Marketing Monday: Measurable Results

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Advertising, Audience Capture, Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Increased Visibility, Marketing Monday, Marketing Tips, Referral Business, Roberta Trahan, Social Media, Social Networking, writing life, Writing tips

A measurable result is one of the touchstones of any successful marketing campaign. But how do you define it? Most folks look at number trends before, during and after a promotion and look for an uptick in sales. Metrics are an obvious measurement of whether or not our marketing efforts (and investment) have paid off. But, they are not the only yardstick of success.

Increasing your sales, and ultimately your bottom line, is the prime objective. However, specific marketing efforts rarely correspond directly to an increase in units sold. A lack of a sales spike, however, does not necessarily mean your ad plan has failed. There is more than one way to measure success. For example:

Increased Visibility in the marketplace – every campaign or promo you run will at the very least garner you attention. Most of the people who see a sponsored post, tweet or Instagram ad respond impulsively to the concept if it interests or appeals to them. They will “like” your promo, but don’t click through to purchase. They aren’t actually shopping. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t make an impact. The hope here is that when they are looking to buy, they’ll remember you. There are sales conversion formulas that calculate how many impressions (number of times someone sees your ad) it takes to convert a sale. It varies, but every person who notices you gets you one click closer to that purchase. In  the long run, how many “likes” you get matters.

Audience Capture is just a sexy term for saying followers or fans, and is another important measurable result. These are folks who aren’t yet ready to buy, but have more than just a passing interest in what you have to offer. They take the extra step of connecting with you – becoming a fan of your FB page, following your blog or Twitter or Instagram account – in order to keep you and your offerings in their que for later reference.

Referrals (or “shares”) are also a powerful measure of a successful ad or promotion. It’s harder to track these results directly because there’s no way to follow the sale back to the source, but every time someone retweets your Tweet or shares you FB ad or blog post, you are reaching a new potential market you had no way of reaching otherwise. It’s essentially free advertising, and should be counted as a win.

The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to evaluating your marketing plan is to expect a dollar for dollar return on your investment. Factor the long term payoffs from increased visibility, audience capture, and referrals into the equation. In other words, don’t sell yourself short. Building a customer base or audience takes consistent effort over time. And remember, sales metrics are not the only measurable result that matters.

 

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Marketing Monday: Just What is GoodReads Good For, Anyway? (and other thoughts on Social Media Sharing Sites)

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Author Branding, author marketing, Book Marketing, crowd sourcing, Facebook, Good Reads, Novel Writing, Social Media, Social Networking

I have been annoyed with GoodReads for a while now. Oh sure, it’s a great community for readers. For authors, not so much. At least not for me. It all started a couple of months ago when I accepted a seemingly harmless friend request from a new author.

Now, let me preface the rest of this post by saying that I did in fact make a conscious decision from the beginning to make my GoodReads profile an interactive free for all – meaning that I would accept any and all friend requests. I made this decision based on my loosely researched (and as I later discovered, erroneous) understanding of this very intriguing community. The risk to my privacy seemed to be minimal, and the audience is vast. And though I knew all about the bullies and the trolls, I was fairly certain that I had the savvy to steer clear of that kind of trouble. Besides, it makes good sense to go where the readers are. Right?

What I didn’t see lurking in the shadow was yet another kind of trouble – predatory purveyors looking for the opportunity to pfish the friend lists of other authors in order to market their own books. In some cases, including mine, these predatory purveyors are pushing even more poorly written low rent derivatives of 50 Shades of Gray by anonymous persons with generic and sometimes false identities, slapped into a downloadable format and sold on the cheap through blog sites or Amazon Kindle Direct. Cuz, you know, anyone can publish a book now and call themselves an author.

Let the reader beware and all that, I guess. And the author, too, for that matter. By the time I figured out what these predatory purveyors were up to, the damage was done and could not be undone. My many correspondences with the GR customer service folks resulted in little more than a few episodes of dangerously high blood pressure, but they also helped me better understand the beast I was wrestling.

GoodReads, for all their attempts to give appearances to the contrary, has no real gatekeepers. No one is minding the store, and what’s worse, that’s the way they want it. GoodReads is literally nothing more than a giant crowd sourced database curated by random members who are granted the status of “librarian” merely for the asking. Folks with little or no knowledge of legitimate publishing practices or consumer protection policies hold all the power, and claim that imposing even the most minimal standards is an act of censorship.

Everyone can do, say or promote pretty much anything they want without regard to their audience, and it is considered free speech. This sounds like fun to a lot of people. Anarchy usually does. But when we throw out all of the rules, people tend to get hurt. NO BOOK OR AUTHOR on GR is vetted before it is added to the database. Really. Let me say that again. NOTHING IS VETTED.

