As an author, it is important that before you write your book, that you need to know exactly who you are writing your book for. Your Target Market is contained in your Marketing Plan which is part of your Business Plan on your book. Your Business Plan is what you give to your Literary Agent. When you have a Business Plan, your Literary Agent knows you are serious about getting your book to the major publishing companies. It shows that you are:
- A professional author
- You are more serious than the publisher in marketing and promoting your book
- You know exactly who your readers are
Here is a brief outline of points that I would like to share with you when you are targeting your audience for you book. Take a moment to print this out. Jot down your thoughts you may have.
Please feel free to post your comments or questions and I will get back with you as soon as I can.
Good Luck! ~ Cindy ~
What is a Target Market?
- A group of people toward whom your book is directed to in it’s marketing efforts.
- It is an element of your Marketing Strategy
Marketing Strategy- consists of:
- Target Market
- Marketing mix variables of the product, distribution, promotion and price that are directed towards satisfying the needs of the target market.
- Size and profit potential
- Level of competition
Focal Point – of all your marketing activities:
- Centers around the consumer
- Need a detailed description of your target market
- Demographic Segmentation – gender, age, income, expenditure patterns,
- Geography – Regions: WE, SE, MW, SW, NE, Calif., Hawaii, Alaska.
- Annual house-hold income
Who is My Target Market and where are they located?
United States
|
4061
|
France
|
2355
|
Germany
|
543
|
Poland
|
313
|
United Kingdom
|
303
|
Iran
|
217
|
Russia
|
198
|
Austria
|
121
|
Turkey
|
109
|
China
|
102
|
Age Bracket
Age Women % Men %
13 – 17 0.6% 3 %
18 – 24 9% 13%
25 – 34 6% 20%
35 – 44 8% 18%
45 – 54 9% 20%
55 – 64 2% 9 %
65+ 6% 7 %
Average Hits per Day:
174 Time
of Day: 3:00
pm
Strategies for Reaching Your Target Audience
You need a strategy that will best match your book to the
needs of a particular market.
Four Strategies:
- Undifferentiated Marketing- commonly used with authors that produce only one book and market it to all the consumers. May seem efficient however, here you face the threat of competitors offering a specialized product to smaller segments of the market.
- Differentiated Marketing- many books with different marketing mixes designed to satisfy smaller segments. Problems here is that instead of marketing one book with one single marketing program, you market a number of books designed to appeal to individual parts of the total market.
- Concentrated Marketing – a/k/a niche marketing – you focus your efforts on profitably satisfying only one market segment. This approach is appealing to small publishing companies that lack the financial resources of their competitors.
- Micro-marketing- still more narrowly focused than concentrated marketing since it involves targeting potential customers at the very basic levels, such as by zip code, specific occupations, lifestyles, or individual household. May even target individuals themselves.
Need to Position Yourself in the Market - Develop a
strong local following through:
- Write ups in local newspapers
- Book clubs
- Meet up groups
- Churches
- Libraries
- Radio stations
- Television Stations
- Toastmasters
- Word of Mouth
Broaden Your Market
- Facebook – groups, pages, likes, friends, events
- Web site
- Youtube – videos, interviews, book trailers, stories,
- Google Hangouts – bring your conversation to life with photos
- Goodreads.com - Tell us what titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and they will give you surprisingly insightful recommendations
- Twitter – instant communication
- Shelfari.com – community based power encyclopedia for book lovers to connect
- Librarything.com – where authors and reviewers meet
- Webinars – build informational platform
(c) 2014 - Cynthia A. Sandor - Make sure you vote NOW for best biography on GOODREADS
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