Marketing constantly evolves and whenever I can, I become my own guinea pig because that’s a direct (NDA-free) way to get some marketing data and draw helpful conclusions on what has changed, what works and what no longer needs to be paid attention to as much.
First, the obvious: The ‘product’. In this case Built To Last. It took me three years to get through all the necessary science studies that back-up the book and each workout in the book has been extensively field-tested by the global volunteer groups ran by Darebee so I cut no corners and went to every conceivable length I knew to make sure the book worked for its audience.
With that out of the way the talk pre-publication was about the ‘marketing plan’. Despite all the changes in the digital landscape, corporate media teams still talk about “Owned, Earned and Paid Media” like it’s gospel.
I listened to the publicity team’s suggestions and then injected my own to alter the equation in a way that made sense to what I know works, first-hand from global corporate client accounts I’ve worked with. If you’re an author, these days, most of the publicity work goes through you and you need to be multi-skilled. Back in 2011 when I was writing Google Semantic Search I wrote that in the new age of search business owners need to be “writers, photographers and videographers”.
Writers, have to wear all these hats today to succeed. I don’t like being on camera and I don’t much like podcasts because I’m self-conscious. The 39 second clip below took me half a day to perfect.
Because writing is a medium I am totally comfortable in, in the past, I used it as the primary means of publicity for my books. Using the right thematic mix and keywords for high visibility in Google I’d do guest blog posts, blogging, articles and social media posts (in that order).
Increasingly however we know that content is consumed in both shorter bites and longer form at different times by the same audience and almost exclusively in one or the other format by selective audiences. Capturing audience attention and getting that audience to engage with it has become commensurably harder because there are so many distractions on top of the ever increasing demands made of each person, today.
Marketing In Reverse
So, I ripped up the first media marketing plan that was created to promote “Built To Last” because it called for a measured, ever-increasing blog tour, author interviews and articles, alongside longer blogposts that explained the value of the book to its audience.
My premise was that if we did things in reverse: started small with snippets and video shorts, dove into longer YouTube interviews, used some highlights for ever more shorts on YouTube and Instagram and then did podcasts and articles that would work better.
The reason I chose that approach is based on the breadcrumb trail of attention capture in marketing. Short-form publicity creates:
- Interest
- Intrigue
- Familiarity
These three things then lead to more audience-generated behavior where they can actively search for the book and its author. What they do next (ideally, make a purchase) depends entirely on what the search brings up.
How It Went
To kick-off things several short trailers were created to promote the book. In every book I write I keep things real. My intent is to provide a solution to a perennial problem. In this case: “How do I get fit and stay fit, for life?” – There are no prescriptive approaches, generalizations or ‘magic wand’ solutions that will truly provide that and I was keen to stress this.
This produced a “360 degree fitness blueprint” for longevity, blending exercise science, neuroscience, and psychology to help readers build sustainable habits that last a lifetime. This summary became the approach to fitness vlogers, bloggers and influencers. As it turned out, this worked.
In the first instance it led to over 120 podcasts, 100 YouTube video interviews (some of which you will find here) and, on the back of these; 50 written articles in a span of blogs, magazines and newspapers. This was putting the “Earned” part of the marketing equation before the “Owned” and “Paid”. To put this in context it’s akin to running a marathon before even learning to walk. Earned media usually comes off a paid-promotional campaign and own-blog efforts on the basis that these two are a lot easier to kick off and provide the first layer of visibility that makes a product (in this case, “Built To Last”) attractive.
My view was that unless there is real readers interest in the book’s unique approach in the first instance, paying for advertising and putting in the effort to blog about it was a waste of resources.
The gamble paid off. Within the first week of interviews sales of “Built To Last” put in the top 25 of Men’s Health books. More than that, because the book was already being talked about in podcasts and videos; searches for the title, or me as its author, brought up snippets that were easy to consume, immediately validated the social buzz around it and led to deeper engagement with its content which then led to more sales.
Google Search
Google search was a key driver. The way search is segmented these days it shows shorts, videos, and written content for products (and services) and, in this case for “Built To Last”. As the screen caps show below, dominating search became easier the moment there was a lot of multi-platform and multi-format content to index.
Pretty much every other tab in search: "AI", "All", "Images", "Videos", etc brought up a trove of content that showcased "Built To Last".
“Paid” And “Owned” Media Still Important
The advertising budget for the book topped $7,000 so I kept a close eye on platforms and ROI. I also kept a close eye on traffic landing on my website on pages created specifically for “Built To Last”, namely the book’s Official Landing Page and the Media and Press Kit for bloggers and journalists who needed some information and material for a quick write-up.
The paid media created the poorest ROI, at least in the short term. While book and fitness influencers talked about “Built To Last” and promoted it, each promotional effort (with some minor exceptions) did not lead to any increase in sales. This is not to say that paid advertising doesn’t work. I think it still does but not immediately.