Like I said, reader and author beware. I could go on (and on) about my feelings on crowd sourced information and open access projects, but I’ll stick to the relevant point for this post: taking steps to protect your public identity is every bit as important as it is to protect your personal privacy.

Gates and boundaries are both prudent and necessary. If you haven’t already done so, dear author, it’s time to start putting some degrees of separation between you and the rest of the world.

Everyone is not your friend – not all people play nice in Cyberspace. Consider the potential consequences of unrestricted interaction before you engage, and then do so cautiously. Blindly accepting every friend request is a bad idea (and this goes for Face Book too). If you decide to do so, understand that there are risks. Big ones.

Fans are Better Than Friends – when it comes to your public life. With social media sharing sites like Facebook and GoodReads the lines between virtual reality and real reality are a bit too easily blurred. For your own sake, and the sake of your true friends and family, build two worlds for yourself – one in which you can safely engage with the people in your real life (i.e. family and other people you actually know), and one in which you can safely engage with the general public. Encourage readers and other interested folks to follow you (become your fan on GR or your FB fan site) rather than friend you.

Social Interaction Is Not (Necessarily) the Same as Social Media Marketing & Neither Guarantees Real Results  – one of the big draws to social networking is that it appears to be free advertising. But is it, really? In today’s social media world an investment of time and energy is generally considered equivalent to an investment of capital. There are people out there touting some very attractive metrics supporting this idea, but the concept of risk vs reward still applies. Just remember that while social media marketing may not cost you any money, there is still a price. You may be saving some cash, but you are still paying – with your valuable time, your precious credibility, and your priceless personal privacy. And you could risk it all and never sell a single book. It all comes down to making informed choices.

Just for fun, let’s do a little crowd sourcing right here. What’s your favorite social media platform, and why? Least favorite? Help another author out by sharing your success stories, and/or your spectacular failures!!

Another Manic [Marketing] Monday – Why Twitter Doesn’t Sell Books (or anything, really)

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47North, @speechwriterguy, Amazon Publishing, Author Branding, author marketing, Guy Bergstrom, Novel Writing, publishing, Roberta Trahan, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, The Red Pen of Doom, Writing

If you follow this blog or have read my bio, you undoubtedly know that in my former life I was somewhat of a marketing maven. For over twenty years I made it my business, literally, to study information delivery systems and consumer behavior. What I have discovered, somewhat to my surprise, is that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The technological big bang gave birth to what we now call Social Media – Facebook pages, blogs, Pinterest and dozens of other virtual groups and communities, and of course, Twitter. Never before have there been so many ways to interact. But as interchangeable as it all appears, it’s really not.

Not all Social Media Mechanisms Work the Same Way

While it is true that the modes of communication have evolved, the psychology behind communication has not. The reasons we interact are essentially unchanged – to feed our basic human desire for companionship, to expand our minds through the pursuit of knowledge, and to exchange our goods and services in order to meet our lifestyle needs. Social Media is said to be the Global Equalizer, opening a myriad of marketing pathways that all appear to lead to the same place – the consumer. This is true in a general sense, the same way that it is true that all people on Earth live under the same sky.

In order to use Social Media Marketing to its best benefit, it is important to understand who travels which paths, and why. Websites are like billboards or storefronts – static portals which recreate a sense of permanence in the Virtual World, and can act as sources of information and as retail hubs. Blogs have taken the place of topic driven channels and publications in that they disseminate specialized information and provide an opportunity for discourse (aka feedback). Online groups and communities (which include GoodReads, Pinterest, Facebook Friend Pages and more) create “places” for like-minded individuals to connect and engage in an exchange of ideas. Facebook Fan & Event Pages have essentially replaced what we old school marketers used to call “brochures” and “flyers”. These are all useful marketing tools when targeted toward your unique audience. The bottom line, dear author? Figure out which of these “places” are where people go to learn about BOOKS, specifically the kind of books YOU write, and focus your efforts there.

But What about Twitter?

I’m just going to straight up say what we all already suspect but don’t want to admit. Twitter isn’t really good for anything except creating a giant echo chamber for the sound of your own voice. Twitter is, at its essence, a soapbox. It is a platform that anybody can use but isn’t really effective unless you are a Very Important Person (like a politician or celebrity, or maybe a Best Selling Author) who ALREADY has gazillions of fans just dying to know what you had for lunch. Twitter MIGHT be a conversational hub, if you have the attention span of a gnat. What it definitely is NOT is a results-oriented marketing venue. At its best, Twitter is a real-time information stream that just may, if you are paying attention to the right person at the right moment, tell you something interesting or useful. Kinda like radio advertising.

Having lots of followers on Twitter does not mean lots of people are paying attention to you.

