Selling books is tough for most authors. Gone are the days when simply landing a book deal with a publisher guaranteed strong sales and distribution.
Now, in the era of self-publishing, authors must become marketers and master promotional strategies to get their books in front of readers. Even if you have a traditional publishing deal, much of the marketing burden still falls on you as the author.
The challenge is reaching new readers, cutting through the noise, and converting browsers into buyers. With millions of books available at the click of a button, capturing reader attention is more difficult than ever.
Fortunately, there are proven marketing tactics and technologies you can leverage as an author to boost book sales, expand your audience, and grow your business.
In this post, I’ll share key strategies to help you sell more books, including:
– Using sales funnels to convert readers
– Creating high-converting landing pages
– Running targeted Facebook ad campaigns
– Retargeting past website visitors
– Growing your email list and automating campaigns
– Crafting irresistible offers readers can’t refuse
– Continuously testing and optimizing your efforts
With the right combination of these tactics, you can create an effective sales machine that runs on autopilot to drive book sales 24/7. Let’s dive in and explore how to take your author marketing to the next level.
Funnels Convert Readers into Buyers
If you want to dramatically increase book sales, you need to start using sales funnels.
A sales funnel maps out the journey a reader takes from initial awareness of your book to becoming a paying customer. It guides them through three stages:
Awareness – The reader learns about you and your book. You make that critical first impression.
Consideration – The reader researches and considers purchasing your book. You provide value to nudge them closer to a sale.
Purchase – The reader decides to buy your book. You motivate them to complete the transaction.
Without a funnel, readers have no structured path to move from unknown site visitors to loyal book buyers.
Statistics show that a proper sales funnel can boost conversion rates by up to 30% or more.
There are many funnel-building tools out there like ClickFunnels, LeadPages, Instapage, and more.
However, I recommend Book Blaster as the best funnel software specifically for authors. Book Blaster uses advanced AI technology to help authors create high-converting funnels customized for each book title. It’s the easiest way to build effective funnels optimized to sell more books.
Be sure to tailor the funnel journey for each of your book titles. The path for your young adult fiction book should differ from your nonfiction business title.
A common mistake is sending website traffic directly to sales platforms like Amazon without entering your funnel first. You miss the chance to capture leads and nurture them.
Landing Pages Capture Leads
Dedicated landing pages are crucial for capturing leads and selling books.
A landing page is a standalone web page that focuses on one specific offer, product, or promotion.
Unlike your main website, a landing page talks about only one thing – the book you are advertising.
So why do authors need landing pages?
Benefits include:
Making a strong first impression on visitors from ads
Keeping readers focused on one particular book
Collecting visitor contacts by offering something valuable in exchange like a free sample chapter
Building your email list which you can market to repeatedly
For example, your landing page could offer a free PDF sample of two chapters in return for the visitor’s email address. This reader magnet gets them into your sales funnel.
Tools like LeadPages make it easy to create customized landing pages without coding.
Even better, BookBlaster allows you to build targeted landing pages in one click using your actual book cover, title, and description as context. The AI generates effective pages optimized to sell your book.
Be sure to focus each landing page on conversions. Reduce distractions, emphasize benefits, and make it extremely easy for visitors to take your desired action.
A common mistake is sending website traffic directly to sales platforms without entering your landing page funnel first. Don’t miss the opportunity to capture visitor information!
Now let’s discuss how to drive targeted traffic to your landing pages.
Leverage Social Media Ads (Facebook, TikTok)
Want to reach new readers beyond just your existing network? Social media ads are extremely effective.
Platforms like Facebook and TikTok give you the ability to get your books in front of targeted audiences, even if they have no idea who you are yet.
These platforms offer a variety of ad formats to choose from – single image, video, carousel, and more. You can showcase your book creatively.
The key is precise ad targeting to ensure your ads are shown to people likely to be interested. For example, you can target:
Specific demographics like women over 40
Relevant interests like romance novels or sci-fi
Behaviors like Kindle readers or online shoppers
Lookalike audiences similar to your current readers
Layering multiple interests together allows you to reach very specific niche audiences.
Be sure to set clear campaign objectives aligned with your goals, like website traffic or conversions.
Always send social traffic to your landing page first to capture leads before sending them to Amazon or elsewhere to purchase.
Compelling ad copy and visuals boost results. A/B test different images, videos, headlines, and text so you can refine based on performance data.
Social media ads take your sales to the next level by reaching fresh new audiences. Now let’s discuss how to bring previous visitors back.
Retarget Past Visitors
Here’s a powerful strategy to get more book sales from previous website visitors who didn’t convert.
Retargeting involves showing specialized ads to people who have visited your website or landing page but did not purchase or opt-in.
For example, you can create a custom audience in Facebook with pixels to target everyone who visited a particular landing page in the past 30 days.
Then set up a new ad campaign with offers, discounts, or incentives tailored specifically to this audience segment since they already expressed initial interest.
“Come back and get 25% off with code RETURN25” is an example of effective retargeting copy.
You have their attention since they engaged previously – now close the deal!
Retargeting helps you reconnect with and convert potential buyers who slipped away. Combine it with email marketing to build direct relationships.
Speaking of email…let’s discuss why you need to grow your reader email list.
Grow Your Email List
One of the most valuable assets you can build as an author is your email list.
Collecting emails on your landing pages allows you to market directly to readers on your terms.
Email marketing establishes ongoing, direct relationships with your audience. It’s far more effective than occasional social media posts.
Make sure to offer an appealing lead magnet like a free sample chapter in exchange for subscribing.
Segment your list based on level of interest. Send targeted campaigns to each group.
Tools like Mailchimp make it easy to set up email automation flows.
Book Blaster landing pages seamlessly integrate with Pabbly and Zapier so you can easily connect to almost any email service.
Relying solely on posting on social media when you “have time” is unpredictable and inefficient. Email marketing runs 24/7 on autopilot.
In summary, strategies like sales funnels, targeted ads, and email automation will transform your author marketing and take book sales to new heights!
Conclusion
Selling more books in today’s crowded marketplace requires smart marketing tactics and leveraging powerful technologies.
In this post, we covered actionable strategies any author can use to boost sales, including:
Implementing sales funnels to convert unknown readers into buyers through a structured journey. Tools like BookBlaster make easy to create customized, high-converting funnels.
Building dedicated landing pages that make a great first impression and focus on selling one specific book title. BookBlaster can quickly build optimized landing pages that integrate seamlessly with email services.
Running social media ad campaigns on platforms like Facebook and TikTok to get your books in front of targeted new audiences. Precise targeting options allow you to hone in on your ideal book buyers.
Retargeting previous website visitors through custom audiences and tailored offers to re-engage and convert them.
Growing your reader email list by offering a compelling lead magnet in exchange for subscribing. Email marketing establishes direct, automated relationships.
Continuously testing and optimizing your efforts based on hard data so you can double down on what works.
The bottom line is that employing powerful marketing technology like BookBlaster, combined with proven strategies for capturing reader attention and selling more books, can take your author business to dramatic new heights.
What marketing tactics are you excited to implement next to grow your readership and sales? Let me know in the comments!
