Key Marketing strategies
Key Marketing strategies
1. INTRODUCTION:MARKETING
Marketing is a relatively new concept in the area of information science. Traditionally considered synonymous with selling, marketing was thought to belong exclusively to the profit- making sector. Because libraries and information units received their funding from sources other than the immediate user, and because librarians and information professionals perceived the value of their product to be self-evident, they did not consider that marketing - construed as selling - applied to them.
In 1960, however, the concept of marketing changed forever with the publication of
Theodore Levitt's classic article entitled "Marketing Myopia". In it he challenged the traditional product-oriented approach to marketing, and with it, the notion that a good salesman could sell anything to anybody'. Instead, he argued that the key to an organization's success is putting the customers' needs first. In other words, adopting a customer-oriented rather than a product-oriented concept of marketing.
2. COMPONENTS:Key Marketing strategies
A: Market Segmentation
A library or information centre must have a clear vision of its market - Le, to whom it seeks to provide information. Smith states that "a market is usually seen as a particular group of people who share some common characteristic, and it is the nature of that characteristic which defines the market.
In a library or documentation unit, market segmentation involves identifying users
(potential or actual) with similar characteristics so that products can be developed in accordance with their specific needs. Market segmentation can take several forms. For example, it can be geographic (by region or area), demographic (age, sex, educational level, occupation, etc.), or psychographic (according to what users see as benefits arising from the service)". As Shapiro notes; "grouping potential customers into fairly homogeneous segments enables you to do your
1. INTRODUCTION:MARKETING
Marketing is a relatively new concept in the area of information science. Traditionally considered synonymous with selling, marketing was thought to belong exclusively to the profit- making sector. Because libraries and information units received their funding from sources other than the immediate user, and because librarians and information professionals perceived the value of their product to be self-evident, they did not consider that marketing - construed as selling - applied to them.
In 1960, however, the concept of marketing changed forever with the publication of
Theodore Levitt's classic article entitled "Marketing Myopia". In it he challenged the traditional product-oriented approach to marketing, and with it, the notion that a good salesman could sell anything to anybody'. Instead, he argued that the key to an organization's success is putting the customers' needs first. In other words, adopting a customer-oriented rather than a product-oriented concept of marketing.
2. COMPONENTS:Key Marketing strategies
A: Market Segmentation
A library or information centre must have a clear vision of its market - Le, to whom it seeks to provide information. Smith states that "a market is usually seen as a particular group of people who share some common characteristic, and it is the nature of that characteristic which defines the market.
In a library or documentation unit, market segmentation involves identifying users
(potential or actual) with similar characteristics so that products can be developed in accordance with their specific needs. Market segmentation can take several forms. For example, it can be geographic (by region or area), demographic (age, sex, educational level, occupation, etc.), or psychographic (according to what users see as benefits arising from the service)". As Shapiro notes; "grouping potential customers into fairly homogeneous segments enables you to do your