Really. I can’t stress this enough. In fact, odds are that most of your followers are only following you so that you will follow them. This is the very definition of a cluster f**k, dear author. Even more likely, most of your followers are probably other authors who write in the SAME GENRE AS YOU. Tell me, dear author, how many of these like-minded souls are likely to promote YOUR work to THEIR audience? I dare you – take a look at your list of followers and try to determine how many of them are actually purchasers and readers of your work, or people who can or will further your writing career or recommend your books. It’s good to know these things.

In the book world, there are two possible exceptions to the Twitter Doesn’t Sell Books rule. One would be authors of non-fiction writing business or writing craft books, and book marketing or publishing feeds by industry professionals and reviewers. Twitter just MIGHT be a meaningful way for these folks to announce news or posts on their blogs, which will in turn potentially lead to a sale of a recommended book. The second exception is when authors or industry professionals (including reviewers) consciously and intentionally connect to support each other using Twitter as a promotional vehicle. This can be very effective, but it requires mutual agreement and cooperation. This is strategic maneuvering that takes a bit more dialogue than the implied “I followed you, so now will you please follow me back?”.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate Twitter – I spend hours upon hours reading my feed. But I don’t do so in a stupor of self-delusion that I am actually spending my time successfully marketing my work. I follow other authors and publishing professionals I personally know or whose careers I strive to emulate, and those who offer me useful information or entertainment. I occasionally do a search on my own name to catch those few and far in-between tweets by people who are reading my book and updating their progress on GoodReads, or the rare book reviewer who has posted their opinion of my work. I like to thank those people publicly for taking the time to read my book, even if they didn’t like it. In this way, Twitter is a much better incoming resource than an outgoing one. When I do tweet my own stuff, I do so without the slightest expectation that anyone is paying attention to what I have to say. In order to make even a tiny ripple in the Twitterverse, I will first need to do a lot more work elsewhere building sales and visibility.

That said, I do find lots of interesting folks tweeting in the Twitterverse – many of them members of exception #1 noted above. One of my favorites is Guy Bergstrom (@speechwriterguy) who has a nifty blog called The Red Pen of Doom . He has lots of hip, helpful advice on book marketing and PR in general. I like his ideas a lot, and you should read what he has to say. He knows what he’s talking about.

Here is one of my favorite posts: Guy Bergstrom says “You need a TEAM and a PLAN“, and I couldn’t agree more :).

~

Does Blogging Sell Books? — 3 Marketing Strategies Every Author Can (and Should) Use

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author marketing, Blogging, Marketing Tips, New Media, Roberta Trahan, Social Media, Social Networking

Turns out last week’s post on the New Media Melee resonated with a lot of folks. Apparently most of you are just like me, trying to do everything I can to kick start and sustain my writing career. The discussion that followed the post raised a really good question for which I have found no simple or definitive answer — How do we know what works?

Most of us need to budget our resources carefully — we have neither the money to spend on a multi-platform advertising campaign nor the time to invest in endless hours of social media marketing in the webiverse. Out of necessity, and also to preserve our sanity, we need to target our efforts. The good news is that focusing on a handful of well-selected strategies is much more likely to yield the results you want than the scattershot approach. This is not new thinking–targeted marketing is an age-old advertising principle, and it works.

Build a Marketing Map

No matter where you are in your writing career — whether you are already published, or yet to be published — every author should have some semblance of a marketing plan. I know, the forethought and research this requires can be daunting. But, if your goal is to sell your work, there’s really no choice but to suck it up and give it a go. It’s really not as hard as it sounds. Start by defining your readership,

Every book has a single core reader group–this is where you should start. First off, and although this sounds obvious many authors either can’t or won’t define their work this way — what genre are you writing? In the case of memoir and non-fiction, this can be fairly simple to discern. Topical non-fiction like self-help or cooking is self-defining. Genre fiction such as thriller, mystery, sci-fi, and so on, targets a fairly well-defined group of readers. However, current consumer research indicates that there is a certain amount of cross-over between these reader groups. Thus, you will want to include them in your marketing plan.

Deciding on what category your core reader group falls under is only the first step. Next , you will need to examine who those readers are. This is essentially the definition of the term ‘demographics‘. Are they male or female, young or old, highly educated, affluent? What are their interests? How are they likely to spend their time and money, and where?

Finding the answers to these questions requires two things — research, and a bit of armchair psychology. Start by analyzing your own buying habits, and those of people you know. Spend some time trawling the web, searching for like-minded individuals. You’ll be amazed at what you find. More than you want, most likely, so take note of the best of it. Look for common ground and behavior. But don’t limit yourself to Google searches. There are also some great books and blogs on author marketing out there–read them.

Once you’ve done your research and settled on two or three reader profiles, it’s time to choose your tactics. By this I mean, decide on how and where to reach your readers. There are likely to be a number of worthwhile choices, but no one can do it all. Use your best judgment and be selective about what options you add to your plan. My advice to you is to choose two or three marketing strategies that you can a) afford, b) manage on your own, and c) sustain for the long haul.

