Using digital marketing tools can help authors and publishers by-pass the network television gatekeeper and take book messages directly to the reader.  Digital tools help authors connect with potential readers wherever they spend time online, be it Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs or search engines. And, it is essential to remember that nearly half of all web users are accessing the web throughout the day via their mobile devices so creating digital content that plays nicely in mobile formats is key.

I recently spoke on the topic of digital tool kits at BookExpo America 2011 on the Digital Marketing Panel with Sally Dedecker, Fauzia Burke and Kathleen Schmidt. The panel consensus was that authors and publishers need to consider utilizing a wide variety of digital strategies to reach new readers. You can view my powerpoint presentation here. But many digital tools are expensive to create and not every author or publisher has the budget to develop and implement the more complicated and costly digital strategies used by major brands.

Here’s a list of my favorite low-cost digital tools authors and publishers can their book campaigns.

Blogsite or Website with a blog

This is the author’s home base.  Readers should be able to read more about the author, find  links to the current and previous works of the author, view a personal appearance schedule and read the author’s blog.  Readers should also be able to sign up for a continued relationship with the author, perhaps through a newsletter or to receive a sample chapter of a new book.  Whatever the offer, the author needs to capture the e-mail addresses of people who express an interest in hearing from them. Authors can create a free blog using WordPress or Blogger and an e-mail management system like MailChimp is free until the author has attracted 2,000 fans.  MailChimp automatically generates the HTML code needed for an Opt-in box, which the author can place on his or her blog.  By working with the publisher to offer a sample chapter as a digital download, authors can offer a sneak peek for new books for fans who sign up for the mailing list.

Social Media

Social media amplifies the authors website and blog messages and creates a connection to help readers feel as though they’re involved in the author’s world.  Authors can share tour information, preview books, give fans special content such as original stories on their website or blog and spread the word via social media. It’s easier and faster to amass a large following on Twitter and Facebook than to acquire a large subscription base on a website because millions of people are already gathered on social media sites.  Go to where the readers are already gathered.  Bring the author’s message to those readers instead of waiting for them to stumble upon that message on a website.  It’s free to sign up for accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.  There is no cost to use them.  However, investing a few hundred dollars in design and custom tabs will allow authors to sell books directly from their Facebook Fan page, offer that sneak peek free chapter through an opt in box right from Facebook, create the look and feel of their own television channel on YouTube and give readers a sense of their personality on Twitter.  For under $500, each of the author’s social media sites can be design to promote the others and ultimately to drive fans back to the author’s blog or home base.

Opt in

The theme for an author’s digital tool kit is “make it easy for the reader to find, follow, friend and like you.”  By developing an e-mail database of readers who have expressed an interest in what an author writes, authors and publishers will be able to easily and efficiently push updates and marketing messages to potential book buyers who have already identified themselves as being interested.  This permission based digital marketing is cost effective and can have a higher ROI than nearly any other book marketing.  Adding an Opt in box and an enticing sign up offer on both the author website and their Facebook Fan page is an easy, inexpensive digital marketing strategy.

Video

We’re living in a social world where Facebook is the Wal-Mart of digital platforms.  With nearly 700 million users now conditioned to expect to see a face attached to every brand, authors who use video effectively will have a competitive advantage in reaching readers.  Readers like seeing and hearing from the artists they admire.  In the past, meeting a favorite author or even a new author, was relegated to book signings and perhaps major events.  Now authors can create short home videos and talk directly to their potential readers, sharing their tour experiences, their creative process and even concepts from their books.  Readers enjoy authors who share a bit of their personality and their time by creating short video messages.  This, too, is an easy and inexpensive digital marketing concept.

