The Authors' Digital Marketing Survey

[Carleton Chinner]

I'm a long-time lurker here and I seldom post, so please forgive the unexpected drop-in

I've been giving a lot of thought to the marketing techniques we all use, and it sparked something in my stats-nerdy brain. There is a positive cornucopia of sites telling you how to market your book, but almost nothing that provides a longitudinal assessment of what we are all doing as writers to market our books. Well. I'd like to fix that.

If you are an author who markets your books and are interested in helping the writing community learn a bit more about current trends in marketing, please consider participating in my study to map current marketing practices. Participants have the option of choosing to receive results once analysis completes in June. You can find the study at http://bit.ly/2NXbnqV

[bardsandsages]

For whatever reason, the link doesn't open for me.

That said, the problem with all of these surveys is that they are guesswork by the author. Professional market research looks at consumer trends, not manufacturer results. Pretty much every survey about author marketing starts with "end results" i.e. "what worked?" The problem is, you don't really know what worked because no one action exists in a vacuum.

Take BookBub, for example. Many authors swear by it. But consider this: many of the same authors who swear by it also are fixated on it. They get very upset when they can't get a BookBub placement, because that means they won't be able to sell books. However, if BookBub "really" worked, you wouldn't need to keep using it over an over and over. If it worked, that would mean those people who bought your book on the first ad converted to fans, and would then be actively seeking you out in the future...not waiting around for your ad to appear in the next BookBub. A small portion of authors that use BookBub end up with consistent sell through for future titles, but many have to keep going back to the well time and time again. The fact is BookBub doesn't sell books: it sells FREE AND HEAVILY DISCOUNTED books. There is a fundamental difference. That is why authors have to keep going back for each new release, because it doesn't consistently convert those discount/freebie shoppers to paying customers.

Marketing is about reaching your customers. And reaching your customers means knowing who they are and, more importantly, WHERE they are. The bulk of indie marketing doesn't actually look for their customers. Instead, it is all a competition for the free/discount buyer crowd (or a competition to beat the Amazon algorithms to increase Select payout). And too much indie marketing is dependent on impulse purchases from the free/discount buyer crowd.

The other issue is that most indie marketing is focused solely on POP conversion (point of Purchase). My Amazon ad had 10,000 impressions. I got 50 sales. But POP conversion is only a very tiny piece of the puzzle. Most consumer marketers see POP as the LAST STAGE of a marketing plan, not the sole source.

I work in contract packaging, so I'll provide an example:

Manufacturer A spends $40,000 on displays to be placed in Walmart. The displays are endcaps (displays meant to sit at the end of an aisle.). They sell through the product in the displays, but don't see a "bump" to their sales for the quarter.

Manufacturer B spends $20,000 on displays to be placed in Walmart. The displays are endcaps (displays meant to sit at the end of an aisle.). But Manufacturer B also spent $15,000 on print and radio advertising in the region where the displays are being set up. They sell through the product in the displays, and also get additional sales bump from shelf stock not only at WalMart, but other retailers who sell the product.

Manufacturer A spent more on POP conversion (the physical display in the store) but with no associated promotion to potential new customers, the conversion was completely dependent on 1. a customer going to the store and seeing the display 2. a customer actively paying attention to the display and 3. the customer making an impulsive decision to make a purchase.

Manufacturer B spend less on POP conversion, but ran an awareness campaign in advance to establish their brand. So instead of solely depending on the display, they also had additional chances to reach customers through print and radio ads to create a need in the customer.

As one of our sales reps likes to say, selling is like a marriage proposal. Everyone remembers the proposal, but the decision was based on years of cultivating the relationship.

POP ads are the proposal. But you have to cultivate the relationship first. ;)

[okey dokey]

A few years ago, a major company admitted that 50% of its advertising was wasted.

But the problem was, the company didn't know which 50%.

So the company continued to spend its whole ad budget each year.

[Bill Hiatt]

A few years ago, a major company admitted that 50% of its advertising was wasted.

But the problem was, the company didn't know which 50%.

So the company continued to spend its whole ad budget each year.

