Digital Book Marketing Strategies That Sell

Digital Book Marketing Strategies That Sell

Digital book marketing is not easy, but we would be lying if that were the case. In 2018, self-published books grew by 40% to 1.6 million, compared with the previous year.

Self-publishing is expected to continue growing in the same way as last year, with over 2 million books published. It doesn't matter how many times your book has been published. You are competing against hundreds of thousands of other authors who want to be on the top bestseller's lists.

Before You Begin It doesn't matter if you are a traditional, hybrid, or independent author, creating a marketing plan is essential for your book. This will help you discover facts about your buyers and the book that will guide your marketing strategy.

Before you can chart out your digital marketing strategy, the following are essential components: ● ● ●

Buyer demographics research Branding for authors Advertising budget

Branding and demographics are the foundations of all collateral and copy that you create.

Buyer Demographics Agents often suggest to prospective authors that they include works similar to their book in pitch sessions. Why? They'll likely be able to identify your target audience and the ease with which your book will sell.

Demographics can help you determine which social media platforms are most popular and what tone they prefer. This Sprout Social 2020 article provides detailed demographics for social media users.

If you are a cozy mystery reader who primarily targets women over 50 years old, then you will likely spend the majority of your time on Facebook. If you are a nonfiction technical writer whose target audience is men over 25, you will be spending most of your time on Reddit and Twitter.

Are you unsure who would like to purchase your book? You can look at similar authors and see their social media followers. This will give you a good idea about who is most likely to read your book.

Author Branding Branding is simply the part of you that readers can see. It is the part of yourself that creates your books and loves creative works. You can also talk all day about your characters. It's the reason you are an expert in your field if you are a nonfiction writer.

Your brand isn't your dog, weird quirks or political views. If your book is about any one of these things, this is the part you want to share with your brand.

It's easier to find branding ideas by knowing authors who have published similar works. Take a look at their websites to get an idea of what they do and don't do. For more information, see NY Book Editors article.

The Importance of SEO It is best to start a blog and a website before you sign your first contract. Your domain authority will improve the longer you keep your website updated with high-quality, fresh content. This will impact the search engine results that your website appears in.

What is the point?

The first three results that appear on a page are the most popular. You want it to be as easy as possible for your readers to find you and your books.

To improve your search engine rankings, you don't need to be an SEO expert. Keep your content unique and relevant. Always choose to write higher-quality pieces than writing volume.

SEMrush and Moz provide free content to help you get started in SEO.

Way to Use Social Media Many authors don't realize the power of social media. It will help you to remember that social media users are there to connect with other people and have fun. They won't respond to being bombarded with sales-centric posts or even if they are constantly bombarded.

You can post an alert once a week on most platforms to let people know that your book is for sale. Or create images with quote blocks to attract readers. You can share a humorous piece of dialogue, or a short excerpt from your current work in progress.

You are welcome to share your character backstories, inspirations or interesting facts about the world that you have created. Visit the page of your favorite author. Most likely, they are more interested in entertaining their readers than hawking their books.

Why use social media if it isn't going to drive book sales?

This is a great way to meet your readers, build a community of writers and learn from them. By sharing your book with authors who have similar reader profiles, you can dramatically increase sales. Just remember, quid pro quo. Encourage authors you are interested in promoting.

Many social media platforms offer a business page feature or a business account. A standard account is sufficient for most social media platforms. However, you will need to register for a Facebook "page". This allows you to make your personal accounts anonymous, place advertisements, and boost posts.

Paid Advertising on Social Media Paid social media ads should only be used for very special occasions. Advertisements can be purchased to increase website visits, email list subscriptions or to create advertisements that boost book sales. Be sure to consider your campaign goals and budget. While it may not make sense to test an ad for sign-ups via email, announcing a sale can be a great investment.

Begin with a small budget and narrow your target audience. Then, watch your ad performance closely. You can make a huge difference by changing the headline, image, or copy. Before you spend money, test your design with friends. If you have a click-through rate of less than 1-2%, and your budget is not sufficient to generate sales, then it's time to get rid of the ad.

Facebook has updated its algorithm to decrease business page posts in page follower feeds.

You may be able to purchase a boost to increase your following if you have a clever post. Be sure to keep the post on brand. Otherwise, you may attract an audience that isn't interested in your books.

Let People Get to Know You Through Video Video is becoming an integral part of any marketing strategy as search engines include image and speech results. You will need to put in a lot of effort to get noticed on YouTube. If your message is clear, you can share your videos all over the world.

Remember that content is key. It is important to work from a written outline or script.

Boring monologues, repetitive phrases such as "um" and "you know", or poor audio quality are not acceptable.

While people will accept lower production values, this can change as cheaper video tech becomes more accessible.

A good microphone is worth the investment, even if you are on a tight budget. You can use your laptop's built-in camera at this point.

The exception to this rule are book trailers. While they can be an effective way to promote your book via social media or your website, the production value of the trailer is what really matters.

Do not skimp on a producer with a collection of great book trailers.

Amazon Advertising Amazon offers two types of advertising for independent authors: sponsored or look-alike features in the "Products Related to This Item" section, and paid search ads that list your book at the top of the page.

Social Media should be a part of your Amazon Advertising trends. If your ads don't meet expectations, set a budget. You're doing well if your sales exceed your budget by a healthy margin. If your publication is traditional, you will need to rely upon your publisher to promote your work.

Stay Flexible Technology changes daily. The first blog tours were hugely successful. Next came Facebook ads, Amazon advertising, BookBub, and vloggers.

Authors are a creative group that is able to solve book sales stagnation. Large publishers often learn from authors and spend more money on the same strategies, making it difficult to compete for advertising space.

There is strength in numbers. Expand your network of authors within your genre. Collectively, we can learn more effectively than one person trying to do it all.