Digital Assets

Authors can now  create digital badges, original digital content like blogs or articles, downloadable author photos and bios, digital press releases, quizzes, games and contests.  All of these digital assets can be used to create visibility for the author and his or her books online.  The more interesting and compelling the digital assets are, the more likely they will be referenced, shared and valued by potential readers.  Creating 5-10 original essays or blog posts that can be used as guest blogs on sites visited by an author’s ideal reader is a free way to use these digital assets to promote an author’s books.  The topic of the posts could be related to the topic of the new book and the author by-line can reference his or her latest work.  By providing desirable content to other websites, the author extends his or her own visibility and attracts new readers.  Sharing charts, graphs, photos, videos, quizzes or other interesting and relevant content on these high traffic websites is another strategic use of an author’s digital assets. Think about what digital assets you can create to support the launch of your books and prepare those assets so they’re ready and available at launch time.

Online Advertising

Facebook advertising campaigns can fit any budget.  Authors and publishers can set a daily or a lifetime cap to the dollar amount of the campaign. If an author already has several thousand fans, Facebook’s sponsored stories ads display an image of the author’s fan page to friends of that author’s fans with a subtle visual that implies “Your friends like this page.  You should too.”  Authors and publishers can try different types of ads, different images and different creative messages until they find one that drives new fans to press “like.”  Facebook ads can also be created to redirect Facebook users to the author’s blog or website.  Again, even a budget of $100 to $200 can have an impact, not just in new fans or readers, but in author and book visibility.  Hundreds of thousands of impressions can be achieved for a very modest budget.  This is a digital marketing strategy that is often overlooked because publishers and authors think advertising is expensive or that it’s difficult to measure the ROI.  With Facebook advertising, daily metrics will tell the tale of these ad campaign affects.

These are just a few of the digital marketing strategies authors and publishers can implement for little or no monetary outlay.  Are you using digital marketing strategies effectively?  We’d love to hear your ideas and success stories.

Isn’t it time your brand reached out beyond your current base and joined the social mix?

1. Facebook: More than 500 million users. Enough said. You need to be here with a Profile, at the very least, and preferably with a Fan Page.
2. Twitter: Come on. It’s 120 character micro=blogging. You can find the time. Note: Each tweet can be 140 characters but keep it to 120 so others can Retweet you and help your info go viral. Set it up and commit to posting regularly to grow your social influence.
3. LinkedIn: You simply must be on LinkedIn. It’s the yellow pages of business professionals and it’s becoming more interactive and important every day. Resolve to sign up, build out your work history and information slowly and join the digital workforce.
4. Blog: Content is king and some sort of blog—be it WordPress (my favorite) or another solution—is a necessity. You need a platform to post interesting and useful information in more than 120/140 characters and in an open forum. You can link to your blog on Twitter and Facebook to drive additional interest in your content. Blogs can be short, long, written, audio or video. Whatever content delivery system fits your personality and brand is the right system.
5. Calendar: Keep a notepad of ideas that occur to you throughout your day.  These can be your posting or blogging inspirations. Whatever you do, or whatever product or service you provide will be of interest to your readers, fans, and followers.  Make an editorial calendar once a month and let this serve as your social media marketing checklist.
6. YouTube:  YouTube is the second largest search engine around. Habits are changing on line and people are flocking to YouTube with their “how-to” and “who is” questions. You don’t have to be a celebrity or even a polished professional to reap the benefits of being on YouTube.  Create slide shows, photo and message montages and video messages and house them on your own YouTube Channel to increase your social visibility.

Social media is like a megaphone to help you rapidly expand the reach of your branding and marketing message.  But you have to be there to use the power of this medium.

I’m not sure I ever broke through the glass ceiling. I think I simply left the glass house to work in the fresh air.

On this particular evening, the topic was Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling.  This is a deceptive topic for me because although I’ve held corporate positions at an executive level, it wasn’t until I left the corporate world that I had the freedom to shape my projects from the top down, delivering superior results for my clients, through my own vision.  So I’m not sure I broke through the glass ceiling. I think I simply left the glass house and now operate in the fresh air.

Villanova has posted a recording of my talk on YouTube and I’d welcome your comments.

