff keeping policies

clear and posted for students, being willing to hear suggestions for possible

changes, and reevaluating the policies regularly to make sure they align with the

needs of students as well as the goals of the library.

3. Between community members and RTS students, staff, & faculty: Conflict can

arise between community members and students, staff, and faculty because the

purpose of students, staff, and faculty using the library is different from those in

the community. Conflicts can be resolved as the library staff remain clear about

their mission to serve the RTS students, staff, & faculty while welcoming

community members.

4. Between student & faculty and library staff when it comes to resource provision:

There can be conflict in the area of resource provision because the students and

faculty desire certain resources that the library staff don’t have the budget for or

can’t obtain for other reasons. The library staff try to resolve this conflict by

evaluating requests and providing inter-library loan services.

V. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

A. Strengths

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1. The library connects well to the student body and others in the community through low-

cost programming such as study breaks, story time (for student families & community

members), and parties to celebrate days in Christian history. These programs help align

the library with the goals of the larger institution as well as connect to users for little time

and financial cost.

2. The ILL program is still a priority which allows the library to get almost any resource

requested by students and faculty. This service is provided without limit and free of

charge for students and faculty.

3. The Wi-Fi and quiet atmosphere bring both students and many from the community into

the space to both study and work. It is a small space which allows staff to communicate

with users and remain aware of what is happening in the library so that the environment

can be welcoming and the staff quickly accessible.

4. Both full-time employees have a degree from the seminary, giving them first-hand

experience that relates to their students and allows them to more fully support the faculty

research.

5. Database subscriptions provide current students, faculty, staff, and alumni access to

materials both in the library as well as away from campus.

B. Weaknesses

1. The library is limited in resources for the counseling program students and faculty in

comparison to the materials for other programs, especially in terms of databases. This

limits the library’s ability to serve this segment of the student population.

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2. Staying up-to-date with technology has not been a priority due to budgetary constraints

and updating currently held technology is often slow to be prioritized by the overall

organization.

3. Budget constraints have led the library to cut periodical subscriptions, limit purchases,

and be unable to purchase items that faculty would like to have on hand.

4. There is little variety in the type of seating and lighting in the space because it was not

designed to be a library when first built. This includes a lack of meeting spaces for

students that are working on group projects.

5. The library only has two full-time employees which restricts some of the projects they are

able to complete as well as the ability to prioritize training for both full-time and student

workers so that they can serve the users more fully.

C. Opportunities

1. The City of Oviedo website (2014) names 38 places of worship in the city. RTS library

has the opportunity to connect with these churches as well as other religious

organizations in the Orlando area to provide theological information resources. This will

also help the library support the larger institution goals of reaching out to churches in the

area.

2. The library is located in a large city with few academic theological libraries, allowing it

to play a unique role in the community. RTS Library can also create more partnerships

with the other theological academic libraries in the area to serve the community more

fully and creatively.

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3. Financial challenges lead students to rely more heavily on the library to provide

resources.

4. Many people from the community use the campus buildings and grounds for events,

allowing the library to increase awareness of services to the community.

5. The library is connected to the other libraries in the RTS system as well as many

theological libraries in Orlando & Florida. This allows for resource partnerships as well

as learning opportunities for staff.

D. Threats

1. Technology such as e-books is increasingly the norm and the library needs to figure out

ways to stay up-to-date as possible while maintaining a print collection that uniquely

serves the library users.

2. The size of Orlando keeps many students, partners, etc. far from campus, decreasing their

use of the library resources.

3. The cost of resources continues to rise. Increases in journal pricing without an increase in

budget leads to the library having to cut subscriptions each year. Pricing of counseling

resources makes it difficult to increase purchases for that program of study.

4. Students believe they can find resources online on their own and often don’t see the need

for resources found in the library.

5. Other libraries are cutting their ILL programs, which makes it more difficult to get

materials that our students and faculty request.

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VI. Customer Market Research

RTSO Library currently only collects user data through library card creation and

renewals. They do not perform research to discover information about their users other than a

student survey given each year. They rely solely on library use statistics, student surveys, and

past experience with users.

In moving forward, the library should consider performing market research in order to

discover information about their actual and potential customers and their needs. Specifically,

they should perform research on the following groups:

1. Students: It would be beneficial for the library to collect specific information about

the students they currently serve, including age, previous undergraduate/graduate

degree programs (so that an understanding of overall background could be

understood), gender, current degree program, location, church denomination, etc.

