A successful book has two phases: Writing good and appealing content and being able to market your book properly. As a self-published author you need to create a well-thought plan to promote and sell your book. The internet offers you great tools and chances to advertise it, giving you access to a huge community of readers. But, where should you start?
1. Identify your niche and targeted readers. According to the characteristics of your book, identify your targeted audience. Determine if they share a demographic profile (gender, age, specific professional field, ethnicity etc). Determine their interests, likes and dislikes, the type of literature they read, the kind of websites they tend to visit, the sort of groups they belong to etc. Create a kind of profile of them and take notes. Marketing is about that, about connecting your product with the interests and values of your prospects.
2. Direct your marketing strategies to a specific sector on the social networks. Try to start four or five months early. The earlier you begin the more chances you will have to catch your audience’s attention. Use social media cleverly and set up Twitter and Facebook pages for your book. Share useful content and remember to make use of tools such as Hashtags.
For instance, you can use hashtags to ask interesting questions about topics that you know will attract your ideal readers. Then use hashtags searchers such as Hashtags.org or Tagboard.com to find those people who are interested in your publications. This way you can access directly to your potential customers. The key is focusing on your prospects instead of wasting your efforts and time in trying to attract non targeted audiences.
3. Post interesting and valuable content that attracts readers’ attention and makes them realize how much they can learn from you and benefit from your knowledge.
4. Work on the relationship with customers and prospect readers. Through the Web you have the chance to interact instantly with others, so make a good use of it. Pay attention to your readers. Answer their questions. Share stories with them. Remember, the key in any marketing campaign is building bonds of loyalty.
5. Create an official website for your book. Make sure you get a site up with a very relevant URL for your book. Use good keywords to improve search engine results. Update it with interesting content and never forget to link your website to any publication or post you place on social media.
There’s a lot of work to do and so much to learn. You need to be focused, dedicated and hard-working, but that is a small price to pay for your book’ success!