Mrs. P's photo by Jacqueline Veissid

While businesses, public figures, celebrities and authors know the importance of adding social media to their outreach strategy in order to bring their message and brand to the more than 500 million users of various social platforms, the age limitation for participating on some social media platforms has made it challenging to use them to reach children directly.  One team understands that reaching the influencers and the parents is more important than speaking directly to children in a marketing campaign.  The creators of MrsP.com mastered the art of the conversation and are demonstrating the importance of relationships and partnerships when it comes to growing their brand and spreading their message.

The face of MrsP.com is Kathy Kinney, best known for her nearly decade long portrayal of the role of Mimi Bobeck on The Drew Carey Show.  She is well on her way to creating another iconic character in Mrs. P, the fantastically quirky ambassador of reading who shares her love of books through an engaging and interactive website for children.

A cross between Mr. Rogers and Pee Wee Herman, Kathy Kinney’s Mrs. P brings books to life as she reads classic children’s stories in a series of webisodes.

Her talking fireplace, magical bookshelves and games are designed to appeal to emergent readers up through tweens (the scary book room will particularly appeal to this age group).  Mrs. P, herself, graciously agreed to be our guest this week for “Five Questions with the Expert” and share a few of her thoughts about using social media to spread her love of reading. In fact, she was so delightful, she answered a bonus question!

RATZLAFF:

You have a fabulously interactive destination website for children. How are you using social media to reach young readers?

MRS. P:

I’m not trying to reach my young readers directly since most are under the age of 12, but rather their parents and the other adult influencers in their lives — teachers, librarians, literacy advocates and organizations. I have found blogs to be a very effective way to spread the word about Mrs. P, whether as a guest blogger or by enlisting their sites to announce events like my annual writing contest. I’ve been using Twitter to meet these bloggers and fans. But I’m not really interested in showing up Shaquille O’Neal and getting the most Twitter followers in the world, but prefer to connect with people who share my same passion for literacy. I try to have personal and meaningful conversations with my followers and love to share articles about the tremendous importance of reading to children. As much as I’m tempted, because I love to talk about myself, I try not to make it only about me. I’m also proud of the give-and-take on my website. If someone posts news about Mrs. P on their site, we will re-post their story on my site, introducing them to our audience.

RATZLAFF:

How do you separate your Mrs. P persona from the business side of running a website?

MRS. P:

I like to keep focused on my mission as Mrs. P, which is to spread the joy of books and reading. When I receive invitations for interviews, appearances, and business relationships, I ask them to contact my business partner, Dana, who handles that side of the house. She considers the validity of the inquiries and deals with the technical details so that my online presence can just be about Mrs. P’s mission – and having fun!

RATZLAFF:

Can you describe a day in the social media world for Mrs. P?

MRS. P:

I try and ensure that there is something new and fun on my Facebook site several times a week. I have a much smaller audience there than on Twitter, where I make an effort to engage with my followers every morning and evening. I also coordinate with my “elves” to make sure my website has fresh news and engaging messages on my “Did you hear…” page. I’m lucky because there seems to be so much good news lately about my site that I can share with my audience.

RATZLAFF:

Is there any one social platform that performs better than others to help you connect with the influencers who help you spread your literacy message?

MRS. P:

While Mrs. P has very active Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and You-Tube accounts, I do think that Twitter has been the most effective. For example, Everybody Wins! USA, a literacy organization for which I am an honorary board member, will occasionally build Tweet campaigns with us, and together, we grow our audiences and spread news about the importance of literacy.

RATZLAFF:

Have you incorporated video or audio into your social media strategy?

MRS. P:

Video has been a key element in our social media strategy. The team at Mrs. P created a fun music video called “Listen Up, Kids” to get young people excited about reading. We made it available as a free download on iTunes. I asked our fans to post it on their blogs and Tweet about it, and in the first day, we had 25,000 downloads! We also posted it on YouTube to let people know it was free. We had a similar experience with the winning entries from my writing contest. Again, we had over 22,000 downloads the first day by using social networking to spread the word. I think if you have a strong mission and are also willing to give something meaningful away for free, it’s a powerful combination. It’s certainly worked well for Santa Clause over the years, and it’s also built a great deal of awareness for the Mrs. P brand.