This information could be collected by working with admissions and the registrar

departments of the institution. Data is already collected internally in the larger

institution that could help the library understand those they serve. The library could

also collect more information about student users through the end of the year survey

they conduct. Questions could be asked that would give a picture of the student body,

such as “how much experience do you have writing academic research papers?” with

a multiple choice range for them to choose from to describe their situation.

It would be helpful to know what areas of town the students live in as well as

how many registered students actually live in other cities and commute long distances

to campus. This information could also be gathered from admissions and the registrar,

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allowing the library to consider changes to resource access and services based on

student needs.

General theological student information could also be gathered through the

Association of Theological Schools (2014) which collects data about theological

institutions and their students. This would give the library access to information such

as financial situations of students in America at this time, average age, gender,

ethnicity, etc. It would not be specific to the RTSO students, but it would give a

picture of trends in academic theological education.

2. Actual and Potential student users: In addition to the information gathered about

students listed above, it could also be important for the library to find out information

about which students use the library and which do not. Much of the information

above could be used to compare the number of registered students in the library

system to the current number of actual students. Surveys could help in discovering

why students do or do not use the library and what leads to these decisions such as

location, hours, anxiety or confusion over library use, etc.

3. Actual Community library users: The library should also research current library

users from the community. This information could be difficult to gather in any form

other than data collected when they register cards because there is no other

connection to this diverse group of users. Using the collected data, the library can see

what areas of town the users are from, how long they have had a card, and how

regularly they use the card. This information could help give an understanding of

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community user trends. The library could consider asking these users if they would

like to get email updates from the library about events, etc. This would allow the

library to potentially gather information through surveys, etc. in the future.

4. Potential community library users: The library does not do any formal research to

learn about the potential market in the community. In order to gather information, the

library could find out what churches and Christian organizations are in the area and

what denominations are in the city. This information could be gathered through city

information sites. The library could also learn more about potential and actual library

users from the community by researching the counties around the school. This

information can be gathered from census data (US Census Bureau, 2014).

Information can also be gathered from public library sites. For example, the Seminole

County Public Library has a plan posted on their website which includes information

about the county and plans they have for serving the community (Seminole County

Government, 2014a). This information is important for the RTS library because they

reside in this same county. Other libraries in the area also provide this information. It

could also be beneficial to learn about the surrounding community through city

websites, business bureau, and other community organization websites.

To acquire lifestyle or psychographic information, the library could use their student

survey to ask questions of their students about their attitudes towards the library, resources, etc.

as well as their information habits. Information about Christians, graduate students, and other

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categories that fit this specific library user market could also be found through other research

organizations, articles in current journals, books about generational trends, etc.

VII. Identifying and Selecting Markets

The RTS library does not utilize segmentation in any systematic way. They do naturally

prioritize students and faculty when making purchases and creating policies, but this is not done

in a formal, recognized way. All segmentation has been done by assuming that there are natural

divisions of customers such as students, staff, faculty, and community, but few services are

designed to target specific segments. Recently it has come to the staff attention that segmentation

would be very beneficial when it comes to events and promotion. In the past, there hasn’t been a

focus on targeting groups when planning programs or communicating what is being offered. In

the future, there are hopes of changing this for the library in this area of service as well as others.

A. Three Primary Markets: The three primary markets for the RTS Library are students,

faculty, and the community. These can be further segmented in the following ways as

well as potentially others:

1. Students

a. Theology program students

b. Masters in Counseling students

c. part-time students

d. full-time students

e. distance students

f. international students

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1. further segmented by country

g. students that don’t use the library

h. students that are in the library multiple times a week

i. students that have never done academic research or have not in recent years

j. students over 50 (vs. younger students)

2. Faculty

a. segmented by department:

1. Biblical Theology

2. History

3. Systematic Theology

4. Practical Theology

5. Counseling

b. Full-time faculty

c. Adjunct Faculty

d. Visiting Professors

3. Community

a. Alumni

1. alumni in the Orlando area

2. alumni that live in other areas

b. pastors in Orlando area

c. church members in Orlando area

d. Christian organization staff in Orlando area

e. community organizations that rent the campus facilities

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f. community members that use the library space as an “office” because of the WiFi

and seating

g. adults that bring children to storytime, but don’t visit the campus for other

purposes

h. students from other theological schools in the area (undergraduate and graduate)

B. Prioritizing: Students are the segment that should be prioritized since they are the reason

that the organization is in existence. The mission and goals of the larger institution are

associated with educating, training, and supporting students and this is the library’s

purpose as well. The student population is small and focusing on any specific

segmentation of the student body could lead to neglect of others. The students in theology

programs are prioritized to some degree because of the academic and research focus of

their programs when compared to the counseling program at the institution which is more

practicum based. Realizing the diversity of the students segments is important for the

library to do because it is often the case that they are seen as one segment instead of

being made up of many different types of users.

