Top 13 Marketing Budget Wastes—and How to Avoid Them by Eran Livneh was posted at MarketingProfs.com
- Spending money to reach the wrong people
Why do we spend money promoting services to people who already use them? If the service hasn't changed, you aren't providing something new, reaching people already in the know is a waste. We should be trying to reach people who don't know or who know, but don't use a service we know they want/need. - Generating leads that the library doesn't want
Think about the outreach librarians and library liaisons do. Librarians and staff go out, ask our communities for feedback and then take back to the library ideas for new services. But, if the library has no intention of providing new services or of changing service based on community feedback, why are we asking the question? It frustrates the outreach person and the community. - Failing to follow up on leads
Our users are never shy about telling us what they think. They email, tell us at our service desks, fill out comment cards, respond to surveys -- essentially, they use every method we give them. So, then what do we do with all that feedback? I think that we sometimes follow up on the leads that we also believe in, rather than look very seriously at the unexpected feedback. We must take them seriously when they take the time to inform us. We may decide that we shouldn't (or cant) respond to everything, but we MUST follow up on it. If nothing else, responding when we can, builds the relationship. And that's important.