“Books are sexy!” said (probably) no one, ever. Some, for sure. But, they’re probably librarians, writers, or the odd interior designer as they pile a stack of books on a coffee table. In the marketing world, especially in this, the age of digitally optimized everything, books can be a tough sell. They are literally, just ink on paper, with maybe a snazzy attention grabbing cover and quippy little title, if you’re lucky. In the ye ole days, publishing was king. People actually sat down after a long day of churning butter and fixing wagon axles to read book after book…for fun! Today, with television, podcasts, social media, movies, video games, and the never-ending online world at our fingertips, book publishers are fighting a Sisyphean battle (in the snow, uphill, both ways – right, Grandpa?).
But, don’t worry, book lovers rejoice! Books aren’t dead! In fact, there is massive love for a page-turner (digital or physical) – complete with a slightly musty smell and the risk of a paper cut. And here’s the real plot twist for you: according to a study done by the Pew Research Center, 53% of millennials in the U.S. visited a public library or book mobile in the previous 12 months. The youngins are reading, ya’ll! Those inspirational 90s school posters really worked on us.
So, how do you harness this millennial readership?
Well, if there’s one thing we know about this generation, it’s that they friggin love social media and they really value the opinions of pretty online strangers. Use that. I know, I know… wasn’t I just saying social media was one of the options people were choosing over reading? Yes, you got me. But reading and social media aren’t mutually exclusive. Your reader isn’t a hobbit with no social life. They’re on social media AND they are ok with stepping away to read. You can bet that after the 7th time they saw someone post about Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, they looked it up on Amazon, got it two days later (thanks, Prime!), devoured it, and joined the social chatter with a pic of their own copy next to a latte. And just like that, Girl, Wash Your Face became one of the best-selling non-fiction books of this decade. Media feeds media, you’ve just got to get in at the right part of the food chain.
Social media influencers are the gatekeepers to online marketing. Collectively, they can make or break a product with a click and a caption. In today’s marketing industry, they are indispensable. Their power is undeniable, and if you aren’t utilizing online influencers, you aren’t doing, probably anything, right. To consumers, influencers are more than another form of marketing. In fact, they’re a bit more like long-distance, friends. Best friends. Studies show that 40% of millennial subscribers say that their favorite influencer understands them better than their friends. Influencer marketing is the ultimate word-of-mouth promotion for any product. Selling lawn fertilizer? Cat sweaters? CBD infused gummy bears? Books? Whatever it is, forget the apps, we’ve got an influencer for that
We’ve got some pretty impressive data to back this up, too. Influencer content gathers 3x as many views, 2x as many actions, and 12x as many comments compared to all other content. Basically, whatever your marketing team is doing, influencers are doing it better.
Ever heard of Brené Brown?
Don’t be silly, of course you have. You own at least one of her books, reposted 5 of her quotes this month, and just binged her Netflix special last Sunday. Brené Brown is everywhere. She is the Beyoncé of self-help books. (They even both have fancy accents in their names.) Her words are becoming part of the very fabric of our times – ingraving themselves into the mantras of the feminist movement, self-love, politics, and really, everyday life. Her books are a prime example of the power of social media in publishing. Just do a quick hashtag search on Instagram for #brenebrown – there are almost 2 MILLION posts just with that specific hashtag. Don’t even get me started on hashtags of her book titles… Sharing a quote, a picture of her books, a video of one of her talks and letting your followers know that you are a Brené fan is almost a rite of passage in today’s world. And all those hashtags are generating even more hashtags, forever multiplying and reaching new people each time.
So how do you get that Brené Brown buzz?
At LMS, we’ve successfully worked with major publishing companies to promote the launch of multiple digital and physical books through social media influencers. Our work on the launch of Beautiful Bodies by Kimberly Rae Miller, featured influencers with followings both big and small, across multiple platforms. For a single program with a budget under $8K and an individual spend below $3K per micro-influencer, LMS has facilitated over 91 unique activations with a total of 4.8M impressions (that’s 4X the typical campaign, FYI). To create a groundswell of buzzy buzz on a budget, we activated posts across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, individual blogs, a podcast and a live event in Los Angeles.
For the launch of Get on Top: Of Your Pleasure, Sexuality & Wellness: A Vagina Revolution, by Meika Hollender (c’mon you can’t tell me that after 50 Shades of Grey you wouldn’t add this to your summer reading list), LMS did a more condensed campaign of just 38 influencers that resulted in an impressive 854K reach and 4% average engagement. FOUR PERCENT! In case you live under a social media rock, that’s really good.