VIII. Marketing Mix Strategy - product, price, place, and promotion - 4Ps

The Reformed Theological Seminary Library does not implement the marketing mix

strategy when looking at products and services. Aspects of the 4Ps are taken into consideration

when making decisions about products and services to offer, but all four are not strategically

focused on for any specific offering. For example, when making decisions about an author event

that is held every year, price is considered as far as cost of bringing the author to campus and

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holding the event, but price for the customer has not been considered thoroughly by the entire

planning team. Place is also not considered when promoting the event. Both of these aspects

have possibly hindered the event, causing more workload for the library staff with little results.

Taking into consideration the product, price, place, and promotion would greatly change the

event and its impact. The following takes the marketing mix strategy into consideration, applying

the 4Ps to library events as well as information products and services.

Marketing Mix Strategy for RTS Library #1

Product Mix: Library Events

Two Product Lines: academic events; community building events

One Product Line: academic events

Three Product Items: yearly author event; library orientation; rare book room tour

Marketing Mix Strategy 4Ps & Primary Customer Market for Yearly Author Event

Product Item: Yearly Book & Author Event (The Current Read)

Primary Customer Market: Currently the customer market is very broad. When the program

started the focus was on students, staff, and faculty, but the administration of the larger

institution changed the primary market to all Christian leaders in the community in hopes of

connecting them with one another as well as the school.

Price: travel to the library; time to attend the events; time to read the book before the event;

access to the books; choosing which school event to attend when they are invited to all events;

price to bring in author and have book signing/reception; library staff time for planning and

promoting event

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Promotion: Letters sent to community leaders asking them to participate; emails sent to alumni in

area, churches, libraries, schools, etc.; fliers; social media; Website; postings in community

calendars

Place: RTS campus - outside of the Orlando area

*Recommended TWEAK: Primary Customer Market

Recommendation: Consider the primary customer market more thoroughly. Take time to

evaluate the chosen book and author for the year and target a customer market based on the

topic, not the overall idea of the program. Be willing to limit the size of the primary customer

market if needed in order to make the event worth the cost to those that are invited.

New Customer Market(s): Students - this has always been a market for the event (of course), but

the focus has been taken away from them in order to invite the community. Reconsider the

importance of getting students involved, not just for their own sake, but for the success of the

program overall. When students are interested, they actually become promoters of the event and

bring others from the community. Take them into consideration when planning and promoting

the event. Faculty: Get faculty more involved in the choosing of the book/author in order to have

their support when promoting and holding the event. Consider the price for them, such as adding

a book to their list of reads, attending an event outside of their normal office hours, and time to

promote the event to students.

Marketing Mix Strategy for RTS Library #2

Product Mix: information products and services

Two Product Lines: on-campus resources; virtual resources

One Product Line: on-campus resources

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Three Product Items: print materials; Inter-library loan services; reference assistance

Marketing Mix Strategy 4Ps & Primary Customer Market for Inter-Library Loan Services

Product Item: Inter-Library Loan Services

Primary Customer Market: Students

Price: time to plan ahead and request item; wait time; free service to students, but not to library;

restricted loan period enforced by loaning library; understanding how to make requests

Promotion: Currently the ILL program is promoted mainly through word of mouth by the library

staff. Students are informed of the service any time they ask about an item that the library does

not own. They are also informed at orientations and through all library instructional materials

(including the Website).

Place: Requests are made through email and items must be picked up and returned in the library

*Recommended TWEAK: Promotion

Recommendation: Create a promotion campaign to inform students of this service. The students

that know about it at this time are ones that use the library frequently, come to orientations, and

approach library staff. Make a plan for promoting the service to students that are not in the

library often because many of them feel the library may not have what they need and this would

show them the full-range of resources the library can provide through this ILL service. Post fliers

around campus, post on social media, make the service more visible on the Webpage, and create

a larger word of mouth campaign by encouraging library desk workers to be more proactive in

promoting the service. Also consider asking students that do use the service frequently to help in

promoting.

