When it comes to marketing, it can sometimes feel like you’re drinking from a firehose. It’s important to choose just one area and put your marketing focus there. Are you on Facebook or another social media about once a day? Then add at least one book shout-out per week. Do you blog or contribute to a group blog? Make sure you mention your book at least monthly.
Statistics say that a consumer has to hear about a product at least seven times before they consider purchasing it. That’s not the way it is with friends, of course, but folks on the fringes of your acquaintance or friends of friends are going to need repeats of your information.
That’s why newsletters are also important. It is a place where people can get your information again and again.
- Have you set one up? I originally suggested Mailjet or MailerLite. Now, I suggest Email Octopus! It is so much easier to use than the other two and it is still free, even though it offers the actions that we need! EmailOctopus.com Use the free version!
- Have you added a list of people (those who have agreed to be on it) to your newsletter? If you haven’t yet, send an email to folks you know – a personal email that tells them about this new writing journey that you’re on. Ask them to join you on your journey for encouragement and to keep up with what’s going on. Specifically ask them to reply and say yes! Add those emails to your list and send them a thank you for their support right away. You can set one up and have it go out automatically with every sign up or send it as you add people to your list. No need to rewrite it!
- Have you sent your first email to your newsletter group? Share a short story or anecdote of recent life with you. Add a photo. Then send a promo of your book or something that you’re reading that would be of interest to people who would like your book.
- At the end of my newsletters, I either share a link to a giveaway about books in my genre or I give away a book myself! I ask my readers questions and invite them to email their answers to me. (And I engage with everyone who writes to me!) One of them will win a free book. I send a new or barely used book in my genre. I seldom send my own books because those are the things I want to sell. Sometimes I send an e-book from Amazon instead, but since I’m also a reviewer, I have a ton of paperback books in my genre.
Mailing monthly newsletters is a crucial piece to your marketing pie. It’s free, it keeps you in touch with readers, and it keeps them interested in you and possibly your books. AND you’re a writer, so this is a great opportunity to stretch your typing muscles at least once a month!
Give it a try!
