Marketing And Publicity Agency, Free Publicity Focus Group, Releases Statement Regarding How To Market Books In 2013

SHALLOTTE, NC, December 25, 2012 (Press-News.org) On December 20, 2012, the Free Publicity Focus Group, a top ranked marketing and publicity firm, published an article detailing some of the best book marketing strategies for the year 2013. While many authors believe advertising, media pitches, social media and other forms of outbound marketing strategies can drive sales, this is not always the case. Inbound Internet marketing strategies are, and will continue to be the key drivers of sales.

"Many books fail in the marketplace today," Don McCauley stated, "not because they are poorly written or because there is no market. Most fail because they are invisible. Though a book is out there on the web, this does not mean it is being seen by a sufficient number of interested buyers. This is a marketing strategy issue. Chasing buyers or trying to find them is a very inefficient way to attempt to market anything today, including books. It's very expensive, time consuming, frustrating and the return on investment is usually very low. Marketing today is not about chasing a few potential buyers around. It is more important today that buyers are able to find what they seek. It's not necessary to chase potential buyers or seek them out, though this is what comes to mind for most when they hear the word 'marketing'. In the Internet environment, buyers are already there and they are there in huge numbers, actively seeking books to purchase today. The key is not to 'find', but is instead to 'be found' by those huge numbers of active seekers who have already made a decision to buy a specific type of book. That requires a strategic, much more effective inbound approach."

To be successful in today's environment, authors must learn how to market books effectively on the Internet. That is not likely to change. The key word in this statement is 'effectively'.

"Every book is unique," McCauley continued, "and every audience is one of a kind. Authors must know their potential buyer demographics (male/female, age, location, specific needs, etc) and must communicate with them using their preferred communication styles and preferred communication tools. Authors must understand clearly how and why people buy things today. The approach today is completely different from the traditional marketing approach. Interruptive, intrusive, old-school marketing messages can create a negative first impression."

"Effective marketing involves doing things that produce compound interest; things that actually increase in value over time. Advertising, outbound pitches, social media and the like are holes into which one must constantly throw more money, time and effort to produce any results at all. Though this is perhaps how it used to be done, it is very inefficient. There are many other marketing tools that can increase in value over time with a much smaller initial investment of effort, time or cost."

Don McCauley is available for media interviews and can be reached using the information below or by email at don@freepublicitygroup.com. More information is available at the FPFG site.

The Free Publicity Focus Group is a full service, results focused marketing and publicity agency. Services provided include marketing strategy development, Internet publicity planning and implementation, targeted search engine optimization, strategic social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing and traditional media outreach. FPFG also develops websites, audio and video marketing tools, teleseminars and webinars.