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New customer market(s): Counseling students would greatly benefit from being aware of this

service because the library provides the least amount of resources for this program. Plan a

targeted promotion campaign for this group specifically, going to their classes to explain the

program and possibly emailing the students in the program to make them more aware.

IX. Productivity/Evaluation

Most evaluation that the RTSO Library does in regard to programs and events is done

because changes need to be made. For example, when the student worker budget was cut, the

staff decided to start keeping statistics during each desk shift in order to see how many people

are typically served in each shift over a semester. This helped determine which hours were most

frequented by customers and therefore which shifts needed to be staffed. The keeping of

statistics was a reactionary evaluation, not something considered from the start of the service.

Reactionary evaluation is the common practice of the library.

Moving forward, it would be helpful for the staff to put evaluation criteria in place

when planning services and programs. The goal should be becoming proactive instead of

reactive. This will allow the staff to show the success of programs and services to administration

of the larger institution as well as make decisions about which programs and services are most

important for the library. It would help protect the staff from clinging to programs and services

that are not successful and help them determine what could be changed to make things more

productive as they move forward.

A. Suggestions for Evaluation:

1. Yearly Book and Author Event (The Current Read)

i. Customer Behavior Measures:

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1. Criteria:

a. Number of event attendees

b. Number of specific invites (compared to attendees)

c. Number of book check outs for items by the author

d. Number of email responses to invites

e. Number of Website hits

f. Hours spent in preparing and promoting by staff

2. Objectives:

a. Increase event attendance by 20% as compared to last year

b. Increase Christian community leader participation by 20%

c. Develop a plan with faculty for increasing student

participation

3. Method(s):

a. Keep statistics of attendees and compare with previous

year’s records

b. Ask attendees to fill out response card (provided when they

enter) in order to know who attended; also provide this on

Website; have space for email for future communication

(optional for them)

c. have IT team get statistics for Website hits

d. Keep track of email communications and follow ups

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e. check number of check outs/in house use for author’s items

during the time frame of promotion through a month

following the event

ii. Customer Satisfaction Measures:

1. Criteria:

a. Enjoyment of event by attendees

b. Increased awareness of books & topics

c. Support & excitement for program from all target markets

groups

2. Objectives:

a. Increase positive response of attendees by 20%

b. Increase awareness of event, book, & topic among students

by 50%

c. Increase awareness of event, book, & topic among

community invites by 25%

d. Increase participant support for future program by 20%

3. Method(s):

a. Include questions about the event in the student survey

each year (this year’s event has already happened and this

will provide information for comparing after next year’s

event) - this will include questions both about

participating/not participating and why

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b. Response card at event to learn about experience of

attendees (also on Website and emailed to invites)

c. Proactively ask members of target markets that attend to be

involved in coming years both for planning and promotion

2. Inter-Library Loan Program

i. Customer Behavior Measures:

1. Criteria:

a. Number of loans sent to other libraries

b. Number of loans received by RTS

c. Number of student requests (all)

d. Number of counseling student requests

2. Objectives:

a. Increase number of received items (ILL requests) by 10%

b. Increase number of counseling student requests by 25%

3. Method(s):

a. Keep statistics on loans and borrows throughout year

b. Keep statistics on student requests by name

c. Keep statistics on student requests by program of study

d. Student survey will include questions about use of service

ii. Customer Satisfaction Measures:

1. Criteria:

a. Students see service as profitable

33


b. Students aware of service

c. Process of requesting smooth for students

2. Objectives:

a. Increase awareness of service by 50%

b. Increase praise of service by 20%

c. Decrease in confusion of how to make requests

3. Method(s):

a. End of the year student survey will include questions about

satisfaction with ILL service and understanding of how to

make requests

X. Recommendations and Conclusion

The Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando Library has a lot of potential for becoming

more user-centered as they market strategically by taking into consideration their environmental

influences, stakeholders, SWOT characteristics, and customer markets. The library staff should

consider their mission as they move forward. They should create goals and objectives that are

motivating, achievable, and aligned with the mission of the library as well as the mission, goals,

and objectives of the larger institution. They should do customer market segment research to

better understand their users. The library should make their marketing more holistic and

proactive, using the Marketing Mix Strategy as well as putting evaluation plans into practice.

Becoming user-centered as they serve the RTS Orlando students, staff, faculty, and surrounding

Christian community is achievable through strategic marketing that takes into consideration who

they are as an organization, what they have to offer, an d those they are meant to serve.

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