3 Tips to Integrate Video into Your Book Marketing Mix

Over the past several years, the marketing industry as a whole has emphasized the importance of content. Not only can great content educate your audience, but it can also generate leads, build relationships, and spread your brand message in ways many businesses never thought possible.

As 2015 comes to a close, there is little doubt which form of content has proven to be the most popular and pervasive: video. Video is taking content marketing by storm as businesses realize the medium’s potential to deliver powerful branded messages along with a higher ROI.

With many companies already integrating video into their marketing mix, as an author or publisher, you must do the same or risk being left behind. Whether you publish dozens of books a year or you’re an author about to publish your first book, here are 3 tips on how to integrate video into your book marketing mix:

1) Q&A With Fans

This is a quick and easy way to interact with your fans while having some fun in the process! On social media or your website, ask your fans to submit questions to be answered in an upcoming video post. Once you select your questions, record your answers using your computer’s webcam.

2) Host a Virtual Reading

Here is a great idea to get your fans excited about an upcoming release. Record yourself reading an excerpt from your upcoming book using your webcam. If possible, try and choose an excerpt that will have your fans asking for more!

3) Create a Web/YouTube Series

This is a must for any non-fiction author, but can also work for fiction authors as well. Following a schedule, post videos that demonstrate your expertise on a specific topic. For example, Norwegian author and client Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen began a YouTube channel called “The Viking Bushcrafter” in which he brings his followers into the great boreal forest of Norway as he investigates the wood lore of his ancestors. Not only are his videos educational, but they’re connected to the themes of his books!

As with any piece of content you publish, your brand needs to be clear, distinguishable, and vivid. Begin and end each video with your author logo and other elements (taglines, colours, sounds, etc.) connected to your brand. Over time, as you publish more videos, your brand messaging will be retained by the viewer. If you do not have a brand or require attractive branding elements, contact our book marketing experts today!

Publisher Perspective

Aside from book trailers, publishers need to embrace the rise and popularity of video in their own marketing efforts. For example, you could make a video that reviews “How to Make a Perfect Submission to ______________.” In the video, a member of your team would discuss everything from chapter outlines to subject lines. Not only is this method more modern and engaging, it may save you from answering endless emails!