How to conduct a library competitor audit for marketing insights

A library competitor audit is a structured way to understand how other library services position themselves, reach residents and remove friction from the user journey. The comparison should include nearby councils, state or territory libraries and selected national or international services when they offer a useful benchmark. It is a research exercise for better decisions, not a catalogue of organisations to copy.

Australian public libraries operate within a mixed market. In Victoria, many services sit under councils or regional library corporations; in New South Wales, many are council-run, while other states use different structures. A resident searching for a library may therefore encounter a council website, a state library, a school library, a commercial provider or a shared discovery platform. Audit the alternatives a local person may realistically use.

Treat the exercise as a hypothesis test. Ask where your service is visible, which messages resonate and what prevents a person from joining, borrowing or attending an event. Evidence can include public websites, council plans, campaign material, search results, branch observation and service data. The outcome should be a small set of evidence-based choices about audience, message, channel and experience.

Set the audit boundary

Start with the decision the research must support. Possible decisions include increasing event registrations, improving membership enquiries, strengthening a reading campaign or making a branch service easier to find. Narrowing the purpose keeps the comparison useful and prevents a large volume of observations from becoming disconnected activity. It also identifies the evidence that matters most.

Build a peer set of three to six organisations. Include close geographical competitors, such as neighbouring councils, and one or two aspirational comparators with stronger capabilities or broader reach. City of Melbourne and Parramatta Libraries can be useful metropolitan references when the home service serves a large, diverse urban population. Explain why each belongs in the set, because a useful competitor may compete for attention rather than offer the same service.

Agree on the period and units of comparison. Review the previous six to twelve months, but capture a smaller recent sample if a campaign was unusually successful. Separate organisational websites from individual branches, digital services, campaigns and events. A simple worksheet can record the owner, audience, objective, message, channel, results and source links. Consistent definitions make later scoring credible.

Compare audiences and value propositions

Begin with audience segmentation. Compare the groups each library actively serves, including children, students, jobseekers, older residents, families, hobby groups and people using the library as a social or creative space. Look beyond demographic labels to needs, motivations and barriers. A competitor may attract the same population with a different offer, such as digital skills support rather than traditional borrowing.

Examine each organisation’s value proposition. Record its stated purpose, principal benefits, signature services and the language used on its homepage and in campaigns. Ask whether these promises are specific enough to guide a choice. “A welcoming place for learning” communicates a broad attitude, while free technology coaching, after-school study spaces and multilingual story sessions describe tangible reasons to visit.

Assess brand presence and share of voice. Compare visual identity, tone, accessibility, community reputation and the prominence of key messages across websites, newsletters, social media and local media. City of Melbourne and Parramatta Libraries offer relevant points of comparison for metropolitan libraries, but local relevance still matters. A service understood and trusted within its own community can outperform a more visible competitor with weaker local connections.

Audit campaigns and digital reach

Map the channel mix for each peer. Look across owned channels such as websites, apps, email newsletters and event calendars; earned channels such as local press, community radio and partner publications; and paid channels such as search, social advertising and outdoor campaigns. Record publishing frequency, campaign timing and the apparent audience, not just whether a channel is present. Reach is valuable when it connects to a defined service outcome.

Break individual campaigns into components: objective, target audience, offer, message, creative treatment, call to action, landing path and measured result. A strong campaign should make the next step obvious and remove reasons to abandon it. A structured template reduces bias, and the marketing toolkit resources provide adaptable prompts for documenting campaigns, interviews and observations.

Check search visibility and content coverage. Compare how each library appears for local searches, whether event pages appear in search results, and whether information is easy to find on mobile devices. Look for content gaps around exam periods, school holidays, digital learning, job-search support and community wellbeing. Plain English, consistent page titles and accurate local details often create more marketing value than a larger volume of generic social posts.

Examine the service journey

Test the journey from discovery to use. Following public information, a resident should be able to locate the relevant branch, understand opening hours, join, reserve an item, register for an event and receive a timely confirmation. Where appropriate, use a mystery-shop approach with ethical boundaries and no attempt to access restricted material. Record every point of confusion, duplication or unnecessary form-filling.

Compare inclusion and accessibility. Australia’s culturally diverse communities may need information in languages other than English, translated materials, culturally relevant programming and staff who can explain available services. Check whether websites meet accessibility requirements, whether events describe sensory and physical access, and whether communication supports people with limited digital confidence. Observance of National Sorry Day and NAIDOC Week also provides a useful benchmark for respectful community engagement and appropriate consultation.

Review the physical and offline journey as well. Compare branch identification, signage, wayfinding, entrance visibility, parking information and the prominence of event displays. Examine how councils, schools, community organisations and local businesses distribute information about library programs. Strong offline visibility can influence membership and attendance even when a competitor has a more polished website or a larger social media following.

Convert findings into action

Score the observations against agreed criteria. Give greater weight to factors tied to the original decision, such as local visibility, event conversion, service demand and accessibility. Rate each finding for evidence quality as well as strategic importance, separating direct observations from informed interpretation. A weighted comparison chart reveals where competitors are strong, where the home service leads and where no peer performs especially well.

Look for patterns and market gaps. Repeated messages may reveal an audience expectation, while weak search results may expose a discoverability problem. A blank in every comparison is especially interesting because it may represent an unmet local need. Validate potential gaps with frontline staff, community partners and user feedback before committing resources. Benchmarking should guide interpretation, not encourage the uncritical imitation of another library’s campaign.

Build an action plan with three priorities, each tied to a measurable objective, owner, timeframe, baseline and review date. For example, a goal might be to increase event registrations from a campaign landing page rather than publish more posts. If the audit will inform a council briefing, translate the findings into a clear story with evidence, a visible benefit and one decisive request. Presenters can also draw on the presentation coaching academy for support with structure, rehearsal and audience-focused delivery.

Choose one audience and one service journey to examine first. Book a 60-minute session with colleagues, collect evidence for three peers and agree on the criteria before comparing results. Put the worksheet in a shared location, assign an owner and schedule the review for the same date next quarter. Begin today, then let the evidence determine what changes next.