It’s a thrill when we find a client collaborative enough to be flipped upside-down, turned inside-out and presented back with a new brand. In this instance, we discovered librarians could be the ideal flexible friends.
SLS UK is a collective of Schools Library Services covering the length and breadth of the UK.
This commission originated from a London based partnership, that has now grown to a consortium of 12 local authorities. Each local authority partner contributes to the campaign, driving traffic and referrals for all Schools Library Services covering the length and breadth of the UK. This enables us to make a sizeable contribution to preserving this valuable resources for all schools across the UK.
RESEARCH
We began our journey with site visits to six school library services across London. Each run from a local authority and most experiencing a decline in sales. While the partnership of providers are passionate about igniting classroom curiosity and supporting learning in its widest sense, too few schools were aware of their service or able to see beyond the price tag.
SCALABLE CAMPAIGN
Critical to the new digital experience was utilising elements of the offer that were working offline - from awareness events like Book Awards, to taster products offering a low level entry point.
Each of these activities had characteristics that informed the digital strategy. Utilising the principles of a sales pipeline, each stage of the engagement and conversion journey has been mapped and automated to increase the professionalism of the digital engagement process.
SPARKING INTEREST
Topic Posts, Taster Offers and Teacher Webinars are all aspects of the new digital offer. Re-launched in November 2020 via www.sls-uk.org, West Creative have grown the breadth of the partnership to include 12 x local authorities across the country.
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Durham County Council
Hampshire County Council
Hounslow Borough Council
Islington Borough Council
Northumberland County Council
Plymouth City Council
Tower Hamlets Council
Vision Redbridge
Wandsworth Borough Council
Westminster City Council
Wirral Council
COMMISSION DELIVERABLES INCLUDED:
RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Combining first hand research with schools and site visits to meet each partner, insights discovered informed a detailed digital strategy for a regional approach to marketing.
SALES MAPPING
Built on the insights gained, West Creative led the partnership through a detailed revision of the sales mapping - moving the engagement strategy away from passive sign posting into an active model using sales pipeline to create deepening levels of relationship.
MESSAGING
The power of words are at the heart of what SLS UK does, yet their sales content lacked a passion that would 'spark interest' for the reader. Through workshops, a new tone of voice and copy bible was created to instantly engage the reader. and cultivate a response.
CAPACITY BUILDING
New systems, new content and new ways of measuring impact was quite a different way of working for the partnership. West Creative worked with teams across the partnership providing training sessions and reference material to increase their capacity to deliver the digital strategy.
WEBSITE & ENQUIRIES
West Creative produced a new website, with a sophisticated enquiry process. Utilising automation software, the enquiry process includes a tailored response to each school - changing the engagement from passive to active, to strengthen the conversion rates.
YEAR LONG CAMPAIGN
A website and strategy is only ever the start, which is why West Creative are working with the partnership to deliver the campaign in the first year and beyond. Utilising insights gained to inform and enrich the digital engagement to drive sales.
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