Communications & Marketing Coordination

Marketing is all about communicating your value in order to exchange your services for the patrons’ benefit.

PLLS’ Public Information Coordinator is available to help members with a variety of marketing-related issues from guiding the development of a marketing plan to planning a multi-platform campaign. The coordinator can help members decide on the right marketing mix for their project.

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
American Marketing Association

Marketing Mix – The 4 Ps

1. Product: What are we offering–ideas, goods, services, or a combination?
2. Price: What’s it going to cost someone to engage–must have a library card, free to anyone, by donation, fee or fine (or the possibility of these), time, travel, etc.
3. Place (or distribution): Where can they get what we’re “selling”– online, in the building, at a community partner, in a display, curbside, in the mail, etc.
4. Promotion: What tactics are we going to use to get people to do what we’re asking? Flyers, emails, banners, direct mail, catalog graphic, social media, etc.

Marketing Services Offered

• Marketing plan help
• Social media strategy help
• Style guide & template assistance
• Email newsletter initial setup assistance
• Press release writing
• Graphic & web design (see Website Services)

High-quality printed materials make a lasting
impression in today’s digital-heavy world.
PLLS is able to print some projects in-house and is experienced with working with outside vendors.

In-house Capabilities

No-Cost Printing & Products

• White copy paper (20-24 lb) 8.5×11 (letter), 8.5×14 (legal), and 11×17 (ledger/tabloid)
• White bristol (65 lb) 8.5×11 (letter), 8.5×14 (legal), and 11×17 (ledger/tabloid)
• A limited supply of 8.5×11 colored paper remnants is available while supplies last

At Your Cost

• Specialty paper 8.5×11 (letter), 8.5×14 (legal), and 11×17 (ledger/tabloid)
  Purchase the paper of your choice and route it to the Milton office.
  Please check with PLLS prior to purchasing unusual paper to confirm the printer can handle it.

Third-Party Capabilities

At Your Cost

PLLS can create artwork to any vendor’s specifications. We can provide these files to you or coordinate directly with the vendor on your behalf.

Printing & Products

• Large format printing
• Large quantity
• Specialty paper or swag
• Spot colors, foils, & varnishes
• Engraving, embossing

Bindery Options

• Collate, laminate, fold
• Cut, die cut, perforate, punch
• Bind: spiral, stitch, pad, staple

Think about your website as your 24/7 digital branch. Does the awesome patron experience you’ve worked hard to create in your building extend to your website? If not, it’s time for an upgrade – PLLS may be able to help.

Website Development, Hosting, & Staff Training

Website design and rebuild services are available subject to system capacity and/or grant funds. PLLS constructs sites on the WordPress platform, hosts sites locally, and performs weekly backups. Upon the completion of a rebuild by PLLS, library staff will be trained on how to update and maintain their new website.

PLLS will empower each library, whose site the system builds and hosts, to add content, perform routine updates, and other functions as desired by the library.

We are unable to support third-party websites (those constructed or hosted by non-PLLS entities).

Complimentary & Billable Web Services

The system recognizes each library’s capacity to maintain its website varies from organization to organization. With this in mind, each library will begin the calendar year with eight hours of dedicated website assistance from PLLS’s staff. Hours will not carry over from one year to the next. Work in excess of the eight-hour allowance will be billed at the current PLLS Local IT Rate ($45 per hour as of 2/16/2022).

Examples of ways to expend web allowances:

• Adding/uploading content
• Additional library staff training
• Creating site-specific web content
• Altering the site’s infrastructure (+/- a page, menu changes)
• Minor site refreshments
• Assistance subscribing to general site analytic reports for annual reporting

Limitations

PLLS is unable to offer members specialized web programming, app development, search engine optimization (SEO), other specialty web services, or to support third-party websites (those constructed or hosted by non-PLLS entities). For information, see our Tech Policies.

As an organization committed to serving the community, public relations may already be your specialty.

PLLS can provide information on many aspects of public relations and can directly assist with several.

“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
Public Relations Society of America

Common Requests

• Press releases
• Marketing communications
• Media relations resources
• Social media strategy & policy help

Limitations

• At this time, PLLS is unable to assist with:
• Crisis communications planning
• Internal communications planning
• Donor relations communications
• Content creation
• Library event planning
• Multimedia
• Reputation management
• Speech writing & presentations