Promoting Lean Library effectively starts with a clear and practical plan. This guide will help you define your goals, identify the audiences you want to reach, choose the most effective messages and promotional channels, and decide how you will measure success.
Whether you are launching Lean Library for the first time or looking to increase engagement among existing users, these steps can help you build a campaign that suits your institution’s needs, resources and academic calendar.
- Define your objective
- Choose your target audience
- Select the main message
- Choose promotional channels
- Choose the right time
- Checklist for the campaign
1. Define your objective
We can't all be hero, but a successful plan starts with a clear goal. Which goal(s) below best describe your aim when starting to promote Lean Library? Best focus on one to two goals to start:
- Increase Lean Library installations
- Increase active usage among existing users
- Reach new undergraduate or postgraduate students
- Increase awareness among researchers and academic staff
- Re-engage users at the start of a new academic year
- Promote a particular Lean Library feature
2. Choose your target audience
Different audiences need different messages, here are some ideas to use:
- New students: Access library resources easily, wherever you study
- Existing students: Save time finding full-text academic content
- Researchers: Improve your research workflow and discover legal access routes
- Academic staff: Help students access recommended resources more easily
- Distance learners: Connect to library resources when studying away from campus
- Library staff: Understand Lean Library well enough to recommend it confidently
3. Select the main message
Students might have not heard of Lean Library, it might be more beneficial to lead the promotion with user benefits rather than the product name:
- “Get easier access to library resources wherever you research”
- “Find legal access to academic content without repeatedly visiting the library website"
- “Let your library support you while you search online”
- “Save time when accessing articles, journals and e-books”
4. Choose promotional channels
A more focus promotion in a campaign is recommended, therefore we would suggest to select three or four channels, rather than using every channel all at once:
- Library website
- Library discovery service or catalogue
- Learning management system
- Student and staff email
- Social media
- Library screens, posters and flyers
- Orientation and induction sessions
- Research skills workshops
- Academic departments and library liaison teams
Further read for detailed suggestion:
- How to promote inside your library
- How to promote by email or on social media
- How to promote across library's digital platforms
5. Choose the right time
Promoting Lean Library during specific events or months might get better result too. We often notice the start of an academic year is the best time to do a hard launch of Lean Library:
- New student orientation
- Beginning of a semester
- Before assignment deadlines
- Examination and dissertation periods
- Research or information-literacy workshops
- Changes to authentication or library systems
- Launches of new library services
- Welcome communications for new staff and researchers
6. Checklist for the campaign
Here is a short checklist might be useful to reference to, before you start the promotion campaign
- Confirm the correct Lean Library download link
- Check that the branded download page is up to date
- Download the latest approved logos and images
- Prepare consistent wording for each channel
- Add tracking links where appropriate
- Brief library and support staff