Planning a proper marketing roadmap is the key to having a successful book launch event. Not only does this increase the chances of the book being a success, but also brings in clarity in the marketing journey.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through the entire process of building a proper marketing plan for a successful book launch.
Importance of a marketing plan for book launch
While many would think that having a marketing plan for a book launch is unnecessary for small writers and self publishers, but there are indeed reasons to why have a marketing plan even if you aren’t working with a big publisher.
Let’s go through them one by one.
Clarity: As said above, having a proper, well-defined marketing plan gives you clarity on all the steps that need to be taken for a successful book launch. Not having a plan would lead to you missing many opportunities as you might get busy with other tasks related to launch.
Build hype: A marketing plan is all about building hype about the book launch over a period of time using various channels like social media and email marketing. This is a great way of building excitement among the target audience.
Increase chances of success: Having a strong marketing plan also increases your chances of making the book launch a success, as it touches upon various marketing strategies that are known to work well.
Build credibility: A part of the marketing plan also includes things like getting reviews from book reviewers, critics and influencers, their inputs and reviews can be easily converted into testimonials and marketing materials which are great for building credibility for the book.
Therefore, a marketing plan is the backbone of your book launch, and it becomes even more important if you are self-publishing for your book’s market penetration and success.
Planning your book launch
Effective planning is at the heart of a successful book launch.
It involves understanding your audience, choosing the right platforms, deciding on the format of your event, and much more.
Here are a few key ideas to include into your marketing plan:
Leveraging social media
No matter whether you cater to B2B or B2C, social media has become one of the biggest marketing channels for businesses of all kinds. Ignoring it would certainly be a bad idea.
A big advantage of social media is that it’s completely FREE! You can simply select between platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X) and TikTok based on what your target audience uses and get started.
For starters, you can start posting snippets, quotes, and short videos (made using content from the book) that would excite people and motivate them to do a purchase when the actual launch happens.
Let’s understand social media strategy with an example; assume your upcoming book is about romantic poems. If you’d like to market it on socials, simply convert a few poems into Instagram posts and reels. You’d be amazed to see how people love to enjoy content in various other formats.
Getting boost from influencers
The growth of social media has also contributed to the growth of social media influencers.
Though many might find influencer marketing expensive but if done right, it can have a great ROI – better than ads. To get started with influencer marketing, try to find popular accounts based on your niche. Then simply reach out to them and do a deal to promote your product.
Here are some popular deal/partnership options:
Up-front deal: In an up-front deal, you simply pay an influencer to promote and talk about your product (book in this case) and in-exchange they get a fixed pay irrespective of how the campaign performs. This is the most common way of getting a product promoted by influencers.
Barter deal: A deal in which you would give your product in-exchange for a social media post is what a barter deal is, this is generally common with smaller/new influencers which low reach. Though you may not get a high reach, but this is a good option as you don’t pay much for the promotion.
Performance linked pay: It’s a kind of agreement when the influencer gets paid based on certain KPIs like views, likes, or conversions. This may sometime also include a fixed pay, while the variable is based on the decided KPIs. The good part about this is that you’d not have to pay much in-case the promotion doesn’t work.
In short, connecting with influencers effectively amplifies your promotional efforts, and can be a game-changer for your book launch.
Promoting in book clubs
Though authors know about book clubs, but most tend to ignore them for pre-launch and only approach them after the book has launched. This is a wrong approach as you are missing on the opportunity to build a sustained hype.
You can simply start by sharing about your book, a summary, and maybe snippets as well to get the members of the club excited. This can also be a way of collecting testimonials if you decide to share the book before launch in a closed group of readers who have a good following or reputation in the club.
Remember, these aren’t just any readers; they are passionate individuals who could potentially become influential advocates for your book.
Display ads
While advertisements might not always deliver the best return on investment (ROI) but they can offer significant benefits, such as product discovery. Using display ad networks like Google and Facebook can really help in showcasing your upcoming book.
To begin, all you need to do is create a potential audience. Consider factors such as age, gender, and profession to find those likely to be interested in your book. Once you launch your ad on these networks, it’ll be displayed across various platforms, bringing your book to the attention of numerous prospective readers.
Having an email marketing strategy
Finally, having an email marketing strategy in place in a great add-on, using it you can efficiently connect with your existing subscribers and start talking about your upcoming book. If you don’t already have an email list, you can easily start building one by talking about your newsletters on socials and also including a link in the “About Author” section.
Your email strategy should be to send multiple emails with some interval talking about the upcoming book, such as what it is and why they should be reading it. You can also include a discount code in your final email as a reward and motivation to make the purchase.
Moreover, don’t forget to ask for reviews after the launch. Positive reviews can encourage potential readers and boost your book sales.
Conclusion
Writing a good book is a big challenge, but the bigger one is to ensure that work reaches the audience it deserves, and a planned book launch is one such thing to achieve it.
Though these were some common ideas and tips for a successful book launch, but you can change it, add and remove steps based on your personal goals. That being said, it’s always a good idea to diversify your marketing efforts across multiple channels so that you can reach a larger audience.
All the best and if you’d like an email marketing tool for your book launch then feel free to check out EmailOctopus – completely free for up to 2,500 subscribers and trusted by several authors. Do checkout this case study we did with Liz Gavin, an international best-selling romance writer.
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