Rand Fishkin's presentation from Digital Book World NYC, 2016, on how to apply the startup marketing flywheel process to finding an audience and buyers for your book.
4. More recent data is hard
to come by, but it’s
probable that 50%+ of
book sales happen
online, and many offline
purchases are
influenced by online
exposure.
Via DBW/Bowker
20. Massive Networks Like Facebook
Via TheFinancialBrand Via SearchEngineLand
Althoughwe’ve seenorganicreachdippingfor
years,there’sbeena resurgencethanksto
audienceoptimization
36. And even though we don’t think they influence us,
they do
Via Harvard Business Review
37. The Key toAd Buying is ROI
$0.25 / Click X 200 Visits $50 TotalAd Spend=
200 Visits X 5 Sales = 2.5% Conversion Rate
$50 ÷ 5 Sales = $10 Cost ofAcquiring a
Customer (CAC)
You want this figure to be less
than you make per sale
41. Retargeting (Google,AdRoll)
More on Whiteboard Friday
e.g. I visited Squarespace while building this
slide deck, and now their ads follow me around
the web like a lost puppy dog
54. Is your publishing platform holding
you back?
Sometimes, content isn’t the problem.
55. SEO-friendly access for crawlers and searchers
Great user experience on every device
Compelling reasons to subscribe, share, & return
Freedom from features that would annoy or dissuade
visitors
Content that’s consistently interesting, useful, and/or
engaging to a distinct audience
Does My Publishing Platform Provide:
75. But (if you want to build a marketing flywheel)
that can’t be your entire platform
Via Rachael King
I loved Rachael’s site, but
there’s no flywheel happening,
just promotion of her books and
events.
76. Content Forms the Backbone of What Gets
Distributed on the Web
Via Buzzsumo
77. It’s What Gets Shared on Facebook
Via Rand’s Facebook Page
83. It’s Often the Same
Effort to Make
Content No One
Sees,
As Content
Thousands Do
84. Who will help amplify this
and why?
Start With a GreatAnswer to the Question:
85. This is not a right answer:
Museum goers
will love this.
And maybe museum
curators, too.
Via MattKelm
86. This is a right answer:
I did an analysis of all
the recent major
museum thefts
Carolyn & Shelley have
already expressed interest in
seeing the finished piece
93. And Google is SmartAbout Matching Concepts &
Topics to Keywords
94. Titles and Headlines?
Still Important.
Page titles come from the
HTMLcode, and (usually)
appear as the headline of
the piece.
95. The Search Snippet? Still Important.
Does the title match what
searchers want?
Does the URLseem
compelling?
Does your site sound
trustworthy or sketchy?
Is your result fresh? Do
searchers want a newer
result?
Does the description
create curiosity & entice
a click?
Do you get the brand
dropdown?
101. User Satisfaction Matters
If Google observes many searchers
clicking this result, visiting the page, then
bouncing back to the search results and,
instead…
Clicking this page, and seeming satisfied
with those results…
It’s very likely that, over time, KirkusReviews
will outrank WaPo here.
103. Make the Back Button Your Enemy
NPR’s clean design, well-respected
brand, options for listening or reading,
solid visuals, and quality writing compel
me to want to stay.
If only they’d used good keywords in their
title, they’d probably be on page 1
104. DO NOT Split Up Your Content & Promotional Sites
Tragically, Rachael is likely costing herself valuable branding and lots of lost
search traffic by having two separate sites.
Via Rachael-King.com and SoundofButterflies.Blogspot.com
105. Consider Which Page You Want
Ranking for Your Book
IMO, Kate Beaton has this right. Get your
own site ranking at the top, rather than
Amazon, because then you control the user
experience (and can use anAmazon affiliate
link to get greater revenue from your sales)
106. You Control Much of This Through How You/Your Publisher
Choose to Link in Press & Bios
107. MoreAbout SEO:
Prefer text + visuals?
See Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Prefer video?
See Skillshare’s SEO that Matters class
109. GoogleAnalytics
Looking at “site content” (under
“behavior”) can show you which
pages are attracting and engaging
visitors, and which ones aren’t.
117. Haven’t heard of the
book
Heard of it, but didn’t
buy
Bought, read, &
loved the book
What do you think the
book is about?
How’d you hear about the
book?
What first made you
interested?
What would make you
more likely to check it out?
What are your biggest
objections to purchase?
What objections did you
have to buying?
What would have made
you change your mind?
What objections did you
have and how did you
overcome them?
What did you love most
about it?
Can we share your story as
a testimonial?
118. Create Messages and Sales Pages that
Overcome Your TargetAudience’s
Objections
Benefits that speak to
Nir’s audience
Authorities that Nir’s audience
knows, likes, and trusts
Multiple ways to get the book, even
for non-readers
Via Nir Eyal
119. Use These Messages on YourAmazon and
Publisher Pages, Too!
Via Hooked on Amazon
The same messages and editorial
reviews work here, too
124. What skill, talent, or creation can set you
apart from the crowd?
Via Rand’s Blog
One of my strengths is
an ability to be
contrarian, and to
create homemade
graphics that convey
those opinions
125.
126. Improving the flywheel is an
iterative learning process
No one starts out great at this.
132. In Jan. 2012, she was featured on Time’s “Best Blogs” list.
Readers came by the thousands, and many stuck.
133. These days, she consistently breaks 100K visits/month
(even when she took time off to write her book).
134. Thanks to the audience she built and the flywheel of her blog’s
content & distribution channels, Geraldine’s got a great
opportunity to publish and market her work.