Online events are more popular than ever before. Whether it is a book launch, live reading, writing workshop, or even an entire conference, marketing is essential for maximizing your audience, and thus maximizing your success. So how do you get people to come to your event, and even better, spend money there? Here are five tried-and-true marketing strategies that will help make your event a big win.
Strategy One: Identify Your Audience
This may sound basic, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t take the time to truly identify who would be interested in their event or books. Unfortunately, the answer is not everyone. I have the task of marketing the Florida Writers Book Expo that will be happening May 1st – 10th. It is an online event where authors and publishers have a booth featuring their books and some info about them. In order to market this event, I need to identify the audience who would be most likely to attend and make a purchase.
Here are factors I consider when targeting my audience: age, gender, geographical location, interests, and sometimes others pending what I’m marketing. (For example, I target parents for storytime events.) With the Book Expo, we’ll have a wide variety of books that will appeal to both genders. For age, I need to think about who buys books online. This means they have disposable income and know how to navigate websites and make purchases. I am thinking the 25 – 65 range would be the most productive for my event. Probably the biggest thing for the Book Expo is geographical location. Readers in Florida are a lot more likely to support Florida authors than in other places, but that doesn’t mean I will only focus on Florida. So I’ve narrowed down who I will be targeting: males and females aged 25 – 65 with a special focus on Floridians. And the biggest factor…they need to be readers!
Strategy Two: Reach Your Audience
Now that I know who I will be marketing my event to, I have to determine how I will do it. The more avenues you take to reach people, the wider your net will be for pulling people in. If you only post on Facebook about your event, your pool will be the small group of people who happened to see your posts. Think bigger! Start by considering your personal network. Who do you know that you can contact about your event? If you know librarians or people who have book clubs, that’s a great place to start. Brainstorm resources in your network and don’t be afraid to reach out.
I have quite a job marketing the Book Expo. It’s a big event and I want our participating authors to sell books. Lots of books! With that in mind, I’ve made a comprehensive marketing plan to reach as many readers as possible. Here are some of the action items on my list:
- Contact book bloggers with a special “book blogger pass” to the event
- Create a Facebook group about the event to start the hype
- Reach out to “bookstagrammers” on Instagram
- Send press releases to Florida news outlets
- Design an email campaign and cross promote with other email lists
- Contact book club leaders with a special “book club pass” to the event
- Guest on podcasts and YouTube channels focused on books
As you can see, I am casting a wide net by going down many avenues to reach readers. There are so many things you can do to market your event, don’t get overwhelmed thinking you have to do everything. Focus on what is doable for you and what will likely have the best results.
Strategy Three: Make Things Enticing
Here’s the kicker: You need to show people why they need to attend, why they will be missing out if they don’t come. This will require a bit of creativity and also some resources. One thing people love is giveaways. For the Book Expo, we are going to have daily giveaways for people who make purchases and also a grand prize. What can you do to entice people to come? As you can see from my notes above, I am going to have a special pass for book bloggers and book club leaders.
You will need to dangle a carrot in order to get the rabbits to come to the garden. If I see an ad that says “Come to my book signing,” my first question will be why. There are hundreds of book signings every. Why should I come to yours? If you don’t have a lot of resources, maybe you can have an interesting guest speaker or showcase a talent of yours. Give people a reason to stop by, and even better, to buy your book.
Strategy Four: Keep Reminding Them
People forget things all the time. People also waffle about a decision and make their choice last minute. So it’s up to you to keep up your marketing plan. Experts say to email your list at least three times about an important event or book release. Post on social media regularly about the event. Change up the time and content you post about it. Sharing on different social media platforms also helps reach a broader audience. And don’t forget the importance of good old word-of-mouth marketing. We sent t-shirts to every author participating in the Book Expo and will be encouraging them to wear them often and talk about the event. In short, make a lot of noise!
Strategy Five: Have “Live Feed”
Once your event has started, be sure to share (or have a friend share) on social media all the fun that is happening. Invite people to join in! Live video is hot right now. Many social media platforms have a live video function. Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all allow you to go live from your phone. You can announce winners, thank people for purchases, remind others to stop by…whatever you can think of to share. Another thing you can do is create your own hashtag for the event and ask people to share using your hashtag. It’s a fun way to involve participants and have buzz going about your event.
Online events can be a challenge to market, especially with so much competition these days. But with a well-thought-out plan, you can attract the right audience and encourage them to not only attend your event, but to buy your book, too.
