Experienced publishers know that marketing is the backbone of a successful publishing company. After all, books don’t magically sell themselves. Even famous, well-established writers need to keep their nose to the grindstone. Large traditional publishers often have sizeable marketing budgets. This is something that virtually all self-publishers can’t compete with. That’s why we are going to present three things that all self-publishers need to know about their marketing budget.
- It’s Never Enough
Contrary to what many believe, there is no “magic” number for a marketing budget. Marketing budgets endlessly expand. As companies spend more, they wish to spend more. This is why self-publishers need to be careful with what they wish for. Often, newcomers to the self-publishing scene sink considerable resources into marketing. While it’s always a good idea to boost marketing, the reality is that it can lead to wasteful spending. Therefore, a measured approach is necessary to ensure quality investment. The last thing companies should do is throw money at marketing for the sake of doing so.
- Focus on Return on Investment
When spending money on marketing, it’s important to measure how much that investment is generating. Keeping close track of spending is crucial. For instance, a pay-per-click campaign costs pennies per click. Thus, the total amount spent on the campaign as a whole should be contrasted with the number of sales. Ideally, sales should exceed marketing expenditures by a wide margin.
Here is an example:
A pay-per-click campaign cost a total of $100. The number of sales generated from this campaign totaled $1,000. This is a $900 profit. Ultimately, sales outpaced the marketing cost tenfold. This is a good yardstick to use.
While some would argue that any profit is good, it’s important to focus on the marketing channels that yield the best results. Naturally, it’s important to focus on the marketing channels that generate the most sales.
- You Don’t Need to Break the Bank
It’s a common misconception to think that publishers need to break the bank to make good sales. However, experience shows that grassroots marketing can be highly effective. For example, focusing heavily on social media platforms can gain traction in the early going. Additionally, focusing on video content such as posting on YouTube can yield useful gains. While video production can be costly, there is no need for over-the-top productions. Even simple video content can yield significant results. Therefore, it’s worth looking at all of the cost-effective ways that you can use to create awareness for your content.
In the end, books depend on one thing: word of mouth. Word of mouth happens in the form of referrals, reviews, or comments. Satisfied readers will gladly tell others about quality content. That’s the most valuable kind of marketing publishers can strive to get. Word of mouth advertising is the hardest form of marketing to achieve, but it is unquestionably the most effective. This is why marketing budgets need to be on par with production budgets.
