Marketing a book is one of the most challenging tasks an author will encounter. It’s true that authors who wish to grow their brand and gain recognition in the book industry must develop spectacular marketing skills to promote their content. Besides good writing skills, marketing is what drives your success as an author. Now, we can go on about the importance of book marketing but that won’t get you anywhere. Therefore, we’re going to elaborate what really matters, i.e., help you get started with effective book marketing tips.

1. Start by Focusing On Your Target Audience

You turn your book into a product the moment you list it for sales. No matter how artistic or engaging your content is, you will have to consider your target audience to boost sales. Therefore, keep your target audience in mind even before you start writing a book. It is one of the top book marketing ideas that will help you understand what type of book you’re going to write, and who will read it!

Research Genres

Having your target audience in mind can help you choose the right genre. For instance, suppose your target audience is young adults. Research on Amazon or Google about the kind of books they like to read and what genres they find most engaging. Now compare those books and see if they have anything in common like book covers, descriptions, titles, content, etc. Is there a particular niche that interests your target audience? Thus, your target audience can help you decide which genre to prefer for your book. Or if you already have a genre in mind, then research the kind of audience that will want to read your book and direct your marketing techniques toward them.

Reader Avatar

Consider yourself a reader when choosing your marketing campaign. By doing this, you’re creating a reader avatar, who you can keep in mind when making all your marketing decisions in the future. If you want to try a new marketing strategy, think about how to best reach your reader avatar. Marketing your book to everyone will get no recognition in the industry. Thus, you have to focus on your target audience to promote your content online.

Read More:How to Successfully Self-publish a Book

2. Create Your Own Brand

All writers must create their own brand before releasing their books so that potential readers can learn about them. People who will want to read your book will also like to know about your background, what books you like to read, and your achievements.

Creating your brand helps in building a strong relationship with your audience. Control what people know and see about you by carefully cultivating your brand persona online.

3. Create a Website

Once you’ve published your book, you will need a website to establish your brand persona. Your website will allow you to connect with your target audience and learn about their reviews of your content. It will also let your readers learn more about you. Ultimately, creating a website is an effective way to build your brand recognition. Your website should display the following information:

• Your photo
• Your personal information
• Excerpts from your book
• Cover design of your book
• A link to purchase your book
• A way to get in touch with you
• Links to your social media accounts/pages

Bear in mind that your website need not be lengthy. It can be a one-pager showing all the information about you as an author.

4. Create a Newsletter Sign-up Form

Your website must also have another crucial element in it, which is the email list. Also known as the newsletter signup form, the email list allows readers to learn about your latest updates without having to visit your website again and again. Those who sign up on your site will be automatically sent emails about your upcoming events, interviews, podcasts, etc.

Therefore, authors must ensure they include an email marketing service on their website as a lead magnet, encouraging people to sign up for their email list. You can offer a small token of appreciation to those who do. For instance, you can ask visitors to sign up for the newsletter in exchange for an excerpt from your novel. It’s an effective marketing technique that can help you grow in the industry.

5. Get Your Book the Recognition It Deserves

Penguin Book Writers has the best team of book marketers in the industry. You can trust our services and experience to get your book the recognition it deserves. Contact us today for effective book marketing strategies online.

6. Create a Social Media Platform

There is no effective book marketing online without establishing your social media platform. A solid social media presence can help you grow as an author, reach out to your target audience, engage with them, and boost sales.

You can start by designing a Facebook business page because your personal profile will only get you so far! A proper business account is what will enhance your book marketing. The good thing is that creating a business account is free and you will only have to spend money to promote yourself and the book. Another positive aspect is that Facebook ads work for every budget. It can require as less as $5 a day to market your content online and can get you recognized in front of a large audience.

When using Facebook to market your book, consider the following aspects:

• Don’t waste your time going after likes. Use Facebook ads to drive traffic toward your website.
• Consider Facebook Ad Manager to control your budget for Facebook ads. This will help you run ads on the most popular days.
• Link your Facebook ad to your website or an excerpt from your book. You can also link it to your book’s Amazon’s sale page to encourage potential readers to buy a copy of your book.
• Your Facebook ad should specifically focus on your target audience and their interests.
• Therefore, choose your target audience and then design your ads accordingly.

ReadMore : How to Publish Your Book For Free And Get Paid

Use Hashtags to Grow Your Business

Use hashtags on your social media platforms to help your audience find relevant content easily. Hashtags are a way to indicate that your content is relevant to your target audience’s interests. It can help readers find information about your book online, making it visible to a larger audience.

For instance, using hashtags on Twitter will help you find conversations to be a part of. You can also find out what people are saying about your book on Twitter. On the other hand, you can’t use too many hashtags when it comes to Facebook. Just one or two hashtags can get you the exposure you want for your book.

On Instagram, you can use as many as 30 hashtags to expand your reach. They drive engagement and can make your story and posts reach the largest audience.

7. Build and Customize your Author Page on Amazon

Amazon is the biggest platform that you can use to promote and sell your book. Even if you have multiple channels to sell your content, most of your book sales would be through Amazon. Thus, authors must use Amazon well and learn how to climb the ranks for better visibility.

Build a strong book page as a part of your marketing strategy to capture your audience’s interest. Start by writing the book description. Gain your reader’s attention by sharing an excerpt from the book or make them fall in love with your fictional characters.