How could they tell 50% was wasted? If they had that much data, I'm surprised they couldn't make an educated guess on which part.

[Anarchist]

A few years ago, a major company admitted that 50% of its advertising was wasted.

But the problem was, the company didn't know which 50%.

So the company continued to spend its whole ad budget each year.

How could they tell 50% was wasted? If they had that much data, I'm surprised they couldn't make an educated guess on which part.

It wasn't a few years ago. The statement is credited to John Wanamaker. He built a successful retail store in the late 1800s that eventually became part of the Macy's brand.

Obviously, advertising was a lot different back then. Wanamaker lacked the tools we use today to track metrics.

[bardsandsages]

Obviously, advertising was a lot different back then. Wanamaker lacked the tools we use today to track metrics.

Yeah, the data available to marketing firms these days is ridiculous. WalMart tracks demographics of consumers down to the individual store level, so they can customize inventories to different regions and cities. We have clients that run displays with interchangeable headers, so they can use different promo headers for different stores even when the core body of the display is the same. They can even target which COLORS to use in specific advertising and displays depending on the region of the U.S., age group, and even ethnic and cultural factors.

That is why we need to focus on a wider scale than just immediate ROI. ROI on a click-through is an end result of everything else that you did before that.

The problem for individual authors is that it is hard to get quantitative data on CONSUMER preferences because the retailers that we work with don't share information. So if we aren't regularly polling our existing customers, we really don't often know what they like about us (and what they don't.) The sites that DO share information you have to take with a grain of salt, because the data they collect is for their own use and geared toward what they want to know, not what we want to know. You don't know how the questions were worded, or what choices we presented. You only get the end result, which often simply reinforces what the site already wants you to believe.

[Denise]

Take BookBub, for example. Many authors swear by it. But consider this: many of the same authors who swear by it also are fixated on it. They get very upset when they can't get a BookBub placement, because that means they won't be able to sell books. However, if BookBub "really" worked, you wouldn't need to keep using it over an over and over. If it worked, that would mean those people who bought your book on the first ad converted to fans, and would then be actively seeking you out in the future...not waiting around for your ad to appear in the next BookBub.

Marketing is about reaching your customers. And reaching your customers means knowing who they are and, more importantly, WHERE they are. The bulk of indie marketing doesn't actually look for their customers. Instead, it is all a competition for the free/discount buyer crowd (or a competition to beat the Amazon algorithms to increase Select payout). And too much indie marketing is dependent on impulse purchases from the free/discount buyer crowd.

I love your post!

Anyway, I have some questions.

RE: BB. Isn't it an issue with the product, though? Isn't the fact that readers don't come back for more a fault in the book itself? Or do you think that since BB readers are so spoiled with tons of free or almost free books they'll almost always prefer free or cheap books, therefore being very little inclined to continue buying?

This relates to all the indie free/almost free marketing. I think it's about the idea that we're giving out samples, like many companies do, and then, after the samples, the readers will continue. But then, perhaps are we giving so many samples that readers are looking just for samples? I don't know, like some people who go to grocery stores at the day/times when they're giving food samples just to eat a little for free?

I don't know the answer.

Re: Reaching customers. This is tricky. We know for sure that they're on Amazon, though. Some people post ads on Facebook. Readers are there, cause everyone's there. Maybe another trick is to go to specialized conventions and stuff. It's tricky because readers are reading. There aren't that many blogs or sites geared towards readers. It's tough.

Anyway, I think measuring results is the best we can do, and I agree it's faulty just because there are so many variables that we can't take into consideration when dealing with numbers.

[David VanDyke]

BB is a way to get new customers.

It's hard to get new customers. It's probably the #1 problem of indie authors--how to get people to try them and like them. BB is a shotgun blast that hits a lot of potential new customers.

Of course, if you as an indie don't have a strategy and a system for KEEPING those new customers, you're missing the other half of that equation.

And current customers do trickle away--they die, they forget about you, they change their lives, they change their tastes--so you have to think of your customers as water behind a dam--continually flowing in and out, but also a pool to be valued and managed.

