Marketing Vs. Advertising
The Zoom marketing seminar my agent and friend Chip MacGregor put on yesterday went well, and some interesting opinions were heard from some very accomplished authors. It made me feel good that my agent kind of relied on my input a tad more than the others, not because I’m smarter than anyone (quite the opposite actually), but because I’ve been around so long, and pretty much seen it all.
One thing that stuck out at me is how many writers (and other business professionals for that matter) don’t know the difference between marketing and advertising. When asked by Chip what she was doing to market her books, one woman praised Bookbub ads as a nice way to move units (it’s true, I like Bookbub ads).
I didn’t say anything at the time, but that’s not marketing. It’s advertising (thus Bookbub ADS…) You give Bookbub your money and much like a digital roadside sign, they show your book cover to potential readers. Perhaps if they see it enough times, they’ll eventually purchase it.
Marketing is different. It doesn’t necessarily cost you money. But it does take time and effort.
It’s where you establish a relationship with your readers and potential readers by delivering content to them (such as a blog on Substack), or you post stuff in social media that shows them who the writer is and what he’s about (this is called “influencing”), as opposed to just asking people to buy your books.
It’s starting a YouTube channel and speaking to readers (and other writers) about your particular writer’s life and pertinent topics about the industry. It’s about establishing a trustworthy bond between you and your fans and future fans.
Your tribe wants to know they can not only trust your books to be entertained and enlightened, they want to know more about you as a person. They want to come on your adventures with you, even if just virtually. Bookbub ads or Amazon ads or Facebook ads will never accomplish this.
To once more use prolific pulp writer Dean Wesley Smith’s famous analogy of the Magic Bakery, marketing is the smell wafting from your store front. It’s giving away some cookies. It’s having glass cases full of cakes and pies and pastries, so that there’s something for everyone who ventures inside. It’s the bakery website and social media presence. It’s the “come on in and grab a cup of coffee. How’s the wife and kids?”
Advertising is the roadside sign that barks, “Vinny’s Bakery! Baked Goods to Die For! Turn Left at the Traffic Light!”
Maybe I should have been an ad copywriter.
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