INTRODUCTION

For a modern special library, to implement its traditional and innovative functions, it must be in constant search for new forms and methods of interaction with key target audiences.

Targeting of the activities of special libraries does not eliminate the need to promote a set of information products and services (hereinafter referred to as the IPS complex), as their range is in constant development, and the activities of such libraries are being transformed.

Today, special libraries not only accumulate resources and provide information support to users but also analyze and disseminate scientific knowledge. However, for a number of reasons, not all information products and services provided by special libraries are in demand; often, such libraries are not in active communication with their users. To increase the demand for a number of services, many special libraries need to generate demand for them and engage in active promotion. Special libraries can therefore be the object of marketing activities implemented within the framework of the service approach in library science.

The service approach involves a focus on users, attracting and retaining them, and meeting and anticipating information needs and user expectations, including in communication activities, the tool of which is a communication strategy based on positioning, brand architecture, activity strategy, and a developed system for promoting information products and services.

The communication strategy of a special library is a set of measures used to create and develop a communication system for the purpose of information support for the brand of a special library, as well as the formation and stimulation of the loyalty of real and potential users and partners.

MARKETING BASES FOR DEVELOPING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Any special library necessarily implements a communications strategy based on the needs of the internal and external environment and builds it on the basis of theoretical research and experience in the field of marketing. Since the middle of the twentieth century, a number of conceptual approaches have been formed to marketing theory [1, 2]:

• Marketing 1.0 is a consequence of the development of production technologies, focused on the product with the aim of selling it and making a profit. The main component of this approach is product development.

• Marketing 2.0 was formed as a result of the spread of information technology and is focused on consumers and seeks to satisfy their needs. Its main component is the differentiation of products and services.

• Marketing 3.0 is about responding to the changing global socio-economic landscape. It is focused on the person, and the profitability of goods and services is combined with corporate responsibility.

• Marketing 4.0 is a reflection of the active development of the digital environment and combines online and offline interaction between companies and consumers.

Effective development and implementation of a communication strategy requires a combination of classical and modern concepts in marketing. World practice shows that various companies still adhere to different concepts when interacting in the b2b and b2c segments [3, p. 16].

In relation to the goals and specifics of special libraries, when developing and implementing a communication strategy intended to develop their role as information centers, it is necessary to combine all marketing concepts and use various marketing methods. However, due to the continuous development of technologies for providing access to scientific and technical information and the search for new ways to communicate with the external environment, special libraries need to focus more on developments in the field of marketing 3.0 and 4.0.

The specificity of the concept of marketing 3.0 lies in its compatibility for solving certain problems. Global practice shows that companies that use joint marketing are aware that it is impossible for them to change society or contribute to its development alone; to achieve a synergistic effect, association with other specialized organizations is required. Through the development of the concept of open access to information and ensuring the effective formation of collections alone, it is impossible to achieve the key goal of the activity without collaboration with other special libraries.

Marketing 3.0 responds to globalization, which has created a diverse information and cultural landscape and, as a result, various social and cultural problems, including problems of the openness of information and transparency of the activities of special libraries in society. A necessary condition for marketing is the openness of the activities of special libraries [4, p. 112].

To implement communication strategies and promote the IPS, it is necessary to reflect the library’s capabilities in a multifaceted way with the constant involvement of staff and key partners in solving internal and external problem, and the constant development of the information culture of real and potential users.

Marketing 3.0 is intended to develop a creative community and involves a creative approach to creating products, as well as intangible (spiritual) values for the self-realization of consumers. The main thing in marketing 3.0 is to give a special value load to the products and services sold. In this regard, in their broadcast communication messages, special libraries need to pay attention to the importance of ISP for various categories of users, as well as to regularly study the needs of real and potential users to jointly create new products and services.

Finally, marketing 3.0, based on individuality, sincerity, and brand image, aims to incorporate social values into the organization’s business model and translate them through their mission, vision, employees, and partners. The global trend is to search for opportunities for organizations to form social responsibility for their activities; this opens up new vectors for the development of special libraries.

The formulated corporate values develop the loyalty of employees who become the conductors of the values of the library, enhancing its image and that of scientific knowledge in general.

The concept of marketing 4.0 is based on rapid digitalization due to the decreasing amount of consumer time. This leads to omnichannel—the formation of a system that includes all possible and most convenient channels of interaction with consumers. However, despite the prevalence of digitalization, marketing 4.0 focuses on live communication and a sense of belonging to certain events and the brand [5, p. 95].

In the concept of marketing 4.0, F. Kotler highlights “social inclusiveness” (orientation to solving social problems) as a phenomenon that should be characteristic of any marketing campaign that wants to be effective [2]. At the same time, the desire for endless consumption is reduced, and people are devoting more time and resources to self-development. The implementation of a communication strategy, taking into account marketing 4.0, involves the formation of a stable demand for services or products that can influence the process of self-development. Finally, marketing 4.0 offers ISP promotion using a variety of technologies that allow you to most track performance, use dynamic content creation technology, and promote it through the Internet advertising methods of cost per mile, or “price per thousand contacts,” and the website optimization tool search engine optimization.

