Radical Marketing & PR for books.
The present situation of Indian publishing industry is diverse and incomprehensible. The figures of the copies sold is increasing incredibly in the newspapers and the magazines, yet it is tough to define the real revenue growth. Indian publishing comprises of a number of family owned units specializing in one category or the other. The competition is getting even stiffer by the entry of new publishers in the market.
This fierce competition and the lack of reading habit in people calls for an extra-push for increasing the sales of the books. With huge competition with the MNCs, what the Indian publishing needs today is effective marketing strategy. It is the need of the hour for Indian publishers to spend on sound marketing and PR facilities by hiring skilled professionals in this field. One of the reasons for not so effectual marketing in Indian publishing is of course the lack of funds. One way of helping this hiring a few highly skilled professionals at association level.When the MNCs are spending on the global marketing, Indian publishers have refrained themselves to a few obsolete PR tactics only. MNCs chalk their marketing plans months in advance before the book is released. Their marketing plans target the global readership with plans made by highly experienced professionals post effective market research and feedback accumulation.
Indian publishers need good marketing strategies to attract quality authors, readers and potential customers. A good marketing strategy can be compared to a fine cocktail which should comprise of several components but in perfect balance. The PR & Marketing in India is going haywire, with a number of distinct plans being enforced in futility. What lacks is a master plan to govern all the small plans. The primary objective of the marketing plan is amiss. The genesis of a perfect marketing plan is the assessment of the targeted readership. What lacks is the understanding of the psychology of the reader. Don’t sell fish to a potato lover! There has to be segregation of the readership on the basis of their likings. Most of the small bits such as pricing, framing of the blurb (back cover content), book cover designing, etc, has to be in communion with the targeted readership’s tastes.
Post the assessment of the targeted readership and making the product according to their need it is important now to make and implement a successful publicity campaign. The need is to have an integrated campaign instead of several small plans. First and foremost chalk out before hand the objective of the marketing plan whether it is direct sales or branding. Branding of the publisher, author and his genre of writing is as important as the sales of the book after all you can’t reap before sowing the seeds. Good distribution is the back bone of a marketing plan. The book needs to have a great reach. At least it should reach to the targeted customers. In the absence of a good distribution the complete marketing plan is bound to get diffused.
Entertainment Marketing: Books are not only a means of imparting information but also one of the oldest measures of recreation. So why sell them boringly? Discussions, competitions and contests, etc, are interesting channels of marketing. The impact of book reviews in magazines and newspapers is gradually declining, while at the same time it is becoming tough for Indian publishers to fight the international books to make their way to the best dailies and magazines. Still book reviews have their own share in making the book prominent and increasing the sales to an extent. Digital media has obtained great reach with the cable channels reaching most of the parts of the globe. T.V. channels have become a better option to publicise. Undoubtedly there is a need to bargain on the prices of advertising for books on the association level. The target has to be not only on the news channels but also on the other channels running reality shows, etc. There has been an apparent increment in the sales of the books in the west through this medium. FM Radio is another means of marketing books and has worked well for a few Indian fiction titles.
The only way to earn global exposure for Indian books with minimal expenditure is web marketing. Getting more traffic to your website through SEO tools and making one’s product visible globally through a number of online selling websites is making a difference to the sales of the books. One can increase the visibility of the book by the means of a number of networking sites and blogs, etc, by adding in the targeted readers for the book from all over the world. This will directly increase the online sales. Buying the international data for viral emails campaigning is another method which can out do the traditional viral emails campaigning. But it is very important to even segregate the data according to the likings, age and other considerations to avoid creating confusion and breaching the privacy.
Just like we expect the after sales services for most of the products we buy, it is important to provide the reader with after-sales services for books too. It is important for the publishers to keep in touch with their readers through feedback forms in the books and providing replacements in case of a binding or production error.
It is important to take the Indian publishing to the next level and provide delightful reading experience to the world.