In this particular case it played a supportive role where it reinforced the perception that the book was “everywhere at once” and piqued interest when it was waning. I believe that with a little more work on my part and slightly more targeted efforts on the part of the marketing team we could have achieved the same results with half the budget. Taking the “paid” part out of the equation completely however would have left a gap that would have been hard to fill.
“Owned” media works best when it trades in facts or fills an immediate need as opposed to touting a product or service. Again, for “Built To Last” every spike in traffic to the Official Landing Page or the Media Kit translated into a surge of interest for interviews and a bump in sales.
Rethinking The Marketing Formula
The lessons learnt here become obvious if I were to ask myself the question of what would I have done differently had I known all this in advance?
- I would have reached out to people I trust first. “Built To Last” was for me, a seeming departure from my usual subjects – though it’s more of a natural evolution as I explained here. People who followed my writing journey in the past were this time, secondary to my marketing because of that perceived departure in subject matter. I was wrong. Many of them were enthused and some, like Pierre Provost (who is an author in his own right) took up the cause with enthusiasm, tirelessly promoting “Built To Last” to his audience even as he worked on his own books.
- I would have prepared some talking points in advance. I’m a deep believer in authenticity. I don’t like scripted interviews and anything that sounds pre-made. At the same time, as I went from interview to interview, despite each podcaster or video interviewer having their own focus and angle, some of the same questions popped up or some of the same viewpoints were expressed. Having a pre-conceived unified approach, as a basis, would have made the process, initially at least, a little easier; particularly for me who struggles with visual or spoken media.
- I would have asked for “Paid Media” to be activated last. As it were, paid advertising and promotion kicked in about halfway through the publicity process. The publicity team felt it was necessary to maintain momentum and also reach a wider audience. In retrospect I think it would have worked better had it been applied last, helping the book surge again after it had found its primary audience.
Some Book-Specific Marketing Insights
Authors are aware that the book market is evolving. Readers still prefer paperbooks and while eBooks with their immense portability and searchable content surged for a while, they have now been overtaken by audiobooks. Choosing the right narrator for the audiobook version is key to its success. For “Built To Last” Joe Scalora stood out for his ability to imbue emotion in the words. For a non-fiction book that is key and a testament to Joe’s excellence in capturing the essence of what he reads.
Every time audiobook sales surged there was a spike in paper book sales and a lesser, attendant spike in eBook sales mostly, I suspect, due to increased visibility as it ranked higher on Amazon.
This neatly brings us to that other question authors struggle with: platform. Despite all the negative publicity Amazon continues to dominate the global book market. Its platform makes it convenient (and safe) to pay, easy to find books and its algorithm and recommendation engine play a pivotal role in what customers buy.
“Built To Last” is available everywhere and I have kept the “buy” landing page up to date. On top of that, where possible, I posted repeatedly on social media with links to buy the book from bookshop.org (which helps local bookshops and local communities) or direct from the publisher (for a U.S.A. or a U.K. based readership) at a discount.
Despite all the negative publicity Amazon gets and all the posts I put up for readers to purchase elsewhere, 80% of the sales came from Amazon. A large part of this is convenience and I get it. I’d love to see this equation shift however. As consumers each dollar we spend shapes the world we want to see and Amazon has a disproportionate amount of power and a questionable ethical track record.
Final Summary
Advertising still works but not as advertised (pun intended). Used correctly it provides a corroborative presence that’s backed by solid, first-hand information and social media visibility. Earned media is still the most powerful channel for sales. Having other people extol your product, service or book is invaluable and far more convincing than anything you or a paid advertisement may say.
Multi-media channels and an omni-present approach are key. Now everything is digital, even if it takes place in the real world its impact is limited unless it’s shared and seen across digital media channels. Being everywhere is easier than ever. This makes the presentation of the content and its quality, key to its success.
Owned media should be about facts and figures. The ‘unsexy’ stuff that is necessary to make sense of the core offering of a product or service ("Built To Last" in this case) but less captivating when presented across social media channels.
Finally, by design, we look at AI last. Both Gemini and ChatGPT have glowing things to say when asked about “Built To Last” plus their summary of the book brings up points and facts that are true to the book but I would not have easily thought about because I’m too close to it. AI is important in marketing (and search) but it needs everything else to happen first in order to work best. So if you do all the other parts of your marketing and are successful then the AI part of it takes care of itself. Even as far back as 1999 Google would say "create content for people not a search engine" - this is now truer than ever. AI in search uses a plethora of diverse sources (reader reviews, reader social media posts and reader-generated related content alongside promotional videos, ads, and own-content to compile its answers. In this case "Built To Last" did so well because I focused on readers as opposed to search.
I hope all this gives you some useful food for thought.