A Moment of Thanks…
Here in the United States was Thanksgiving week. It’s a time when the harvest is in and it’s time to celebrate. It’s time to be thankful for all the good things we have in our lives, and while many tend to eat a wee bit more than usual, it really is about being thankful and coming together with friends and family.
I am thankful for you and the entire the Savvy Sunday News community. One big reason I do this is to be as helpful as possible to all the amazing writers, authors and speakers we have in this group. Heaven knows publicity isn’t the easiest thing to get, no matter who you are, but we try. And we do pretty well, too!
Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. And if you don’t celebrate this day in particular in your country, we are still very thankful you’re here.
And now, on with today’s post…
Influencer Marketing & Publicity for Books and Authors:
Tip #5…
But first, a quick review: I wrote a piece recently called 5 Tips to Help you Get Better Results with Influencer Marketing. You’ll find it here.
Since then, I’ve been taking each of the 5 tips and building on it, beginning with Tip #1, which is knowing what you want. Tip #2, It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Tip #3, Start with one platform, Tip #4, Don’t get hung up on the numbers, and now we’re up to tip #5, which is:
Offer suggestions to influencers and be open to their ideas.
Working with influencers is much like working with media. (In fact, an argument can be made that they are media, too.) They are gatekeepers, that’s for sure.
We all know we live in a world that is ever changing, and that absolutely applies to marketing and publicity. When working with any media, including influencers, you want to offer ideas on how you can add value to their audience. Then it’s important to remain open to their feedback and ideas because influencers understand their audiences better than anyone else. Be sure to give them the freedom to choose how they share your product with their followers.
A few bites of truth: It’s no secret the world keeps changing, and one way influencers are changing is that more and more of them are charging money for coverage. I touched on this last week, but it’s worth pointing out again: Don’t be disappointed if you discover the influencers you target want payment of some kind. Not all of them, of course, but more and more I am seeing this happen. In fact, I got feedback just this morning that a high-profile blogger is now charging money to run a guest post. Many of the top podcasts are requiring a fee as well.
There are a variety of reasons for doing this, including these two: Monetizing their platform, and/or using a fee as a way to weed people out. If you’re a friend, they may waive that fee, which speaks to the importance of building relationships even more. It also demonstrates, yet again, the importance of starting early to get campaigns up and running. You can’t build relationships on a dime, as much as you might like to.
For influencers to share, they usually have to love the product or service. If they aren’t crazy about your book or the subject matter, then influencers are not going to share it directly to their audience. They may feel to do so would be inauthentic, or it might make them lose credibility. If they say no for these reasons, accept it and move on.
If you have really done your research, and you are only approaching those who should love what you’re about based on all you have learned about them, then your chance of getting a response increase dramatically. You would be amazed at how many people skip this critical step. Make sure your selection of influencers is right for you. You want to be sure to collaborate with the right people.
Bottom line: Influencer marketing can be a potent channel for gaining visibility for you and your book, and for converting some of the influencers to affiliates or niche mates, and those in their audiences to customers.
Remember: Begin by knowing what you want, commit to building long-term relationships, start on one platform to get your feet wet and to stay focused, look beyond the numbers, and offer suggestions. This is how you grow your followers and sales through influencer marketing successfully.
To your success!
Joanne
P.S. The holiday season is officially upon us. While I always harp on getting an early start to publicizing and marketing your books, much can still be done. Sign up for a Media Strategy Session if that would be a great next step for you!
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