Hello,
Before we can discuss marketing solutions, let’s get a clear picture of what marketing really is and the foundation you have to create before you can start the process of marketing. Marketing solutions will cover: the science of buying and selling books; the advertising, promotion, distribution and format of the books. It also covers the art of influencing people with your professional approach to writing and publishing a great book.
Many people confuse marketing with promotions and advertising, when the latter are elements of marketing not the process. At EDC Creations, we spend hours coaching our clients on the fact that marketing takes a dedication to learning, building relationships and establishing reachable goals. Marketing solutions will come from having a vision, a plan and the means to encourage readers to buy their books.
Marketing is the entire process by which you will identify your target audience, anticipate what they need and give the audience solutions and estimate their response. Once you know the audience, you will share your book with readers in a professional, appealing and cost effective way. Marketing is based on developing strong relationships to assist you in networking, advertising, promoting and gaining publicity. All of these fall under the umbrella of marketing. Marketing is the cart and the rest is what you fill it with.
Foundation for Creating Marketing Solutions
1) Write your vision on paper. Decide what it is you want at the end of the day. Brainstorm about ways to get the things you want and put them on paper so you can SEE where it is you really wanting to go. Think about your passions in life, the amount of money you have to invest, why you are really becoming a published author and what will this offer the reading community.
2) Create your marketing message. Your marketing message is a combination of the things that will later create your brand and determine how the reader will view you. It will tell your readers how you can solve their problems, why they should trust you, why they should buy your book and spread the word, also why they should keep supporting you later. The marketing message is the thing that will capture their attention.
Your marketing message is not created to solely tell them who YOU are. The entire marketing message is about telling your readers what your books can do for THEM. Even if it is a fiction book, it can show the reader how to deal with a difficult situation and come out on top. You have to share your unique ideas or style of writing to convey this message.
3) Define and identify who your target audience is and where they can be found. You can not reach all readers and your book is not for everyone. Use research to find those people who would benefit most from having your work in their hands.
4) Define the problems or issues surrounding this target; present your solution. When I say define the problem, I am not getting all political. It can be this simple: teens grow out of board books and children books. They now need books that will introduce them to puberty and peer pressure, the joys and ills of growing up. You can give them the solution by starting a teen series.
5) Present your results to the solution (a quality book) and tell them why they should select your book before any others. You will create wonderful marketing materials to capture their attention and you offer them your wisdom, experience, advice or a means to sheer entertainment in a well edited, properly produced book, at an affordable price.
6) Establish your brand and what it will take to strengthen it. Your brand is the vehicle that will take you to top of the book marketing game. Branding is the process of creating your image, the feelings, relationships, the actions and visual presentations your readers will come to associate with your name and the kind of books you put out. You will sell YOU as an AUTHOR as much as you will sell your message in your books.
7) Work on creating a network of people to help you with your marketing. You will need to create an internal support team, a social networking team, a business team and a publicity team to deliver your marketing message to the readers and publishing houses. You do this by communicating with others what you need, what you want and what you are willing to give to get it. Ask questions, do your research, seek help from the experts, but most of all really make relationships that will benefit you and the readers.
Now that we know what we are doing and have the foundation created to do it. Let’s get down to creating our marketing plan, marketing strategy and establish marketing solutions. The three all go hand in hand, it takes all three to be successful. My area of expertise is Internet Marketing, Promotions and Publicity. My contributions this month will focus primarily on those areas. Keep following the blog for more.
Ella Curry, EDC Creations
www.edc-creations.com
