Why Isn't My Book Selling? Part Two
EPISODE SEVENTY SIX
Once authors have addressed the visibility problem we covered in part one of this discussion on why our book isn't selling, the next big factor is how to convert that engagement into a sale.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Jenn Hanson-DePaula: Hello, and welcome to the Book Marketing Simplified podcast. I'm Jenn Hanson-DePaula.
Marcus DePaula: And I'm Marcus DePaula. Jenn, last time we covered a question that you've been getting a lot. Why isn't my book selling? It's so broad that we had to do a second episode. The first and most important piece that we covered in a previous episode was about visibility. So if you haven't listened to that, I recommend you go back and do that. Once we've got our visibility taken care of, what is the next factor in making sure that we get good book sales?
Jenn: If you are having no problem connecting with your ideal readers, if that's through social media or if it's through podcasts or events or whatever it is that you're doing to get in front of people, but if you're not seeing sales as a result of that, you have what we call a conversion problem, meaning you aren't able to take those connections and turn them into actual book sales. Many times when it comes to conversion, it is a problem with showing your readers why your book is what they are looking for.
This is what we mean by messaging. It's thinking about what are the problems or the questions or the issues that my reader is having that my book solves, if you write nonfiction. It's what are the emotions? What are the feelings? What are the experiences that the reader is looking for if they are reading fiction? You really dive into that.
Marcus: You have to know who your ideal reader is to be able to do that.
Jenn: Exactly. Your ideal reader and your messaging go hand in hand. The problem that many authors run into is that they don't talk about this messaging, what it is that their book is providing often enough and long enough. This is an important thing because we need to remember that there are two different types of buyers that we're talking to. We're talking to fast buyers, those that buy immediately. They buy with their emotions. They don't want to miss out on anything.
Then you have the more methodical buyers. They are a little slower. It doesn't mean that you've lost the sale, but they just need some more time. They need more proof. They need more reviews to make sure that this is a good investment of their time. When we can provide messaging that is really dialed in and it speaks directly to our ideal reader and that messaging really shows our readers what they want, that is going to appease the fast buyer.
When we're consistent with it and we're staying visible and we're sharing that message consistently, that is going to appease the slower buyers, the more methodical buyers. We need to remember that marketing your book is a marathon, it's not a sprint. If you aren't seeing these conversions right away, just keep at it. It's more about looking at the overall big picture.
Don't look at the day to day sales. Look at, "Okay, if you do want to pay attention to that, look at the month, look at the last three months," and you see it collectively. When we just look at it individually, we get down on ourselves, but when we need to look at it more big picture.
Marcus: Is there something that we can also look at as far as our messaging to see what might need to be adjusted in that regard without just relying only on the book sales figures?
Jenn: Yes. Within dialing in your messaging, looking to see how people are responding on social media, how are they responding to your calls to action on your podcast interviews that you're doing. Looking at that response and that engagement is going to indicate, okay, people are responding to the messaging. They are responding to what it is that the book is providing. The comments might include, "Oh my gosh, this is exactly for me," or I am so excited about this. I can't wait to read this. When's the presale going up?" Those kinds of things. Or, "Where can I buy this?"
Marcus: Because a like doesn't really tell us very much.
Jenn: No, no, no. There are some people that don't engage with the content. They just go right to the link or the sales page or something like that. That is just one element that we need to look at. We need to look at the overall experience and the flow of what it is that we are doing within our sales process. The first thing is that the flow means how we're connecting with people and is there a clear and easy to follow path to your sales page or to your Amazon page, wherever it is that you're trying to lead people.
What I would recommend is having a friend, your partner, a fellow author, or someone go through that process, looking at the link in your profile, going to the link to your sales page, reading the sales copy. Is that captivating? Is it compelling? Is it telling your readers even more detail what they can expect and really sparking that interest? Can they easily find the button to purchase?
If you are selling on multiple outlets like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all of those, making sure that they are easy to find on your sales page because confusion kills sales. Just because it makes sense to you because you're in the middle of it does not mean that it's always going to make sense to your readers, so you always want to have an outside voice speaking into that.
Marcus: Is it a good idea just to go ahead and include the direct Amazon link or is it better to send people to your website?
Jenn: It is definitely better to send them to your website and to a sales page because if you are selling in multiple outlets, they can choose where they want to buy.
Marcus: They may not want to buy from Amazon. Then you lose that person because then they have to go find it on their favorite platform instead of just doing one extra click to see all their options.
Jenn: Then the thing also with your sales page is that you can design it. You can include some videos. You can include some reviews right there. You can make it look the way that you want it to look. If you go to an Amazon sales page, it's clunky. They're more focused on promoting other products and other books and all of that stuff. It's really about keeping your ideal reader's attention and showing them the most that your book is going to provide.
Then the third point that I want to make is that we need to be consistently promoting and prompting people to buy our book and talking about our book enough. Many authors that I talk to, they don't want to feel salesy. They don't want to feel like they're over promoting or anything like that. I totally understand that. But if you are looking to increase your sales, you have to talk about your book. You have to be showing readers what it is that your book is providing and giving them that why, dialing in that messaging.
It is not being icky or car salesman-like if you are promoting your book. Because when we're promoting and when we're selling to our ideal readers, you're providing them with what they're looking for. It's not you shoving your book down their throat. They want to see this. They want to experience this. Showing up consistently, because it takes a minimum of eight impressions in order for people to take action, you need to be consistent.
There are things that I teach and show on my social media or in our products like the Standout Social Media for Authors, where I talk about a process that you can take readers through that's educational, that's promotional, and that's nurturing that you can use to make it not feel like you're constantly promoting, but that you're getting that in so you can be consistent with your promotions.
Marcus: Just to be clear, even though you're saying that we need to promote things on a regular basis, you're not saying that we need to constantly promote our book with every single one of our social media posts?
Jenn: Not necessarily, no. We need to let readers know that you have a book available. A promotion, it's not you just holding the book up and saying, "Buy my book." It's dialing in that messaging, giving readers that why, why that book is for them. A promotion can also be giving them a free incentive to sign up for your newsletter. That is something that's going to ultimately drive them to the sales page and all of that other good stuff.
It's really thinking about the process that you're taking readers through. It's giving them the why and being consistent within your visibility, staying present, staying consistent within talking about your book because it takes that repetition. Repetition is the key to marketing.
Marcus: Again, when we know exactly who we're interacting with through this entire process, it makes it easy for us to frame these things in a way that the promotional pieces are still entertaining and fun for the people to engage with you on.
Jenn: Yes, we know what they respond to, knowing your ideal reader and dialing in your messaging. They go hand in hand.
Marcus: This question of why isn't my book selling was a great one that we received from you all. Please keep the questions coming. We love being able to address these topics that are very important to you.
Jenn: Thanks for listening and we'll talk to you next time.