How authors can promote their self-published books
Now that you have already self-published your book, what next? Promote and market your book, of course.
However, if you are a new author, it would be hard to generate significant attention for your book, let alone get local media coverage. Don’t think a literary agent would be contacting you anytime soon or expect your work to be picked by Oprah for her book club or be featured in The New York Times Books section. Don’t!
If you strongly believe that you have a great book, wouldn’t you want to have the first crack at marketing and promotion? You will – because almost all the tools that you can use are free and they don’t even cost a lot if you want to access their premium features.
A website is one of the tools you need to spread the word about your book, sell your book, and even connect with readers who might be interested in your book. You can build your author website for free at WordPress, Blogger, or Wix.
Social media is free too – unless you want to use their paid advertising features such as Facebook Ads and Twitter’s Sponsored Tweets and Promoted Trends. Social media is a great place to promote your book, interact with readers, and spot trends and ideas that you could use in your next book. With social media, you can build your audience around your content: blog posts, images, and video.
Video? Yes, video.
What has video got to do with book marketing and promotion?
A lot.
Video is the future
The Internet has not only provided self-published and independent authors more opportunities and venues to publish and share their work; it has also pushed them to become agile content creators and multimedia specialists of sorts.
Authors should be quick and smart to know what works in the digital age. The Internet has transformed from an information medium to an entertainment platform, where video rules. If a picture is worth a thousand a thousand words, then a video is priceless.
It is no secret that Internet users have limited attention span – and it is hard to sell books nowadays due to the vast array of books that readers could choose from and even download for free. The advent of self-publishing gives more people the opportunity to share their stories and become published authors in their own right. Thus, competition among authors becomes intense.
So, what is your move? Now that you know Internet users skim information and readers look for books that allow them to create their own emotional experiences, the best way to capture – and sustain their interest is through a book trailer.
Why video? Why a book trailer to promote your book?
- The numbers say it all.
Check out these recent stats compiled by UK-based Red Website Design:
- Online videos will account for more than 80% of all online traffic by 2020.
- Over 8 billion videos or 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day.
- More than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube every day.
- 55% of people consume videos thoroughly – the highest amount of all types of content.
- 43% of people want to see more video content from marketers in the future.
- Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than reading about it.
- 4 in 5 millennials consider video content when making a purchase decision.
These figures affirm that we think in pictures, not words.
- A video helps communicate your ideas faster.
Videos up to two minutes long get the most engagement.
Most book trailers last between 30-90 seconds.
That’s how long it takes to spark the interest of your readers.
If you are going to promote your book on the Internet, you got to make a killer first impression. According to 3M, we can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. What better way to communicate your ideas faster than by making a book trailer?
Don’t forget that Internet users skim information and readers today want to create their own emotional experiences through the books they read and love. With video, you improve their online search experience and enrich their emotional experience.
- A video helps get your message across.
A book trailer will help readers understand what your book is all about. It prompts them to think differently about your book.
A video trailer will not only showcase your book and set you apart from other authors, but also give readers the impression that you have a great story to tell – and a great message to share. You give readers a story to talk about and share with others, not just a book to read.
- Videos increase social engagement
A video is perfect for engaging your readers. As a shareable medium, video can directly impact your marketing and search engine ranking.
According to ComScore, visitors to author websites that use video stay an average of two minutes longer than on author websites that do not use video.
A book trailer on a sales landing page can increase conversion rates by as much as 80%, according to Unbounce.
According to Forrester Research, the chances of getting a first-page listing on Google increase 53 times with video. Authors who use book trailer video in email campaigns can experience increased open rates from 19% to 300%
Video drives a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engine results pages, according to digital marketing company Brightcove.
Red Website Design confirms that videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than photos and three times more likely than GIFs.
- Videos broaden your audience.
More exposure means more sales. Book trailers increase exposure to your book by helping you reach readers you wouldn’t otherwise.
According to ComScore, readers are 64% more likely to purchase your book if they see a book trailer that effectively promotes your book.
You make your book accessible to readers worldwide by sharing your book trailer on your author website, social media such Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and YouTube, websites in your niche or genre, and even at bookstores and book events.
- Videos foster connection.
A book trailer keeps your book top of mind for readers who face the choice of purchasing your book over another book. More importantly, it fosters deeper connections between you and your readers. It helps increase the know, like, trust (KLT) factor which is critical to book sales.
Book sales, unknown to many readers and retailers, are all about connection, which is fostered by communication. The greatest proportion of human communication is non-verbal; there are things and cues that can’t be communicated in plain text.
Even if you are a new, self-published author, you can get ahead of the competition with a book trailer and other videos that readers will love to share. A great book trailer will captivate potential readers and get them excited about buying your book.
Want to know more about book trailers? Talk with our marketing consultants today. Call 1-800-805-0762 or email us at info@beta.readersmagnet.com
Recent Comments