Preparation for your Marketing Campaign

‘Build it, and they will come!’ You might remember that line from the 1982 W.P. Kinsella’s novel, Shoeless Joe or the 1989 movie adaption, A Field of Dreams. This famous line can work as a great analogy for the author who is at the beginning of their marketing campaign and not sure where to start. Here’s why:

Build it …

Build what? You need to begin your publishing journey by planning and building your brand. What do you think of when you see the Coca Cola logo? That’s right, a brown fizzy substance that, apparently, can clean your floor as well as taste great with Jack Daniels. In author terms, Stephen King is a great example of a brand. He writes horror novels, and he has millions of followers who love his books. When he brings out a new title, fans don’t even need to know the name of it, they can simply go into any bookstore and ask for the latest Stephen King novel. And because they’re buying the brand, they know exactly what they’re going to get, a spine-chilling character driven story with the hallmark injection of horror. I think you see where I’m going with this.

The first step in building your brand is finding your potential audience. But your aiming for a global following, right? So how do you reach those potential readers that are scattered around the world? This is an important question and one that we’ll look at very soon, but before we even consider that, there is much work to do first. You’ll need to begin by building your platform.

Your website is your 24/7 storefront. In your store you will need to include information about yourself (remember you are the brand) details about your book, and how to purchase it. It’s that straightforward. Keep it simple but professional. You can hire a web designer and find an affordable host, or if you’re tech-savvy you can create your own website for free or relatively cheaply. But remember it must look professional, it will be the first impression your audience gets of you. Make it a good one. Here’s a link to my author website: andymcd.com.au

Social media is by far the best way to get your brand noticed. The only reason I don’t list this before the website is because once you start attracting potential readers through say your Facebook ad campaigns. You’ll need somewhere for them to go, that’s right, your website (we’ll also be discussing third-party landing pages in future issues). You might already have a personal Facebook page. Linked to this you can create a free author page and call it something like @my name – author. You can also use Twitter and Instagram for posting regular snippets of what’s happening in your life such as keeping your audience up to date with events, or simply letting them know you had a nice walk today or watched the best movie ever. It’s important to understand that your audience will be engaging with you, the brand. At this time of writing, Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, and Tiktok are also good platforms for you to get your messages out. We’ll also be discussing these in more depth in a later issue.

And They Will Come …

So, you’ve built it. Who will come and why?

Your website is in place. You have the necessary accounts with the social media platforms of your choice. ‘Great. But I have two followers on my new Facebook author page, my mum and my cat. Now what?’ or  ‘Who is going to visit my pages and how am I going to get them there?’ You might be wondering.

Now you know the kind of perpetration that’s required prior to beginning your book marketing campaign, next month we’ll discuss THE most important aspect of any successful marketing campaign. The mailing list.

Write on …
Andy