Marketing is a situational inevitability when it comes to putting out products and services. Very few authors actually enjoy the process. (I mean really, who wants to beg people to purchase your book over and over?) But hopefully, in this article I can help to break down the stigma around marketing and help you to start crafting the perfect plan.
An introduction to marketing plans
Firstly, what is a marketing plan? It's all the elements that get put together to promote your book to a broad audience. This could look like social media, word of mouth, and/or events (book launch parties or signings) to name a few.
What's the difference between marketing and advertising? The money. That's what it comes down to. Marketing is all-encompassing, whereas advertising are things that are paid for (e.g., paid posts on Instagram, Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc.). This could extend to radio, film, newspapers, but the gist is any place you're paying for your spot, that's advertising.
Marketing uses both paid and unpaid media to reach an audience.
Understanding your target audience
The first step in building a plan is knowing your audience. It doesn't help us much if we end up marketing our fem-powered fantasy to a readership that exclusively reads middle grade sci-fi. So take some time to look at the book you've written, at the genre, age category, and target readership you think would be interested in reading it.
It's sometimes easier to view this as a single persona (e.g., a 23 year old named Marsha who works from home and has three cats). What does your target persona like? Where do they tend to spend their time? These may seem like broad questions on their own, but trust me! They're super important.
Knowing your reader's purchasing habits helps us to understand the best way to reach them. If they need to see a book seven times before they pick it up, then we need to ensure we're getting our cover in front of their eyes seven times. If they exclusively use Instagram over other social media, we're going to focus our advertising on Instagram.
Whatever method works for you, take some time to consider who that target readership is that you want to reach.
Researching market trends and the competition
We're also want to take a look at other marketing plans to see what's working and what's not. What are your competitors doing?
A competitor can be defined as anyone or anything that is competing for the dollars your reader might spend on your book. This could include famous authors, new authors, and even things your readers spend passive money on like Starbucks. The latter are referred to as "indirect competition".
For example, TikTok has been a heavy influence on book sales recently. But the reality is, the chances of gaining traction there is similar to winning the lottery. Social media marketing is toted as accessible - because it is, with open access and no cost - but its incredibly difficult to make things go wide.
Keep an eye on what's trending at the top of all these markets. Watch which authors are going to signings, who's popping up across the most platforms (What do they write? Who is their audience?). What are they doing with their socials? How are they engaging with their readers? What patterns do you see?
In recent years, there has been a slight increase in purchases of physical books. Why? Likely because of the influence of social media and the relative need for book covers in imagery.
So when we look at book marketing, we want to consider how our reader is going to purchase our book, and what our budget is. If self-publishing, can we afford to do physical books? Is that what our target readership is buying? How much money do they have to spend?
These are the questions we want to identify to broach the market.
Identifying your unique selling point
Every book has a selling point - something that makes it special. This is often the hook that's used to catch readers' attention. Even if two writers both write a story about a mermaid who becomes human and falls in love, it's going to look very different based on the perspective.
That's the unique selling point.
Take some time to consider: What makes your book special? What story are you telling? How will your book connect with your readership? What do you want them to take away from you story?
Eventually, we want to be able to answer the question: Why would the reader purchase your book over that coffee or that best seller?
Setting realistic goals and expectations
Return on followers from social media and newsletter subscribers is approximately 1-2% on average. (It can be higher or lower depending on how engaged that audience is.) This means that, while the numbers aren't high, they're also not nothing. It's worth doing due diligence, but it often doesn't make or break a campaign to do marketing in such depth.
It's important to figure out what the goal of the book is. Do you want it to be a best seller? Do you want it to launch your publishing career?
The reality is that making money as an author is often more about a portfolio of work than instant success. It's very possible to live off of books, but understand your goals, and place your expectations accordingly.
With goal setting, it can be beneficial to have a measurable target (selling X number of copies in X time). While these things aren't always in our control, it's helpful to know what we're working toward and if we crossed that finish line.
But it's also okay to just take some time to figure out what success for this book would look like for you, even if that means the goal isn't measurable. (A goal like a career launch would fall into that category. Publishing the book is really the only metric in that instance.)
Whatever you're working toward, set the final goal and work backwards. What are the smaller steps that need to be accomplished to make that thing happen? Once you have everything laid out, focus only on the first three tasks. Looking at the whole can be overwhelming. So just take it a step at a time.
If you're planning a year out (publishing timelines), focus only on things in the first three months. The rest will be evaluated when we get there.
Choosing the right marketing strategies and platforms
Some of the outlets you might consider are:
Social media
Book events (signings, launches, etc.)
Collaborations (bloggers, influencers, etc.)
Paid ads
Book communities
Author website/blog
Newsletter
My biggest recommendation here is always to choose the options within your means. Don't have thousands of dollars? Then don't spend them. Don't have 25 hours/week to spend on interactions? Then don't stress about it. Being intentional can gain just as much traction as a thousand dollar marketing campaign.
Honestly, the best way to get word of your book out there is to make genuine connections. Find your people. Talk to other authors, booksellers, librarians. And don't just seek them out for what they can offer you - make friends. People who are excited about you will be excited about your work, and that's the biggest marketing campaign you could ask for.
You'd be surprised how far a simple ask can go.
My other recommendation along with those connections is to offer value. Blogs and newsletters are great opportunities to build your readership before you've published. It's a personal connection where people expect you to speak about your work.
The downside here is that regular newsletters and blogs can take a lot of time, and that may not always be feasible starting out.
Overall, remember that no one strategy is going to work for every book you publish. Be prepared to try and try again. See what works and what doesn't and build off of that.
If you have book marketing questions, feel free to book a complimentary 30-min coffee chat with me! I'd be happy to clear up some of the overwhelm surrounding the marketing world. Just drop me a line through my contact page, and I'll be in touch shortly.
Happy writing!
Erin
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