What do we mean by outreach?
Outreach in this context is defined as a programmatic effort to engage in direct contact with the current or desired users and/or stakeholders of the repository in order to advance specific goals (e.g. higher deposit rate).
Who does outreach?
In an ideal world, each repository would have a dedicated outreach and communication strategist to initiate, plan, and implement all outreach efforts associated with the repository. In practice, however, the effort is often much more dispersed, with the Repository Service Owner serving a central coordinating role, assisted by liaison librarians, content selectors, service sponsors, and Library Assessment and Communication as needed.
- Reason/Goal
- Audiences
- Potential partners
- Prioritization
- Value statement (your pitch)
- Delivery mechanisms
The first step for developing an outreach program, and specific efforts within that program, is to identify why you're doing it. Distill the main goal(s) of your outreach program and efforts such that they are specific and measurable. Clearly stating the goals of your program will make subsequent steps of the process more focused.
Examples may include:
- Increasing deposit rates of born digital faculty publications by X percent;
- Promoting general awareness of the repository service as a resource for self-archiving; or
- Directing users to high-quality, domain specific open access resources.
- Clearly and succinctly articulate your main outreach goal
- Identify any specific deliverables
- Choose appropriate assessment intervals
The most effective outreach strategy is one that is crafted for a specific audience. Repositories serve a wide variety of different users and stakeholders, so when considering outreach as a whole, start by brainstorming a list of potential audiences.
Think of all the roles identified in this handbook, as well as other stakeholders your repository work to date has surfaced, and other contributors or user groups. If you've identified similar projects within your institution (or beyond), see what audiences they have identified, and investigate whether you have parallel audience groups. Outreach audiences may exist within your organization, within your institution, or beyond the walls of both.
When working with audiences outside of your library, consult with your Library Assessment and Communication groups, who may be able to provide assistance with any of the following steps toward an outreach plan.
- Brainstorm a list of potential audiences
- From that list, identify specific intended audiences
- If you've identified external audiences, reach out to Library Assessment and Communication
Once you know your goal and audience, identify the partners who will provide the best support to your outreach effort. Consider their proximity to relevant user groups, familiarity with collections, and proficiency with required communications. Note that your outreach partner for one effort may be the audience for another, and vice versa.
Some common outreach partners include:
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Service sponsors: Often serving at the senior management level (e.g. AUL or Director), the Service Sponsor may champion the repository service in interactions with other campus leaders at the level of Department Chair or Dean, or represent specific outreach tasks that require oversight from senior management (e.g. large scale permissions analysis projects). The Service Sponsor may also be responsible for representing outreach efforts at an internal level, acquiring sign-off on new outreach efforts from the University Librarian.
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Content selectors: With their in-depth knowledge of the collections, content selectors may provide valuable insight into the audiences and stakeholders who would be most appropriate for outreach around a given set of material. They may be particularly helpful in communicating the scholarly or practical value of a particular collection, or in identifying venues and delivery mechanisms for sharing announcements.
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Liaison librarians: Liaison librarians can communicate the value of a repository service to a campus audience. The Repository Service Manager should ensure that liaisons feel prepared and confident delivering a message on behalf of the outreach team. A train-the-trainer session may be helpful to ensure that all parties are comfortable with the messaging.
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Assessment and Communication: Assessment and Communication staff often have expertise in marketing and branding, as well as access to a number of exclusive communication channels for reaching both internal and external audiences.
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Campus partners: There are a number of academic units or service centers on campus (e.g. teaching centers, grant support units) who might be able to provide support on a given outreach effort, depending on their function. Be sure to consider who else on campus might be trying to achieve similar outreach goals, even if they're not part of the library.
- Identify potential outreach partners and define their roles, including external partners
- Identify training needs that outreach partners may require
- Implement training programs as needed
When you have identified who your audiences are, and why you would reach out to them, you can begin making decisions on work prioritization. This is a decision that will likely rest with the Repository Service Owner, but also represents an opportunity to connect further with internal stakeholders like the Service Sponsor or liaison librarians. Keep in mind that outreach performed for the repository can often be leveraged to serve other institutional goals.
These stakeholders can also help you surface external factors that might impact the success of your efforts: other outreach efforts targeting a given audience, issues arising from the academic calendar, etc. The overriding goal of this stage is to determine which audience(s) to address first, and when.
- Match goal(s) of outreach to each audience.
- Prioritize the audiences/goals to determine your list of outreach efforts.
With an audience and goal in mind, craft your message around a convincing value statement, or pitch. This is where you deliver the "so what?" of your message in a way that addresses the immediate need or pain point of the audience. A strong value statement considers audience pain points and addresses them directly, avoiding jargon that could be confusing. It succinctly explains how your service adds value and includes a call to action when appropriate.
Consider the language, tone, and length of your outreach message. If you are asking something of your audience, consider whether your word choice conveys a tone that the audience must or should or might consider performing a particular action. Craft your pitch with a mind to your audience's level of expertise (which might exceed your own).
Be mindful of word choice and generally aware of how the message will come across to a diverse audience of readers. Your word choice may convey a variety of subtle messages (e.g. urgency, excitement, authority, friendliness/ approachability, etc.) and/or reflect implicit biases that you hold about your audience(s). Before you send the final draft, be sure to solicit feedback from one or more volunteer test readers who are themselves representative of the diversity of your audience(s).
Typically, you won't have much time or space to make your point, sometimes due to constraints of the delivery mechanism (e.g. character limits on social media). Be as succinct as possible, always providing the audience the opportunity to seek additional information if desired.
- Craft one or more value statements that distill the most important benefits of your repository service to your particular audience
- Scan all language for unnecessary jargon or terminology with which your audience may not be familiar
- Consider word choice, especially if you are requesting your audience to do something
- Solicit feedback from diverse test readers
- Proofread final outreach message, omitting needless words
Channels for reaching internal audiences may include communication from senior library leadership, an on-campus newspaper for news items, the Library Update or other library external communications channels, the library's home page, digital signage, flyers and posters, branded brochures, email lists, online newsletters, and other dependent on your organization. Channels for reaching external audiences may include various media outlets and listservs. Assessment and Communication may also be able to assist with crafting surveys and other tools for gathering user data.
While email has, for better or for worse, become the vehicle de rigueur for many outreach efforts, it is by no means the only available vehicle. Others may include:
- Social media
- Video or screencast
- Website
- LibGuide
- Newsletter
- One-pager (digital and/or print)
- Workshop
- Digital signage
- Press releases
- Branded collateral (flyers, magnets, pins, pens, stickers, general swag, etc.)
- 1:1 Research Consultation
- Departmental e-lists
Please note that the use of many of these delivery mechanisms are governed by policies set at the unit, library, or University level; make sure to familiarize yourself with those policies before sending your communication.
- Select the most appropriate delivery mechanism (s) for your audience, goal, length of message, timeline, and available resources
- Familiarize yourself with policies governing delivery mechanism before sending your communication, consulting with Assessment & Communication as needed
- Identify which partner is responsible for delivery