Monday, June 20, 2016

Which Promotions Work Best?

Marketing books is a challenge -- definitely an art rather than a science.  As part of the marketing for On Lone Star Trail, Revell's fabulous art department created a number of images for me to share on social media.  As you'll see, some are quotations from the book, while others are announcements or reviews.

My question for you is, which of these do you think was the most effective?  Which would make you consider buying the book?

Please leave a comment with the number of the image you found most helpful.

And if you'd like to tell me why one worked better for you than another, I'd appreciate that.


#1 -- The simple announcement


#2 -- The steamroller


#3 -- Battles fought


#4 -- Talking and praying


#5 -- He will not forsake us


#6 -- Focus on the progress


#7 -- Some enchanted evening

#8 -- A review

Thanks so much for your help!

20 comments:

  1. The last one is the most appealing to me. It shows the book cover, and would be best for promoting the book. The others, that do not have the book cover, would be more good for memes that someone might share on FB, but most likely people will not associate it with your book.

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    1. Martha -- Thanks for sharing your opinion. I like #8 too.

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  2. Hi Amanda,

    Number 1 and Number 8 are the most effective. As a marketing professional, I work with ad layout and advertising success for my customers. I wouldn't recommend an ad layout to any of my customers with the content in the ads 2 -7 because people look at information very quickly and they want to see right away what is being advertised. It takes too long in ads 2 - 7 to determine what is being marketed. You will lose potential buyers with that type of layout. My two cents.

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  3. Cindy -- I wondered about the effectiveness of quotes from the books too. I know a lot of authors tweet quotes, but those quotes never made me want to buy the book. I'm glad I'm not alone!

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  4. #8, with or without the review snippet, is the best in my opinion. As a reader I want to see everything at a glance. I want to be able to recognize the book cover if I happen to be in a bookstore later or even see it on Amazon. I don't want to have to dig for the pertinent information, such as title and author, like mining for gold. #1 is also not too bad since it also has the cover.

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    1. Jasmine -- This is terrific feedback. Thanks so much. I agree with you.

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  5. In any of your graphics, I think it's important to include at least a small cover of the book for recognition value. I think #7 and 8 work best for promotion and marketing since they show images from the cover of your book, but I really like the quotes in #3, 5 and 6.

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    1. Heidi -- I like the idea of including the book cover in each of the graphics. I remember hearing that it takes something like six times of seeing a product's name to remember it, so the more often the book cover is visible, the better. Great advice. Thanks!

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  6. I like the cover being featured in number 8 with the blue background...the review snipet doesn't appeal to me personally but the layout and colors do...

    And I would like to throw in that I wish that more authors/publishers were taking advantage of Instagram. Revell does a pretty good job but I'd like to see a little more on there. I love Instagram. So much less junk than I see on Facebook. And while I am on twitter I just am not active on there. I never really got into it other than helping authors retweet things when they ask!

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    1. Denise -- Great feedback -- thanks! I'm not on Instagram, but I'm going to explore the possibilities, thanks to you.

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  7. Eight! :-) However, if a small book cover could be added to each of these, you could rotate their use and catch eyes each time. Each graphic would give a different insight into this book.

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    1. Paula -- Thanks for weighing in on this. It seems that everyone wants book covers along with the quotes. That's good to know. Thank you!

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  8. I like 5, 7, and 8 the best. I agree with what others have said about adding a small book cover to the ones that don't have a book. They're all good. I think the only one I don't care for is 4 (it looks a little washed out).

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    1. Karin -- It's interesting that you prefer the ones with either the full cover or a part of it as the background. I think it's an eye-catching cover, so it makes sense to me that the graphics that take advantage of the cover itself would be particularly effective. Thanks for sharing you opinion!

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  9. I like #8 best also. Beautiful cover along with the part on the side that makes you want to read the book to see what it's about.

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    1. Carolyn -- That's my favorite, too. I've always thought that readers' reviews were a good way of promoting a book, and you confirmed that.

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  10. Hi Amanda!

    I liked #1 and 8. I love your books, and just knowing the next one's out would prompt me to buy it. For someone who is unfamiliar with your work, I still think having the book cover is important. I'll share this on my timeline to see if someone unfamiliar with your work will provide feedback.

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    1. Karen -- Thanks so much for sharing this. I appreciate that!

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  11. Hi Amanda, I liked all the ones featuring the cover of the book. I could identify with them. Though the other choices were interesting, they didn't really say anything about On Lone Star Trail or draw me in, and OLST is a touching, beautiful story folks won't want to miss!

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    1. Audra -- First of all, I'm delighted that you enjoyed the book. I hated to write "the end" on that one. And, secondly, thanks for your input on the various images. You confirmed what the majority are saying -- book covers are important. Thanks!

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