With all this successful book launch business, what have we learned?
That we’re really flippin’ good at what we do (Call us today!). But, also…we learned these things:
Don’t Judge an Influencer by Their Cover
You likely already know the audience you are targeting for a book launch, but do you know the best way to reach them? As with any product, but especially with something more personal and off screen like reading preferences, it can be hard to identify who would sell your product well. Unless the online influencer clearly states they do book reviews or fill their feed with their latest reads, you have no idea who enjoys books, who doesn’t, and what genres would interest them and their audience. Tough stuff.
Aiming to work with influencers who review books regularly is of course a great initial move (we’ll detail how and where to find “Bookfluencers” in just a bit), but don’t underestimate the lifestyle influencer, the foodie, the athlete – anyone could be an avid reader. What matters is their audience and how they react to their suggestions. In our experience, we’ve found working with a mixture of Bookfluencers and other category influencers is ideal. No matter their ‘type,’ what we look for most is engagement. Does their audience care? Do they react with comments, likes and shares? How have their branded posts performed in the past? Three to four percent engagement rate is the sweet spot.
Fantastic Bookfluencers and Where to Find Them
Even if you have a clear criteria for the type of influencer you want to work with, actually finding them can take some marketing wizardry. Depending on your budget, target audience and messaging, you will likely take different routes to find who you want. To find those we are dubbing “Bookfluencers,” aka influencers who focus on sharing and reviewing books, we have a few tricks up our sleeves.
Hashtags
After all this time? Always.
Hashtags have been around almost as long as social media itself, and they are still the best. They are the directory of the social media world, leading you to your desired destination. Everyone loves to use a hashtag (#amirite?!) and that is so helpful to the marketing world. Want to find people online who love books? #bookworm, #bookstagram, #bookshelf, #booknerd, #bibliophile, get creative! Regularly search your favorites and they will provide you with plenty of fodder for influence.
Suggested for You
More like dis.
Social platforms are smart. It’s probably magic… or algorithms… or maybe algorithms are magic? Yep, let’s go with that one, magic algorithms. Anyway, they somehow know how to categorize users and content to effectively read your mind and supply you with never-ending media that you DO want to see. Marketers can use this to their advantage by utilizing features like “Suggested for You” on Instagram (click the little down arrow on a user’s profile to find more like them), or “More Like This” on Pinterest when you find a pin that really hits the spot. Once you find one influencer that meets your criteria, dive down the ‘suggested for you’ rabbit hole and come out with a whole campaign!
Platforms
Find the right soapbox.
The type of content you’d like and your budget will determine what platforms you use to promote the book. Many true review-based Bookfluencers use a longform video format to share their thoughts, thus YouTube or IGTV are your best bets. However, a full review will likely cost more $$$$$, so be prepared. Blogs and podcasts are another great route for longform reviews for potentially a little less moolah. If you’d like to just get some buzz, share that stunning cover art, and offer a simple way to purchase the book, visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest are gonna be your jam. Obviously beautiful content lives on these platforms, but so do great features like “Swipe Up” and Shoppable Pins that will take consumers from post to purchase with a quick flick.
Get That Thunderclap – Timing is Key
Book promotion is likely around a launch and naturally you want that launch to be huuuuuge. (*insert small, pinching Trump hands*). At LMS, we like to create a groundswell of content around a product. Our favorite online influencer campaign tactic is called a “thunderclap,” meaning a large group of activations go live at the same time, providing consumers with ubiquitous media about your product. Utilizing a variety of influencers and platforms makes this especially effective as you seem to be everywhere. It’s hard for mainstream media to ignore a thunderclap. #BOOM
For a thunderclap campaign to work, preparation is paramount. Work months out from launch if you can. Negotiations, contracts, and let’s not forget – reading a book, can take time! Once you have your influencers, provide them with everything they need, including a specific post date, ASAP. Not launched and not interested in sending early book copies? No problemo, amigo. Send a PDF version and if you’d like, and an NDA, to ensure all lips are sealed. Creating an easy resource with a Cliffnotes-esque summary, information on the author, hashtags and some key quotes to highlight is always helpful. Brené Brown (seriously, she’s everywhere) has a stock of quote images on her website, ready for influencers and consumers alike to pull and post. #Genius. The easier it is for an influencer to activate, the higher the success rate.
Interested in how LMS can help your book launch (or any product, let’s be real – we’re just good at all the stuff) find its happily ever after? Contact us today at imgame@wearelms.com or visit our super cool site, www.wearelms.com, and we’ll get a kick-ass social media influencer campaign on the books.
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