Word-of-mouth marketing: abandoning the academic library ivory tower

Purpose - This article aims to dispel the perception that academic libraries do not need to market their services and resources; to acquaint academic librarians to the concept of word-of-mouth marketing and its potential for academic libraries; and to share a word-of-mouth marketing academic library success story. Design/methodology/approach - Includes an introduction to the concept of word-of-mouth marketing and its application to academic libraries. Also includes how one academic library successfully employed this marketing technique. Findings - Provides an introduction to the word-of-mouth marketing strategy and its usefulness for academic libraries. Shares a real-life success story of academic library word-of-mouth marketing. Practical implications - Useful as an introduction for academic librarians to a specific type of marketing strategy that works well in a college/university setting and provides some successful techniques of word-of-mouth marketing for academic libraries. Originality/value - Helps fill a void relative to using marketing strategies in an academic library setting and offers suggestions on how to do this successfully.