Marketing Tuesday Tip #174: Data Dives & Perfect Marketing

Marketing for writers can be broken into 3 primary parts: The book, the author, & the business. The info in this post affects all 3 areas.

We are in a field where it’s difficult to get info on our customers. Unless you’re selling directly to your readers, you miss out on scads of pertinent reader info. We end up guessing & making assumptions which is bad for business. Very bad. Guessing costs us money and time. But what if you didn’t need to guess? Imagine how much easier marketing would become!

You can get the data. You can bridge the gap and collect info. You can then use that info for the purpose of doing an intense data dive to better understand your reader, who they are, and why they buy.

Knowing all this info, along with demographics, is the key to successful marketing. Imagine aiming your ad at the perfect reader, the kind of person who is trying to find your type of book. Your purchase rates rapidly rise b/c it’s easier to sell. Your marketing pieces & ad copy will be spot on. You won’t be in hell trying to get the ad right while losing tons of cash & time. All that frustration goes away b/c you know exact info.

How do we do this? Amazon doesn’t release anything on our buyers. Neither do the other platforms. So how do we come by this data?

This is an easy method that I’ve used myself several times. Make up some bookplates (pictured) or bookmarks. Sign them and offer them for FREE if the reader pays postage. You now have the info you would have had with a direct purchase.

Use Clickfunnels if you want a deep data dive, or Shopify for basic data. You need to use a physical item b/c you need an address. I’ve made it a $1 flat S&H fee to cover the cc processing & other fees. You now have a buyers database of your diehard fans.

Clickfunnels can use all the info to glean exactly who your readers are, from socioeconomic info, occupation, to income, social status, and even whether or not they have a book blog. (If you’d like a link for a free trial of CF, look below). That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

This method—data diving—has so much potential and is seldom used by authors. The cost is minimal and will allow your business to grow by leaps & bounds, once you understand how important it is to know who your reader is & what they want.

Demographic info from social media sites is better than nothing, but it’s not the whole picture. There are also inaccuracies on social media, due to vanity or other reasons such as lying about age, that are more common than you’d think. People make themselves older or younger. Incorrect info will make your marketing clunky and create a poor return on investment (ROI).

Not knowing EXACTLY who is buying from you affects everything from how you write your next book, to the cover image, to ad copy, etc.

Example: You write YA PNR ghost stories at historical landmarks. Data dive shows your main body of readers are rural men age 39-42 in the medical field, followed closely by females ages 25-27 in nursing school. You realize they’re following your main characters—a nurse & a med student. The locations are secondary and not the main pull that they appear to be according to social media. <— This type of thing is common when only using social media.

We are in the digital age. This is one very inexpensive method of collecting data to make your marketing easier and increase ROI.

Data makes your marketing better. Better marketing makes your author career less stressful & more fun.

Are you frustrated trying to market your book? I know a lot of authors who are having issues getting eyes on their work. They feel so upset and defeated. Remember that everyone starts at the beginning. I sold 27 books my first month as an author.

Long story short, I’ve had hundred of writers ask me to make a course on MARKETING FOR WRITERS. That’s exactly what I did. Today is the official early launch day, so there are amazing discounts if you buy in the next 24 hours. How does 50% off sound? What about free digital downloads and worksheets?

H.M. WARD’S MARKETING NINJA WORKSHOP (<–CLICK FOR MORE DETAILS!)

Head over here and check it out. See if this course is for you. Got questions?

Email me at support AT rebelwriters DOT com or message me on Facebook.

It’s become obvious that Jonathan Ferro is one of my favorite characters. It’s not because he’s hot, funny, proud, or cocky. It’s his heart.

The reader is introduced to a younger Jon in DAMAGED & THE ARRANGEMENT. We also get to meet him first hand as a recent high school graduate in STRIPPED. He’s an angry young man, but not for the reasons you’d think.

No one takes him seriously, so he no longer corrects the misconceptions of his behavior. He learned to laugh it off, to not take life seriously–on the outside. Beneath the surface there’s a storm brewing. He’s pissed at Sean for leaving, angry at Peter for running off, and he blames himself for the things that happened to him. All those facets lead to an arrogant young guy who thinks sex is game, something to be mastered. It’s not until he meets Cassie Hale that things start to shift.

Jon’s one of my favorite characters because he’s forced to radically change in a very short period of time. All of a sudden his brothers come back. Both of them. He’s already been warned by his mother and risks losing his inheritance. For a guy like Jon, a kid that’s been groomed to accept his fate in the Ferro clan from childhood, the threat of getting pushed out and cut off is severe. Add in the return of his brothers and it’s like pouring lemon juice on the situation.

Jon is a nuke waiting to explode and hides it by prancing around with a smile on his face and a pretty girl on his lap. His brothers don’t see the mask he’s wearing either. For all the good Sean tries to do, he missed this. Peter knows something’s up with his younger brother, but has no idea how deep it goes or what happened to him.

Jon is someone I would have treated the way Cassie did initially. Actually, that first meeting was based on a real event. You’re thinking, no teenager would say something like that. Yeah, I did. To a hot guy’s face. I was idealistic and didn’t like players. It never occurred to me at that age that there was more beneath the surface, that the player guise is a mask like any other. I saw and understood the pining emo or goth kid. The player was too loud and cocky, playing a game of chess to get into a girl’s pants while clanging bells. It was too much, so the guy’s words turned to noise. It made me wonder what would happen if a man went through life like that, and that’s what started my infatuation with Jonathan Ferro.

Jon was the carefree kid that had his innocence stolen. He’s the forgotten brother. He’s the man with the mask that won’t come off because it’s become part of him. And for Cassie, he’d do anything.

If you don’t know Jonathan Ferro, you’re missing out.

STRIPPED SERIES COMPLETE

Grab your copy now at these retailers:

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Thanks for reading! I love hearing what you guys have to say! 🙂