Effective Marketing

 

I always feel very self absorbed when I write a post as I seem to be saying, look at me, here I am. And I suppose I am in a way. I have had a bit of ‘look at me’ moment over the last month as I have been trying to get my name out there. I’ve had blog tours, book blasts and a nice big giveaway all in an attempt to get noticed. It’s not all about the book, people need to know about the author, to be able to reach out and touch them. Okay take a step back, I mean through social media and not in person.

What I would love to know is if these giveaways and tours are worth the money? I realise you have to speculate to accumulate but where does it stop and where is it most effective? That’s the question, isn’t it? One we would all love to know, well I know I would. I read a great book, Building Your Fan base by Shannon O’Neil and Toni Tesori, which tried to identify fans. That’s everyone right? But they go on to add that it’s not just about finding readers. I am one of those readers that look at recommendations from friends and it’s very rare that I follow a specific author; I follow three if anyone is interested. What an author wants is a fan, the one who tells all their friends and stalks them on Facebook and Twitter for any glimpse into their world. The fan comes to signings, buys and downloads all the little extras and can’t wait for your next book. And of course you want a few of these, a million or so will do, I’m not greedy. Maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself here; a handful of fans would be nice around about now.

I may have gone off on a tangent just now but it’s hard to answer the question about effective marketing. If you really know who your fan is, or hopefully are, and can concentrate your efforts on them, then maybe all that effort and cost will pay off.