There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to marketing your book(s) and your brand. Below are four to consider.
1. Planning Your Marketing Strategy/Finding Your Audience
Before doing anything, you want to find your target audience so you can tailor your plan to them. Here are some helpful resources:
- “Book Writing Tips: 9 Keys to Clarifying Target Market” on Lisa Tener
- “How SecureWorks Took Content Strategy From Guesswork to Game Changing” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Hacking Your Buyer Personas: The Only 3 Questions You Need to Ask” on Content Marketing Institute
- “The Audience Valuation Engine: A New Model for Calculating the Value Per Subscriber” on Content Marketing Institute
- “When Reader Targeting Goes Wrong” on David Gaughran
- “Can You Identify The Weaknesses In Your Book Marketing Platform? Use This Checklist To Find Out” on Digital Book World
- “What If What We Know About Marketing Is What’s Holding Us Back?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Everything Publishers Need to Know About Business Intelligence” on Digital Book World
- “Business Agility” on Meet Edgar
- “Why you should join (or start) a mastermind group” on Erin Flynn
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing is providing valuable information to people to make them loyal to your brand, according to Content Marketing Institute. Below are some resources for effectively marketing content and building a team (if you want to go that route):
- “10 Most Common Content Marketing Questions: Real-World Insights for Enterprise Marketers” on Content Marketing Institute
- “27 Things You Can Do to Promote Your E-Book” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Media Attention: 9 Ways Any Author Can Get It” on BookWorks
- “How Content Influences the Purchasing Process: Tips for Content Marketers [Research]” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How to Beat the Battle of an Ineffective Blog” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Bingeable Content: How to Move Buyers Through Your Sales Cycle Faster” on Content Marketing Institute
- “What type of content should a cornerstone article be?” on Yoast
- “How to Integrate Guest Blogging Into Your Content Marketing Strategy” on Content Marketing Institute
- “User-Generated Content: Where Does It Fit in Your Content Marketing Strategy?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Is It Time to Invest in PPC Campaigns for Your Content?” on Content Marketing Institute
- “The Definitive Checklist for Conversion Optimization” on Media Shower
- Mail Tester (to test the spammyness of your emails)
- “Google Play Books App Adds Discover Feature” on Publisher’s Weekly
- “Setting Content Free: How Health Catalyst Gets Results With Ungated Content” on Content Marketing Institute
- “How Time Zone Differences Affect Your Book Marketing” on Jane Friedman
- “How to Tear Down Silos to Create a Culture of Content” on Content Marketing Institute
- “The 3 Behaviors Driving the Most Creative Content Marketers” on Content Marketing Institute
- “3 Components to Running a Smooth Content Operation” on Content Marketing Institute
- “5 Key Milestones to Develop and Advance Your Content Marketing Program” on Content Marketing Institute
- “7 Best Practices (and Tools) for Managing Your Remote Content Team” on Content Marketing Institute
- “LinkedIn Leader Shares How to Build a High-Performance Content Marketing Team” on Content Marketing Institute
- Zirtual (if you want to hire virtual assistants)
3. Factoring in SEO
Search engine optimization makes it easier for people to find your content. Here are some resources with advice on SEO:
- “4 Easy Steps Any Author Can Take To Improve Their SEO” on Digital Book World
- “The definitive guide to SEO for authors” on Nathan Bransford
- “The Visibility Gambit” on David Gaughran
- “How to Boost Your Page Ranking for One Keyword” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Featured Snippets: New Insights, New Opportunities” on Stone Temple
- “Designing for Better Analytics: 5 Decisions Web Designers Fail to Make” on Content Marketing Institute
- Influencer Tools (for blog, SEO, and social)
4. Measuring Your Marketing
Last, you want to make sure that whatever tactics you use are effective. Below are some resources for how to track and measure your efforts:
- “Content Amplification: How to Promote and Distribute Content Effectively” on Content Marketing Institute
- “A Step-by-Step Process for Scoring Your Content” on Content Marketing Institute
- “Design ECommerce CTAS That Convert” on Invision
- “Google URL Builder: How to Track Social media Campaigns” on Razor Social
- Campaign URL Builder
- Tag Assistant (by Google)
- “17 No-Cost Ways Writers Can Extend Reach of Their Editorial” on Content Marketing Institute
