by Penny Sansevieri
In today’s tech-savvy world nearly everything can be measured by metrics: Facebook likes, Instagram or Twitter followers, YouTube video views, etc. Big data is a big industry and metrics seem to drive marketing efforts and other online behaviors. However, “metrics” is a word I’ve learned to hate. And focusing on metrics alone is a fast way to tank your marketing plan. While metrics give you a tangible measurement in the relatively intangible world of feelings—and they’re great for running ads or website data—a focus solely on metrics means we don’t always see the forest for all the trees.
Metrics Don’t Stand Alone
When you focus solely on metrics, it’s easy to lose sight of your overall campaign goals. In publishing, it’s rare for a book to become a huge success because of one single marketing effort, but instead as the cumulative effect of a multi-faceted approach. For example, speaking engagements give me lots of exposure, even though they don’t always generate immediate business or book sales. Sometimes that takes months, or even years. I always coach our authors to not expect every blogger or media person to get in touch with us immediately. For example, we worked with an author whom we pitched to several national women’s magazines, and after a year, we got an email from Cosmopolitan asking to interview him. This is especially true when you have an evergreen topic with lasting interest. While we love when we get immediate, real-time results, it doesn’t always unfold that way.
If It’s Not Working, Maybe You’re Doing It Wrong
Authors often tell me: “I stopped blogging because no one was visiting.” Blogging takes time to become effective, and may not immediately seem worth it from a metrics standpoint; you need to give yourself time to build solid content and a following of fans. If you’ve been blogging for a while without seeing a jump in followers and you let metrics guide your actions, you may be tempted to give up, thinking that blogging doesn’t work. Sometimes marketing efforts don’t work simply because they’re not correctly executed.
In this example, no one may be reading your blog because you aren’t addressing the interests of your potential audience. It’s worth your while to spend some time and effort researching the meaning behind your dismal metrics. It might be that your blogging is ineffective because you have misidentified your potential audience. Have you run out of things to say? Devote some time to researching successful authors in your market/genre. Do a quick Google search of your book genre and the word “author” or “book” (try different combinations in different search strings). Authors who are on the first few pages of Google under their specific book topic are doing it right. And by “it” I mean blogging, social media, etc. In your research, ignore big names in favor of authors who aren’t major brands or household names, and look at what they’re doing in terms of their blog and social media. This research may unearth some surprising things. You may find new social media sites, or there may be some social sites that you can ditch. By researching four to six successful authors in your market, you’ll start to see a trend of what’s working for them.
Bottom-Up Marketing
Another problem with blindly following metrics is that you may turn down opportunities with long-term benefits. One of my favorite strategies is “bottom-up marketing.” Mark Victor Hanson, one of the masterminds behind the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, tells a great story about when he and his co-author were first publishing these books. He did every single radio interview possible, regardless of the early hours (even those that were at three or four in the morning). He built an incredible empire through bottom-up marketing and never turning down a single opportunity. For this reason, I always encourage authors we work with to say yes to every opportunity that arises, within reason. Keep in mind your limiting factors: time constraints, financial constraints, and the relevancy to your genre. Often we see authors say things like, “I don’t think that blogger is worth my time,” or “They don’t have enough followers.” We all want to be on popular network television, but let’s face it, everyone has to start some where.
Stop Doing Stuff that Doesn’t Matter
I just told you not to turn down any opportunities that arise. So when I say stop doing things that don’t matter, I mean that you should be realistic with what is the most effective way to spend your time and money. Often we implement marketing efforts because they’re easy, instead of carefully considering their long-term benefits. Running ads, for example, is relatively easy, and it feels like you’re doing something productive. But are you? Ads should be targeted, compelling, and give the viewers a call to action. The same is true for press releases. I love a good press release, but if you’re issuing one to announce your book, and that’s it, well, it may get lost in the crowd of 4,000+ books published that day. Instead, consider issuing a release when you have big, exciting news, or if you’re running a great promotion.
Be realistic with your pitching efforts. To pitch well, you should be taking a lot of time and effort to craft a pitch that shows you researched the outlet and have put careful thought into why your book would be a good fit. For example, pitching yourself to national shows when you are just starting out may not be the most efficient use of your time. Start small, build a solid foundation, and work your way to the top.
Coordinate Your Marketing Efforts
One of the quickest ways to kill a book is to not promote it; the other way is to do only one thing at a time so you can see which efforts are most effective. I understand why you’d want to test your efforts separately, but the problem with this thinking is that it’s driven by metrics instead of momentum. Instead, take a multi-faceted approach and do multiple things consistently.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
An overemphasis on metrics can lead to inconsistent marketing efforts, which in turn can be a big reason that authors fail. It goes back to my “say yes to everything” advice; let your marketing efforts build, understand what your audience wants, and be consistent. If you have a tight schedule, find a few things that you can commit to and do them consistently.
People Like What Other People Like
Book reviews are always a good idea. You should always pursue them, no matter the age of your book. Since publishing, by nature, is extremely competitive, you should really make an ongoing effort to keep your title relevant. One way you can do this is by continually seeking reviews. When authors tell me they are done pitching for reviews, I ask them if this means they have finished marketing their book. They will often seem surprised that I asked and say “Of course not!” Here’s why pitching your book for reviews is important: getting reviews for your book has one of the strongest metrics attached to it. Why? Because people like what other people like.
Metrics are a powerful tool; however, they need to be viewed with some perspective and should be reviewed periodically instead of constantly. When planning your marketing, I would urge you to emphasize consistency, and use metrics as a tool to identify marketing efforts that can be improved. Give your marketing efforts time to work for you before writing specific avenues off immediately if the metrics don’t speak for them. Allow your marketing efforts to build on one another and allow success to accumulate. Remember what I said above: success is rarely the direct result of one action, but rather the cumulative effect of many actions.
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.