No matter what other marketing you decide to undertake, there are three basic tools I believe every author can, and should, employ.

Blogging

There are several reasons I advocate blogging. First, it is a proven way to bolster a public profile and credentials for an author’s expertise. I’m not going to get into a discussion of branding or platform building here, but the most oft overlooked aspect of author marketing is author identity. This is primarily because many people find it uncomfortable to draw attention to themselves. Authors, especially, prefer to focus the attention on the book. Understandable as this is, it is a HUGE mistake to avoid self-promotion. The success or failure of your work depends a great deal upon your merits–as a writing expert, as well as your expertise in your subject matter. An author blog is the single most effective forum for building a bridge between you and your audience. You have a soap box, and your readers have a way to interact with you.

It is essential to make yourself accessible, at least in some limited way. Readers, just as fans of all the entertainment arts, desire a relationship with the person behind the art. Being willing to engage directly with your readers is essential to creating a following.

Second, blogging does indeed sell books. The proof of this will show, in time. The more people who are interested in what you have to say on your blog, the more people there will be talking about you and what you do. It also serves as a way to keep your readership engaged with you between book releases. Ultimately, blogging ABSOLUTELY translates to increased individual book sales. It ‘s just plain common sense.

The one caveat I offer, however, is that blabbering through your blog is the quickest way to be dismissed by your readers, colleagues, and just about everyone else. Keep your blog posts specific to your books, your subject matter, and/or any specific areas of expertise you possess. Try to refrain from blogging about personal matters or your daily life–unless it pertains, in at least some loosely connected way, to your creative process. Your blog articles must be of interest to your audience, but you should avoid exposing too much of your personal life to the world at large. When you have nothing of your own to share, it is always considered good form (and good karma) to promote other authors whose works you respect.

For a fun ‘tutorial’ and some good advice on blogging, read Anne R Allen’s article “How to Blog –A Beginner’s Guide for Authors” .

Social Networking

There are two primary social networking utilities that every author should learn how to use — Facebook fan pages and Twitter. This post is intended to advocate these tools, not as a ‘how-to’ tutorial. I am still learning to use them myself, and despite all the reading and research I have done, it still boils down to a trial and error process.

What I can say is that Facebook and Twitter both create essential community for authors. These additional portals also create a relatively easy way to cross-market by giving you instant access to gigantic data bases–for free.

Let me just reiterate that when I say Facebook, I am referring to a Facebook Fan Page — this is NOT the same as the general Facebook friends page that most everyone has. A Facebook Fan Page is a linked but separate application utilized by businesses, organizations, celebrities, and artists like yourself–people who have something to sell or promote. Take the time to learn the difference and then get one set one up for yourself.

Admittedly, using Twitter can feel a bit like you’ve linked into the collective global consciousness of the human race. It takes some study and practice to find your niche and get comfortable being in the constant stream of conversation. I spent several weeks searching and observing the activity of others (publishers and successful authors in my genre) before I started tweeting myself. I began by ‘following’ the tweet streams of people I thought were using the utility well.

No matter what your personal feelings may be about social networking, it isn’t going away. It’s your choice, of course, but if you don’t join in, you run the risk of being left behind.

Author Websites

Makes me feel old when I hear this, but many internet marketing gurus are saying that the website is an outmoded platform. In point of fact, blogging utilities like WordPress and Blogspot have become so sophisticated that many folks (authors included) have started setting up their entire internet identities from their blog.

This single-source approach can make sense on a lot of levels — technologically and economically. However, no marketing expert I trust would ever tell a client to put all their eggs in one basket, so to speak. Having multiple ‘homes’ on the internet gives your audience more than one way to find you. Hosting a web page at your own domain (your NAME, people, not your book title) is the very first thing you should do. Link your blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts to it and create your own multi-media marketing network.

Agents and publishers will expect you to have both your own website and a blog. Technologically speaking, it is completely desirable and possible to integrate the two. I recommend you hire a web designer to help you do this–by and large, do-it-yourself websites are not a good idea.

So there you have it, your own min-marketing map. By utilizing these three basic tools, you can effectively market yourself and your books to the audience you desire. It is a huge commitment, no doubt, but then, so was writing the damn book in the first place! You can do it, I know you can.

One last caveat–and this is a pet peeve of mine: NO AUTHOR NEEDS SEO services (aka Search Engine Optimization). It is an absolute waste of your money. Readers simply DO NOT do a search for ‘book’, or “spy novel” or “memoir” or “historical fiction”, and then shop the first 10 titles that show up. Don’t let anyone tell you they do-it’s an out and out lie. Readers shop for books in BOOKSTORES — whether they be brick-and-mortar shops or online retailers like Amazon. The one and only possible exception to this would be some non-fiction books, largely business or self-help titles. But that is not my area of expertise, so that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Alrighty then, fellow authors, go forth and market!!