[Carleton Chinner]

For whatever reason, the link doesn't open for me.

That said, the problem with all of these surveys is that they are guesswork by the author. Professional market research looks at consumer trends, not manufacturer results. Pretty much every survey about author marketing starts with "end results" i.e. "what worked?" The problem is, you don't really know what worked because no one action exists in a vacuum.

Sorry to hear the link doesn't work for you BardsandSages. Must be some online weirdness.

Yes, you are right there is an element of guesswork by the author, but this is precisely why I'm doing a longitudinal baseline survey. This is less about finding out what is successful, than it is about mapping what we all do.  I don't think it is really possible to predict success. If it was, I'd have done the analysis and be a best-selling author by now 

That said, surveys are interesting beasts. Let's say the population of published authors is around 750,000. If I can reach the magical minimum number of 386 responses, I can draw all sorts of inferences on relationships between the questions. (That's 95% at a confidence interval of 5, for those of you who want to question the stats)

As an example, 87% of respondents to date, have a website, but only 41% of website owners have optimized the site to be found by search engines. Which means a significant group of authors with a website haven't realised how powerful organic web traffic is. However, there are just over 100 responses so far, so this statement has no real meaning yet as it carries no statistical weight.

[Denise]

As an example, 87% of respondents to date, have a website, but only 41% of website owners have optimized the site to be found by search engines. Which means a significant group of authors with a website haven't realised how powerful organic web traffic is. However, there are just over 100 responses so far, so this statement has no real meaning yet as it carries no statistical weight.

You'd need a blog or something to catch people's interest to drive traffic to your site. If it's just information about your books, it won't draw or convert organic traffic.

I have a website, it is SEO optimized, but only people looking for me or my books will find it. Still, it's the first search result for my pen name, and that way I control my web presence. I think that's what a website is mostly for.

I don't think an author website is meant to draw traffic, unless they blog. If they blog, it needs to be about a topic of interest, like popular books or popular culture, to draw readers. It can be about writing or self-publishing if they write nonfiction for writers. Still, blogging takes time and effort, and I think only writers who enjoy it should do it. Time is better spent writing books.

Also, I looked at the form, and it unfortunately has a bunch of promo services in a question that forces us to answer if they worked or not without the option of saying we never used them. This will have a negative impact on the acuracy of the results.

[notthatamanda]

Also, I looked at the form, and it unfortunately has a bunch of promo services in a question that forces us to answer if they worked or not without the option of saying we never used them. This will have a negative impact on the acuracy of the results.

That's odd, I definitely had the option did not use for each one.

[Carleton Chinner]

Also, I looked at the form, and it unfortunately has a bunch of promo services in a question that forces us to answer if they worked or not without the option of saying we never used them. This will have a negative impact on the acuracy of the results.

There is something weird going on with Google forms, you're the second one I've heard who can't see the 'I don't use' option

[Carleton Chinner]

I don't think an author website is meant to draw traffic, unless they blog. If they blog, it needs to be about a topic of interest, like popular books or popular culture, to draw readers. It can be about writing or self-publishing if they write nonfiction for writers. Still, blogging takes time and effort, and I think only writers who enjoy it should do it. Time is better spent writing books.

That is what I thought too. Blogging equals content and content rules as a marketing device for SEO. However, I've spoken to a number of non-fiction authors who focus on static pages of high-value content that draw equally large numbers of search engine results. Do whatever it takes I guess

[Al Stevens]

Carleton:

1. Is the "estimated total unit sales" meant to include free e-books?
2. Is it supposed to reflect a specific time period or the total time I've been publishing? (Since 1986.)
3. Where do I find these numbers?

[Al Stevens]

This is a simplified generalization, but it's worth considering, I believe.

Writing is more art than science (right brain).
Marketing is more science than art (left brain).

They involve different knowledge bases and are driven by different motivations.

Few people exhibit both skill sets in proportions equal enough to be effective.