The processes of digitalization and mastering the features of digital content by special libraries are developing gradually. Due to the novel coronavirus infection pandemic, the growth rate of digital content has increased significantly. The emergence of access to various resources has led to a positive response among various user groups, and it has opened up new opportunities for libraries to work with various target audiences. With respect to active demand for IPS, special libraries must combine their presence in offline and online spaces, including when implementing communication strategies.

Marketing 4.0 involves the promotion of the social inclusion direction, as well as the trend toward live communication and involvement.

The communication strategy when creating marketing messages should be focused on the well-known consumer consumption model AIDA (attention, interest, desire, and action).

As noted, the goal of developing a communication strategy is to develop a network of links for comprehensive information support of the library and, ultimately, to strengthen the role of a special library in the development of opportunities for access to information. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to develop a unified algorithm for communication activities for special libraries.

BASIS FOR USING THE SIMULATION METHOD

The traditions of dissemination of best practices in the library field allow us to assert that the model of the strategy, developed and tested in one library, can be successfully used in various special libraries (taking into account the specifics of the activity). At the same time, a typical communications strategy must be an integral part of the implementation of the mission of special libraries, which consists in the accumulation, creation, storage, and organization of their own information resources for the comprehensive information support of specialists.

In our opinion, the use of the modeling method is necessary to achieve the designated goal, since this method contributes to the emergence of new conceptual foundations that make it possible to model innovative library technology, new IPS, and the activities of the library as a whole [6, p. 31].

We consider communications activities to be an innovative direction based on communications strategy, and the modeling method is an effective tool for its implementation. Today, the concept of “model” has a large number of interpretations in the scientific literature, and libraries can form a wide variety of models, oriented both to the needs of any user groups and to solving activity problems. In particular, this is evidenced by the topics and content of reports at professional conferences (for example, at the meeting of the Research Section within the framework of the All-Russian Library Congress of the RBA in 2021). N.S. Redkin [7], analyzing the studies of library scientists A.N. Vaneeva, V.S. Kreydenko, Yu.N. Stolyarova, V.P. Leonova, E.Yu. Genieva, and others, notes that in librarianship the term model is used to refer to a variety of scientific methods and types of organizational structure or processes marked by features of systematization or regulation.

This analysis also makes it possible to determine that the modeling method is used in library practice in technological processes in the conceptual construction of library activity models, the formation of library collections, and solving production problems in the fields of bibliography and scientometrics.

In addition, the method modeling acts not only as one of the means of displaying phenomena and processes, but also as a criterion for testing scientific knowledge.

A classic example of using the modeling method is the concept of a four-element library system developed by Yu.N. Stolyarov [8, p. 27]. In library activities, the recommendation standards based on the modeling method are widely known: Model Standard for the Activities of a Public Library, Model Standard for the Activities of a Special Library, and a structural and functional model for promoting library and bibliographic knowledge in the conditions of scientific libraries, along with a matrix model for classifying Internet resources and others [9, 10].

Modeling involves the determination of the functions of the created model, its requirements, and the main stages of development.

For a special library, a communications strategy model implements the following functions (some of them are identified according to the classifications of I.B. Novik and V.A. Shtoff):

• illustrative—aimed at presenting the level of development of a special library;

• translational—transfers information known about the activities of the library to a new sphere of knowledge;

• substitutive-heuristic—is designed to give a preliminary explanation of the cognizable phenomenon, aimed at further development of the theory;

• extrapolation-prognostic—the conclusion that will be the result of the model will help predict the development of the structure of the object under study, a special library [11, 12].

The communications strategy model of a special library must meet the following requirements:

• clarity (reflection of the most significant aspects of the phenomenon under study);

• consistency with established scientific principles and research in the field of library science;

• stability (with the ability to make adjustments in the process of work);

• universality (when used by special libraries with different financial and human resources);

• efficiency (when applying the model in generating new knowledge and achieving the goal of modeling).

We propose to model a typical communication strategy of a special library, which would take the following steps:

(1) preparatory: defining the goal and setting tasks for the development and implementation of a typical communication strategy for special libraries, taking into account their activities, vectors and directions of development in a historical context; study and description of the object of study – the communication activities of special libraries;

(2) creation of a brand prototype: development of the main elements of the brand concept for special libraries;

(3) building a model of the library’s communication strategy as a means of implementing communication activities;

(4) approbation of the model—the introduction of the model into the activities of a special library.

MAIN STAGES OF DEVELOPING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Here are a few key steps in developing a communications strategy:

• analysis of target audiences to determine the interests and needs of users and identify communication barriers;

• analysis of behavior in Internet spaces and the traditional environment to study the level of information activity of the library on its own resources, as well as channels and elements of promotion of information products and services in the internal corporate environment and the Internet space;

• characterization of the brand platform, including positioning (or repositioning);

• model visualization;

• creation of an implementation plan, a road map, and its implementation in the activities of a special library;

• performance monitoring.

When developing a communication strategy, a special library can adopt the following methods:

• micro-segmentation of the target audience according to various parameters, drawing up a “client journey map”;

• marketing identification of a special library (SWOT analysis of activities, building a “brand wheel”);

• drawing up the architecture and matrix of the brand.

CONCLUSIONS

The communication strategy of a special library is a significant tool of activity in the conditions of the formation of an information society and digitalization trends. The theoretical and practical grounds for developing a model of communication strategy for special libraries are general marketing tools, marketing technologies 3.0 and 4.0, and the theory and practice of library science.