RATZLAFF:

I heard a rumor that Mrs. P has plans to create mobile apps.  Any truth to that rumor?

MRS. P:

Oh, yes. The mobile world is a wave I really need to be riding! So in September I will launch a free (there’s that wonderful word again!) Reading Challenge app for the iPhone. It will be a fun and engaging way to test reading comprehension. And it’s yet one more way to bring awareness to literacy and to my website.

Parents, librarians, grandparents and teachers can find Mrs. P on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and of course children can visit her magical library, choose a book from her shelves and have Mrs. P read them a classic.

5 simple things everyone can do to create brand visibility and increase social currency.

Pretend that you are the customer and you’re looking for a vendor, speaker, author or someone who can create or implement something that serves your immediate needs.  Most likely you’ll head to Google or Bing or YouTube.  What words do you put into that search box to find what you’re look for–you and your company?  Those are the keywords that you’re going to want to include in the messages you are creating online.

Creating an active presence on line reinforces your status as a trusted thought leader in your area of expertise and increases the chances that customers will find you.  Because we all learn in different ways, it’s a good idea to put out your message in a variety of formats so as to engage the widest possible audience.

Let’s look at five great visibility strategies to improve your social currency, engage different consumers, help people find you and keep you on the cutting edge of marketing.

Video Marketing: Adding video to your website, Facebook page, YouTube Channel and even Twitter page is a great way to increase engagement with your fans, followers and potential customers.  These video messages do not have to be long, nor do they need to be professionally produced.  A Flip HD Mino video camera for under $200 can take short, high quality video and loading it to your social media sites is a snap.  Take the Brand New Brand You pledge and add one video to one of your social media sites this week.  Send us a link and we’ll take a look and share your message with our followers.

Audio Marketing: Change it up and make your sites interesting for your customers and clients.  Post a short audio message about some upcoming event or a quick tip.  You can do this right from your phone to your Facebook page with apps audioboo.fm.  Do you have a sale or a special? Share your enthusiasm in your own voice.  Doing this accomplishes two things.  First, it let’s your followers know you are a real person.  Second, it embues the information with urgency and importance.

Photos: Facebook is one of the largest photo sharing sites in the world.  People love to look at photos on line.  Do you have a particularly great looking store window, special display, or attractive entry to your office?  Share a photo and invite people in.

Guest Blog: Write an article in your area of expertise for other blogs to run.  Target blogs that speak to your desired customer base and offer to write and informative article that will be of interest to their fans and position you as an expert.  A recent guest blog I did about my new book on Oprah.com turned into a a 400% increase in website traffic and 1,800 new unique visitors.

Comment: This is an overlooked and underused strategy.  Follow and read blogs from industry leaders.  When you read something you enjoy, leave a comment along with your website link.  But don’t just leave a “great blog,” comment.  Add something to the conversation.  Reference a blog you’ve written that adds new insights.  Suggest additional resources to learn more on the topic.  In other words, be a thought leader by providing value to the conversation.  Do this regularly.  Become a regular reader and comment often.

These are just a few quick tips for building your platform as a thought leader in your industry and increasing your social currency.  What are you doing to create conversations about you?

Amy Porterfield

Amy Porterfield is a social media strategy consultant and a regular contributor to SocialMediaExaminer.com. Amy helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, authors and speakers find their “sweet spot” so they can maximize their marketing and publicity efforts through social media. We asked Amy five questions to help authors and entrepreneurs better utilize social media to bring their books and products to new audiences.

Remember to give your best stuff for free. Don’t hold back.

RATZLAFF:

We hear a lot that authors and speakers need to have a platform before a publisher will take them on. What exactly is a platform?

PORTERFIELD:

A platform is a little like the concept of a “soapbox” but in a really good way! It is the space you create for yourself online where you highlight who you are, what you are all about, and connect and foster relationships. In a very literal sense, a platform is made up of all the social sites where you spend your time, including Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. When you create your platform, you want to make sure you choose the social networking sites where your target audience is spending time–because a “soapbox” is no good if no one is listening.

