Why Marketing is Important for the Literary Community
“You should build a platform.”
“You should get on TikTok.”
“You have to have a following to get published these days.”
“You need to make videos.”
“You have to start a newsletter.”
These are comments that authors, booksellers, and literary organizers have likely all heard when it comes to figuring out their marketing. There are plenty of people quick to offer suggestions on how to capitalize on the next biggest trend, but very few talk about why authors, booksellers, and literary organizers should care about marketing.
So why is it important? Marketing allows you to:
Draw in the right audience: As mentioned above, content marketing is an inbound strategy. As you post content about who you are, what you do, and what you offer, individuals who are interested in what you have to say or what you’re accomplishing in the world will start following you — and those who aren’t interested won’t. Instead of knocking on doors to try to find your audience and your readers, they’ll come to you because they’ll be drawn to your content.
Connect with your audience and build relationships in authentic ways: Because content marketing generally happens on more informal platforms that allow for interaction, like social media, you’ll actually be able to interact with those who follow you and get to know your audience better. You can then build more genuine relationships with them.
Build trust: When you share content — behind-the-scenes of your bookstore, how you wrote your novel, the mission and impact of your non-profit — you build trust with your audience, more so than impersonal organizations who simply send out advertising. Building trust with your audience goes a long way toward them engaging with you, buying from you, donating to you, and showing up for you.
Build awareness for your brand, book, or services — for free: Marketing is simply getting the word out, and with today’s free platforms available to anyone who wants to use them, getting the word out and building an audience is probably the easiest it’s ever been.
Be known for your ideas: As detailed before, one strategy you can use in your book marketing, bookstore marketing, library marketing, or literary non-profit marketing is thought leadership. By posting and sharing content on industry news, your book’s themes, or topics in a specific genre, authors and organizations can lead the conversation and be known as experts in their areas of focus. This again builds trust and engagement with your audience.
Control your message and story: Imagine if you wrote a book and never talked about it. Your reviewers would then fill in the public knowledge about your book — and it may not be what you want out in the world. Or imagine if a potential reader looked you up online only to find your blogs and posts featured on other people’s websites — but no website or social media presence of your own. By posting content through channels that you own — your newsletter, your website, your social media accounts — you can tell your story and control your narrative.
Drive sales: Finally, marketing is a way to drive sales. As more people become interested in what you do, follow you, and learn more about you, they’ll be more inclined to purchase the further they go down the funnel. Think of content marketing as a way to prime the pump. If you consistently deliver valuable content that tells them about your book, your writing class, or your literary non-profit, then when you make an ask, a sale, or a donation, you’ll already have created the relationship that leads to a yes.
Ready to get started? In the next post, I’ll walk you through “How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy.”
Hi! I’m Jessica, and I help literary businesses, organizations, and authors build and execute their marketing strategies. If you'd like to learn how to do this 👆, come work with me!