[bardsandsages]

RE: BB. Isn't it an issue with the product, though? Isn't the fact that readers don't come back for more a fault in the book itself? Or do you think that since BB readers are so spoiled with tons of free or almost free books they'll almost always prefer free or cheap books, therefore being very little inclined to continue buying?

No. I would argue the problem is that BB attracts a very specific type of consumer. It doesn't promote 'book' but free and discount books. There is a difference. The readers aren't "spoiled." They are exactly the type of readers BB meant to attract. I have long complained about the fact that every...single...site that promote indie books ONLY is interested in free and cheap books with X star rating. Because these sites actually don't KNOW how to promote books. They know how to sell bargain basement products.

Think about the difference between shopping in a dollar store and shopping in a department store. Most of us have done both. When I shop in a dollar store, I will often pick up things I don't actually need because 'it's a buck.' But even if I end up liking the product, I will rarely make a special trip to the dollar store to buy it again. I might pick it up again IF I got back to the dollar store, but I don't go actively looking for it. A dollar store item would have to be EXCEPTIONAL for me to really make an effort to seek it out again.

But if I discover a new product at the supermarket or a department store and really like it, I will often make an effort to go back and get it again. The product doesn't need to be exceptional, but so long as it is good and meets my needs I'll go look for it again.

This are volumes of marketing research that explains this phenomena, but the bottom line is that on a psychological level it boils down to commodification versus branding. We tend to see "bargain discount" stuff as interchangeable commodities. The people who frequent BB don't care about YOUR WORK per se, because your work is, psychologically, no different than any other author's work. There are cases, for example, of readers even buying the same book twice simply because they didn't remember reading it because all of the books blur together to them. They are all interchangeable.

Re: Reaching customers. This is tricky. We know for sure that they're on Amazon, though.

No. Customers on Amazon are AMAZON'S customers. Not yours. Amazon is a retailer. They are a Point of Purchase, not the reason for the purchase. You do need to engage in a certain level of POP marketing to stand out in the retail landscape (which is why companies spend so much money on packaging, displays, and in store ads.) But all of that is meant to SEAL THE DEAL, not initiate it. Your customers aren't "on Amazon." They may use Amazon to make the final purchase, but that is not where they are.

My customers are fans of spec fiction and roleplaying games. They are gamer geeks. Comic book geeks. Horror geeks. LARPers. They tend to be a little more intellectual than the typical reader, because they spend a lot of time thinking about their fandoms. They write fan fiction. They draw fan art. They attend conventions and dress up as their favorite characters. To reach MY readers, I can't rely on Amazon, because these folks aren't spending a lot of time browsing Amazon looking for suggestions, though they often go to Amazon when they already know what they want and are looking for a deal.

So I do the bulk of my advertising at conventions and book fairs. I place ads in convention programs. I provide swag for door prizes. I sponsor game events. Because THOSE are my readers.

THAT is what I mean by going where your customers are. Instead of hoping they discover you on a retail site because of algorithms, you have to go to where they truly live and make them aware of you.You need to think about the TYPE of person who would be interested in your book, and then figure out where they would be found.

It isn't easy. And I am not going to pretend I am an Amazon bestseller pulling in six figures a year. I have a day job that pays my bills. But I make enough profit each month that it makes my car payment and allows me to indulge my gaming addictions (those crate boxes for ESO won't buy themselves! lol). I am profitable, and my profitability is completely independent on anything that Amazon might do with their algorithms.

[bardsandsages]

I have a website, it is SEO optimized, but only people looking for me or my books will find it. Still, it's the first search result for my pen name, and that way I control my web presence. I think that's what a website is mostly for.

This is why I always tell authors that they should be linking to their OWN website instead of Amazon when they promote. If someone actually is interested enough in your ad that they click a link, you want 100% control of what they see so you can sell them. Link to your website. That way you control the entire presentation and can "sell" the reader. Once the reader is sold, they can click the "buy it now" link to whichever retailer they want (I love the Books to Read site for this. It allows me to create a single page that has links to every retailer selling a book). Once they have made the mental commitment to buy the book and click the link, the chance is very high they will complete the purchase and not even bother looking for reviews or the sales ranking of the book. YOU already sold them when they were on your site.