RATZLAFF:

How would you recommend that an author or speaker begin building his or her platform?

PORTERFIELD:

Here’s my formula: Listen first. Listen some more. Research next. And then jump in the game. You have to first really understand who your target audience is…and who it is not. Don’t be afraid to only craft your communications for your ideal audience (it’s ok if you leave some people out–they are not your audience!) and also don’t waste your time on social sites that are not appealing to your ideal audience. To really understand the needs and wants of your ideal audience, take a little time and listen to them online. What are they talking about? Who are they connecting with? What Fan pages are they attracted to? Who are they following on Twitter? Once you have listened and done your research, jump in! Start using the sites that really matter most to your outcome. And here’s my golden rule with social media: Don’t be afraid to mess up. It does not always come naturally at first, and it can even be a bit overwhelming. But don’t let that stop you. Jump in, start talking, and it will all become second nature to you in no time.

RATZLAFF:

What about self-publishing? Can a self-published author really reach a large enough audience to make an impact?

PORTERFIELD:

My favorite example of a self-publishing superstar is Marie Forleo. When she first came out with her book, Make Every Man Want You, she self-published and she used the power of the internet to spread the word. Because she was willing to show up daily, connect with people, be her true self online, and really hone in on the needs and wants of her target audience, her book became a HUGE success. But here’s the thing: It was not easy. She worked hard for that success! So yes, self-publishers can find success online, but just like everything else worth having, you have to work really hard and keep moving forward. And one more thing! I think the authors that really find their voice online and create a strong buzz around their books are those that have found a way to showcase their uniqueness. They carved out a little piece of online real estate that they devoted to their “It” factor. And here’s the really great part–you get to figure out what that “It” factor is for you. No one needs to decide for you. So take a little time to think about what might make you stand out from everyone else (we all have it), and then run with that. You just might be pleasantly surprised with the results.

RATZLAFF:

Which media has the most impact on book sales? Radio, TV, print, online, speaking engagements? Should an author focus on one area or try to be seen and heard everywhere?

PORTERFIELD:

In most cases, there is rarely just one media that will work overall. Like I said earlier, know your audience and you will know where and how to market. But don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Mari Smith, a social media guru who always has great advice, teaches the power of Radical, Strategic Visibility. What that means is this: Be seen and heard everywhere it matters. I think that is so important for authors to remember. The more people see you chatting and connecting online, adding value in your blog, and speaking live, the more curious they will become. And when people are curious, they seek out information about you. But remember this, some media outlets could be a waste of time for you. It all depends on your personality, your audience and your book. So choose wisely so you can enjoy the process and spend your time and energy where it really matters.

RATZLAFF:

What are the top three things an author or speaker can do to increase his or her chances of getting media attention for their book?

PORTERFIELD:

Find Your Key Influencers: Who are the people in your niche that are really getting it right? Who stands out the most when you talk about your niche? Build relationships with these people, comment on their blogs, tweet their content. These relationships are extremely beneficial as you move forward with establishing yourself as an expert in your niche.

Show Up Daily: I have noticed that the authors that are really crushing their competition are those that are showing up daily. They are keeping their blogs current, tweeting great, valuable content, connecting one-on-one online, and giving shout outs to others when they see something they like and want to share. They are present, available and real. This is crucial for all authors.

Mix Up Your Media and Provide Great Content: The authors that use video, articles, blog posts, podcasts and more are the ones that stand out the most. They mix up their media and offer great content in many different packages. This is key. If you have not tried video yet, give it a shot. It’s extremely valuable. And remember to give your best stuff for free. Don’t hold back. When you give out your best stuff for free, you are offering an incredible service to people and I can guarantee they will want more. Plus, this strategy will help you build more trust with your audience. So don’t hold back and you will reap the rewards!

Amy teaches authors, entrepreneurs and business people how to use social media to enhance their marketing and visibility strategies.  Learn more about Amy by visiting her website and joining her on Facebook.