Authors can also consider participating in Amazon’s KDP program to improve their online presence and boost sales. You must also not forget to customize your Amazon page. Customizing your author page can drive lots of traffic to your website, allowing you to capture the audience’s interest in you and your content. Simply, add an incentive in your bio and you might just be able to build your email list directly through Amazon.

Let Readers Read Your Book For Free on Amazon

This strategy is for first-time authors who wish to get recognized in the book industry. While there are several other tactics to get noticed on Amazon, one great way is to offer your book for free. Now, before you get all defensive, let us clarify that it would only be for a limited time span. A free launch can help you gain the interest of your readers. If more people read your book and spread positive reviews about it, chances are that more individuals would want to buy it.

Avid readers don’t even consider books that haven’t received positive reviews. Therefore, the more reviews you get, the better!

It’s also important that you select the correct genre category for your content on Amazon. This is because most readers search for books by selecting their favorite genre. Thus, selecting the right genre will give you a better chance of being found by your target market. Once your book gets popular, you can start selling it on Amazon.

Read More:How Much Does A Professional Author Make? Book Writers Incomes Demystified

8. Create an Author Page on Goodreads

Goodreads is another amazing platform to promote your book online. Many readers search for book reviews on Goodreads to help them decide whether they should read a book or not. In this context, writers must create their author page on Goodreads to market their work and boost sales effectively. Your author page will help you connect with your target audience and build a strong relationship with them. You can list giveaways, add photos and videos of yourself, post about upcoming events, and add excerpts from your book to attract a maximum number of readers online.

With over 90 million users on Goodreads, there’s a high chance your book can get worldwide recognition. Therefore, building your author page is definitely worth your time and energy and might increase your book’s sales dramatically.

9. Get on Bookhub

There are tons of other ways to promote yourself as an author, and getting on Bookhub is one of them. In fact, 76% of users on Bookhub read books after they have been recommended by their favorite authors. Here’s how creating an author page on Bookhub can help you:

• Increased visibility to your audience
• Boost your book sales
• Recommendations from readers and other authors appear on your page
• Authors get highlighted for their work
• Your book’s recommendations make it to social media, further improving your book sales and reach
• You can convince your readers why they should read your book

10. Interviews and Podcasts

Interviews and podcasts can give authors more opportunities to extend their exposure and get in touch with their fans. It can help your audience learn about your background and skills as an author. If done effectively, interviews can make your audience feel connected to you and your brand’s story. Here are some of the benefits of interviews and podcasts for authors:

• They offer your readers an insight into who you are as an individual. This includes your hobbies, interests, family background, achievements, etc.
• They let your readers know how and why you thought about writing a book
• Helps the audience understand what they can get from reading your book
• It allows authors to convince their fans why their work is worth reading
• Interviews and podcasts can help authors connect with better publishers and literary agents in the industry.

11. Book Clubs

Do you wish to hone your skills as an author? A book club would be a great place to start. Not only will you get to market your book, but will also understand what plots, settings, and characters are the most liked by your target audience.

Becoming a part of a book club is great for both authors and readers. Readers get to connect with individuals who share the same interests as them, whereas authors can learn about their target audience and drive their marketing campaigns accordingly.

As a new writer, you can recommend your book to readers, ask them for a review, or convince them to share the word about your book. All in all, authors need to consider being a part of a book club to improve their reach and online presence.

12. Write LinkedIn Articles

LinkedIn is the most reliable platform when it comes to promoting your business, brand, or professional career. Those who are new in the book industry should build their profile on LinkedIn and write articles, encouraging the audience why they should prefer their book, or what new stuff their book has to offer.  

Writing articles and blogs is an epic way to gain your audience’s attention. It’s a promotional activity that convinces your readers why they should read your content and develops their interest. Below, we have enlisted some of the benefits that authors can gain by posting promotional articles on LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn Articles appear in the LinkedIn search results, but they also show in Google’s search results. The good thing is that LinkedIn articles have a higher ranking than blogs and can make you increase your visibility as an author efficiently.
• LinkedIn’s algorithm works on dwell time, i.e., how much time a person spends reading your article. Therefore, the lengthier your article the better would be its reach.
• Most LinkedIn posts comprise only 700 characters, and to be honest they don’t allow you to give an in-depth explanation of why your book is different or worth reading. This is where LinkedIn articles come into the equation. They are lengthy and allow authors to showcase their talent in front of the world.
• LinkedIn articles are a great way to reach out to people other than your target audience.

13. Reach Out To Influencers

Reaching out to influencers is a part of the social media marketing technique. Influencers have thousands to millions of followers on their pages. They promote brands and businesses, helping them expand their reach. Thus, authors can connect with renowned influencers on TikTok or Instagram to boost their book sales and gain significant recognition online. Here’s how influencers can promote your book online:

• Influencers inspire people. If they say your book is worth reading, then it can get more people to read your content.
• They can help you get more followers on your social media page.
• More individuals will talk about your book and will prefer to buy it over other books.

Conclusion

An effective book marketing campaign involves a series of strategies and techniques. From prominent social media marketing to posting Google ads to joining book clubs to creating your author page on different platforms, there are various ways to promote yourself and your book online.

If you are unable to keep up with these tips, simply reach out to Penguin Book Writers. Our firm has a highly talented team of marketers who can help you reach out to your target audience efficiently. Contact us today!