The fundamental problem with linking directly to a retailer is that retail websites are full of distractions, because Amazon doesn't care if the reader buys YOUR book so long as they buy something. Look at all the added nonsense on an Amazon page. "Customers who bought this item also bought" "Sponsored Books" big banner ads for other Prime offerings. There are tons of distractions that can pull a person who is not completely sold away from you. But if you get them to your site first and they decide to buy, they won't even bother looking at the rest of the page. They will just click the purchase button.

[RappaDizzy]

I don't think an author website is meant to draw traffic, unless they blog. If they blog, it needs to be about a topic of interest, like popular books or popular culture, to draw readers. It can be about writing or self-publishing if they write nonfiction for writers. Still, blogging takes time and effort, and I think only writers who enjoy it should do it. Time is better spent writing books.

That is what I thought too. Blogging equals content and content rules as a marketing device for SEO. However, I've spoken to a number of non-fiction authors who focus on static pages of high-value content that draw equally large numbers of search engine results. Do whatever it takes I guess

You’re talking two different animals. Fiction is not Non-Fiction. If you’re going to do a survey or a study you need to separate the two.

People will search on google on how to fix my toenails or dark circles under my eyes. I.e. I ran an affiliate website on golf training aids for years & drew a lot of eyeballs because people were searching for training aids. People will search for things golf clubs, shoes, health issues or social problems etc

People don’t search for mystery book or thriller book or fantasy or sci-fi....they simply don’t. They might search for Patterson or King ( and find their website because they are already known) but not specific types of books. The only successful websites on writing offer writing advice and that attracts other authors. Authors might be readers but you’re still not attracting the millions of readers you really need to reach to be successful.

[Denise]

 Blogging equals content and content rules as a marketing device for SEO. However, I've spoken to a number of non-fiction authors who focus on static pages of high-value content that draw equally large numbers of search engine results.

Nonfiction is a different animal.

In that case, blogging, or having a youtube channel, whatever, to place you as an expert, is highly useful.

For fiction writers, not so much. What can you blog about? Your books, your characters? Only people who already like you will be interested in that. It might be useful to cultivate relationships with your audience, but not to bring readers with traffic.

If you blog about other books or popular culture you could bring readers. Even then, are they interested in your books or in your blog? Unlike nonfiction writers, fiction writers can't blog about the content of their books, so there's always a huge difference there.

That's why I think that, for a fiction writer, working on attracting readers with organic traffic is a bit silly, unless they really enjoy blogging.

[Cathleen]

Okay, how do I know if my site is SEO optimized? I guess I assumed that since I got organic traffic and it's with WordPress.com, it would be. Do I need to do anything else to make this happen? (P.S. My site is cathleentownsend.com, in case you need to know the site address to tell.)

[bardsandsages]

Okay, how do I know if my site is SEO optimized? I guess I assumed that since I got organic traffic and it's with WordPress.com, it would be. Do I need to do anything else to make this happen? (P.S. My site is cathleentownsend.com, in case you need to know the site address to tell.)

You can go nuts with this kind of thing. I just tend to focus on basics.

Make sure that your keywords are accurate and reflect the content of your site (or, when blogging, that the keywords used for the article reflect the content).

Be specific with headlines on articles. "Organic Recipe for Homemade Vegetarian Lasagna" is better than "A new recipe for Tuesday"

Where possible, add alternate text for images (search engines may not be able to "search" a specific image, but can read the alternate text to know what the image is supposed to be.

If you post videos on your site, include a transcript. Video isn't generally indexable. Transcripts are.

Be careful who you link to. Linking to other sites is a double-edged sword. If your site links to a lot of "high value" sites, then that can improve your ranking, but if it links to a lot of "junk" links, then search engines will lower your position in search results. I think this is the biggest problem a lot of authors have. They link to all of their friends sites or they do link exchanges with other authors or link unrelated sites to their publishing and creates a glut.

[Anarchist]

Okay, how do I know if my site is SEO optimized?

Yoast is a good place to start.