Guest Blogger, Bob Martin

A few weeks ago, the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal published an article from an experienced marketing and communications professional, offering a contrarian view of the rush to incorporate social media into business communications. The gist of the argument seemed to be that incorporating these new techniques and channels into your business’s marketing efforts offers no obvious, tangible benefits over those delivered by a traditional mix of marketing communications activities and media.

I respectfully disagree – and not just because of the increasing power of younger, more social media-oriented individuals in the customer and consumer pools. As someone who’s worked in media and business communications for more than two decades, I see a compelling philosophical reason for embracing the new social media in our efforts to reach and serve our customers.

Since the beginning of mass media, business communicators have struggled to overcome the technical limitations of traditional communication channels, as we work to make our message connect more effectively with target audiences. Today’s new social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and the like – are game-changing advancements precisely because they’re breaking through those limitations, and creating a new, more effective business communications paradigm in the process.

Encouraging give and take during discussion, alternating the roles of messenger and receiver within the communication, adjusting your message on the fly based on the other party’s reactions – by enabling these actions, social media presents smart business communicators with something we’ve always wanted: a way to have an honest-to-goodness conversation with our audience.

Admittedly, this new conversation paradigm can be disorienting to traditional business communicators, because it adds a third dimension to our messaging – not brand to customer or customer to brand, but customer to customer ABOUT the brand, in which the communicator has to relinquish some measure of control over the message. For example, consumer products companies are realizing that relationships with influential bloggers can be excellent avenues to introduce new products, or emphasize features of existing ones, or just communicate their brand promise. But it comes at a cost: the power of the blogger can be directly related to their perceived independence from your influence, and you need that perception of independence to maximize the potential benefit of your relationship, so you accept the possibility of loss of some control over the message to the blogger and their audience.

Forward-thinking companies who can accept the social media conversation paradigm can use it to constantly adjust and update marketing strategies as they are executed. A social media audience is different than the total target audience, of course – but they’re different in ways that add to their value as “thought leaders”: they enter the conversation as generally knowledgeable about your company and its products, they are comfortable with the new conversation paradigm, and they relish the feeling that their opinion matters to what happens to “their brand” and so take that perceived responsibility very seriously.

To that point, a current ad campaign supporting the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating systems centers on PC users who offered feedback to Microsoft that ended up reflected in the new product – prompting each to claim that “Windows 7 was my idea.” The theme carries over to the product’s Facebook presence, which encourages groups of users to suggest, complain about or tout features of the product that others may find useful. It’s easy to see how these discussions could lead to adjustments in marketing strategy emphasis on particular features – which would in turn reinforce the umbrella theme of “Windows 7 is my idea.”

A final word of caution: by facilitating the continuation of a conversation, feedback through social media fundamentally changes the nature of any business communication effort. Establishing a presence in social media amounts to a commitment to your audience to continue that conversation. Fulfilling that commitment will cost time and money, but failing to live up to it will cost precious standing with key audiences that you won’t easily regain. Before embarking on a strategy that includes these new communications capabilities, make sure you’re prepared with the right resources and mindset to commit to a real conversation.

1. MEDIA: Traditional media, radio and television, features, op-eds, reviews, mentions, third party endorsements
2. ONLINE: Virtual and social media: video, audio, blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Slideshare, guest posts, internet radio, internet tv
3. LIVE EVENTS: appearances, workshops, keynotes
4. ADVERTISING: Targeted use of Adsense words, Facebook ads, paid press release placement, and other modestly priced visibility opportunities
5. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS: product or business partners that imply endorsement and provide real or in kind value to campaigns
6. SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the glue the brings all of your brand outreach and marketing programs together to give you search engine ranking that helps people find you and buy your product. Without SEO, all of your various activities exists only by themselves and do not take advantage of their combined power to create massive brand awareness. SEO is the missing ingredient in many campaigns.

By identifying a succinct set of key message points and exploiting them over all of the platforms outlined in the MVP program, your brand will reach the consciousness of your intended end user, client or consumer faster, less expensively and in a more targeted fashion than if you were to employ any combination of these outreach strategies alone. I look forward to helping you create powerful brand awareness for your business, book or ideas this year.