How do you recognize a veteran marketer?
1. Genetically, it carries three traits that constantly want to burst out of it in one way or another.
2. 1.) First of all, there is that certain compulsion to communicate. We want to talk everywhere – we constantly want to address someone, and we want to be present on every possible platform: on the radio, on TV, on billboards, citylights, online platforms, and in print media as well.
3. 2.) Secondly, there are the 4. overwhelming mass of groundbreaking ideas, 5. , – a daily minimum of ten, of which, of course, 9.9 are trash – world-changing plans, dream campaigns – you know, that typical tingling feeling that keeps us awake for days during a challenge, a tender, or a new goal.
6. 3.) Thirdly, we are overwhelmed by the „satisfied customer syndrome,” which no negative feedback, unfriendly tone, or unrealistic wish can eradicate from us. Well, let's be honest, the latter does require that certain childhood room where we learned patience and empathy.
7. Veteran marketer – marketing veteran
8. Let's examine these three traits through a practical example based on real events!
9. Given Attila Bánki, one of the owners of Vermis Production, who has been working as a communication professional for over 20 years, a pioneer in digital marketing. One beautiful morning, his 10. compulsion to communicate, 11. woke him up with the thought of writing a book. Not just one, but three at once. Immediately, the 12. groundbreaking ideas 13. popped up – he didn't intend to put down the experiences of the past 20 years, which he already had plenty of knowledge about, but he started to flirt with the idea of the apocalypse, which fortunately has not occurred based on any prediction yet.
14. He began writing under the name Alexander B. Hackman (but don't make the mistake of not publishing your book under your own name) about the apocalypse and its approach: His trilogy titled The Last Twenty-Seven deals with the end of the world, or rather its approach, and the 27-day preparation related to it.
„15. ”What would you do if you found out that our civilization would end in 27 days – but you would receive a bank card containing an infinite amount?"
16. The topic itself was not far-fetched for Attila: the marketing professional with a military background preceded his books with several years of source research, interviews, military, intelligence research, and sociological preparation.
17. It was evident that he would keep the communication related to his books within his own advertising agency, as this way he could also satisfy his „18. ”satisfied customer syndrome": over the years, he consciously surrounded himself with professionals who also possess the previously mentioned genetic differences.” 19. An interesting fact is that selling books through PPC cannot be profitable. Because the average conversion rate of a webshop is 1-2%. Therefore, selling a book through PPC would cost several hundred forints per copy. Moreover, literary books are most often preferred to be bought in Hungarian bookstores.
An interesting fact is that it is not possible to sell books profitably through PPC. Because the average conversion rate of a webshop is 1-2%. Therefore, selling a book through PPC would cost several hundred forints per copy. Moreover, literary books are most preferred to be bought by Hungarians in bookstores.
Book marketing teamwork
Thus it happened that Attila Bánki, aka Alexander B. Hackman, started his passion project, while the Vermis Production social team delved into book marketing, and into author brand building.
„Book marketing is a completely independent marketing field. A profession within a profession.”
Was the task simple? Not at all, since besides having one of our clients become our own boss, we had to get to know the so-called bookworm persona.
At first glance, one might think that communicating about books is simple: we present the cover as often as possible, in the most beautiful settings; we select witty quotes from the writing, which we sometimes spoil on Facebook, or regularly share the author's thoughts on current events, public affairs, and cultural life.
This is all very little.
Speaking to bookworms, reaching out to book lovers is not easy at all. What is an interesting genre or a boring story to one reader may contain world-changing thoughts for another. There are at least twenty different types of Hungarian book readers.
Fun fact, Meta itself keeps track of readers interested in different genres in almost countless ways. Just a few examples:
- Fantasy, Crime, Erotica, or trendy new ones like dark fantasy or young adult
- Based on the object of your admiration: fans of Jane Austen, Jo Nesbo, Stephen King
- Interest in literature, etc.
There are two important tools for finding your target audience:
1. Testing – with this, you can even reduce your costs by a sixth
2. Patience – Until you figure out how to find them. Until then, you will certainly make many mistakes. (BTW this is why it's essential to find and appreciate those who truly know this profession. You can save a lot of time and money with a good book professional)
A book and the continuous communication that comes with it is much more complex than an „average” product communication, as we are playing with emotions, we searched for a long time for those contents, that tonality, those surfaces, with which and where we could connect most effectively to the readers, The Last Twenty-Seven the vibrations of its readers.
After all, this is a dystopia.
Although we are already at the communication of the second volume, I can confidently say that despite getting quite well into the task, we still encounter a lot of novelties and challenges.
related to the promotion of the book, and one of the „most dangerous” tasks, the personal brand building of Alexander B. Hackman.
You cannot best build a writer through the sales of their books. But rather through their personal brand, by promoting the writer's name.
The nature of the patience game
This is indeed a patience game. After all, more than 14,000 new titles are published each year, and generally, the number of copies sold is declining. Moreover, opinions fluctuate on how many literary books need to be sold for a book to be considered successful. The big „old-timers” say that 2,000 copies sold is considered a good result in Hungary. And they also say that anyone who has sold 10,000 copies is a rock star.
A hundred thousand copies sold is incredibly rare; only three titles have managed to achieve this level.
It is certainly very good feedback for the team that the books are selling rapidly – well, this is partly due to the exciting story, the humor of the book, and the writer's unique style! 😉
