Sell More Books Through Segmentation
If you're like most book publishers, you're always interested in finding new ways to increase unit sales, revenue and profits. One way to achieve this goal is to tap into new markets for your current titles. Easier said than done? At the upcoming Publishing Business Conference & Expo, March 8-10, in New York City, Brian Jud—president of Avon, Conn.-based Book Marketing Works—will lead a session entitled, “Sell More Books in Large Quantities, With Fewer Returns,” to help publishers discover and sell to new markets.
Jud recently spoke to Book Business Extra to give readers a sneak preview of the information he will present during his session, which will be held Tuesday, March 9, at 4 p.m.
Book Business Extra: How can publishers create micro-markets, and then optimize those opportunities?
Brian Jud: … I'll [ask publishers], "Who's your target reader?" And they'll say, "Well, everybody." I'll say, "Well, you can't sell to everybody. Can you narrow that down a little bit?" Because what you want to do is create groups of people who buy for the same reasons. And that's what the concept of segmentation. For example, if you have a children's book, you may sell it to bookstores, or you may sell it to moms' groups, children's hospitals, the home-schooling market, PTAs, day-care centers or toy stores. And they all buy for different reasons. So you need to organize these buyers into groups, according to their reasons to buy. That's the concept of these mini-markets or market segments. ... People say, "Well, I'll sell my books to libraries." That's certainly a market segment. ... A mini-market is the library. A micro-market would be, "What kind of library?" ... It's finding out how people use the book and then marketing it to them. You want to help them buy instead of selling it to them. And if you can create those micro-markets, then you can maximize the opportunity. You sell a lot more books. If you say, "This is the best book that's ever been written about how to get a job," first of all, they won't believe you. They'll say, "So what? What's that mean to me?" ...
Extra: How do you find out, then, how people are using your book?
Jud: ... A variety of different ways: Go to trade shows, [use] social media, join [online] discussion groups, ... read blogs ... . Go to these places and find out what [people] are doing. Go to association meetings and find out how associations buy [books]. Go to colleges … . You do a personal presentation at a college, and then the bookstore takes on your books. Then you contact the college librarian. … Or a person from the alumni association will come up to you after your presentation and ask if you can write an article for their newsletter, or something like that. Just the more you do, the more it compounds ... .
Extra: What are some tips for searching the Internet to locate new prospects?
Jud: Say you want to sell your book to associations. Go to [a site such as] Weddles.com that lists associations. ... The key is [that] you have to work the site; you really have to look into it. ... When I'm calling an association, I have their Web site up on my [computer] screen so I can ... see their mission statement. They'll say, "Well, how can this book help me?" And I can respond, "Well, this content applies to your mission statement, because ... ."
Once you have this list of suspects, call them; then you have to qualify and prioritize them.
Extra: How can publishers define their target buyers in ways that lead to more sales?
Jud: One is [to define] the centers of influence ... [For example, if you have a children's boo,] you contact someone like Kindercare Learning Centers that can buy for large numbers of people. The other is to define the consumers. You can't say, "Everybody." Find out the people that would most likely buy your book. You want to get a general age bracket, a general income bracket. ... If you're selling a travel book, then people with a higher income would be taking cruises. So you might contact the cruise ship line … to get a feel for them.
You want to find out, "When do they buy?" If you're selling a job-search book, well, they're going to buy around the periods of graduation. So you know when you have to get them to schools and to parents around graduation. Find out, "Where do they buy?" Do they buy your books in supermarkets? People say, "There's no way I can sell fiction." Well, there's a lot of places you can sell fiction in special markets—supermarkets, airport stores, cruise ships, specialty shops or libraries. One of my clients sold 3,000 of a novel in two months just doing a library tour. There are reading groups and book clubs, in which you can sell a lot of fiction.
... Take a sheet of paper and [put] it in three columns: The left-hand column is headed "Problems"; the middle column is "Actions"; and [the] right-hand column [is] "Results." Then, [if you're selling a job-seekers' book, for example], you list, "What problems do my readers have with job searches?" They want to know when to use a certain kind of resume, what kinds of questions they can ask or expect to be asked [on an interview]. Then the middle column is "What action do you recommend in your book to solve that problem? And what is the result?" I recommend that different types of situations need different types of resumes. The result is that they get a job more quickly. That's what people want ... . When you focus on that right-hand column in your marketing, then you're solving the problems. ...
- People:
- Brian Jud
- Places:
- Avon, Conn.
- New York City