How can knowing your target readers help you boost book sales?
If you've been following me for a while, you know that I'm pretty obsessed with helping authors figure out who their target readers are. It helps them sell more books and be more authentic as they do it. But are you convinced that it can help?
In this post, I'm going to show you six ways knowing your target readers will boost book sales.
1. Boost book sales by getting specific
First up, your book isn't for everyone, but it is easier to sell to a specific minority than the broad majority. People need to be able to identify that your book is right for them. When you get super clear on who your book is for, you can articulate that more clearly in all your marketing messages.
When people can see that your book is right for them and feel like you are speaking directly to them in your marketing, then your book sales will improve. People don't buy when they're not sure if your book is for them or not. If they read the marketing and it's very general and seems to be for everybody, then there's no reason for them to say, “Oh my gosh, I need that book! That is exactly what I'm looking for.” So you need to have those pointers in your marketing.
Even if it feels as if you've narrowed down your readership too much, once your ideal readers notice your book is perfect for them, they will start buying. You will sell more books than if you try to sell to everyone.
2. Boost book sales by doing less marketing
You can do less marketing and reach more of your ideal readers. How good does that sound? When you know your target readers, everything that you do can be more targeted.
Outreach can be more targeted. If you're getting in front of the right audience, you only need to reach out to a few specific places because you know your readers are hanging out there.
Your advertising can be more targeted and your social media activity can be more targeted as well. You only need to be on one platform, reaching those readers that you know are active on that platform as well. You don't need to spread yourself too thin by being everywhere trying to reach everyone.
If you are investing less time and money in your marketing because your marketing is more targeted, then you can invest more in your writing. You can write more books and with more books, you've have more products to sell. You can also improve your writing craft by doing more writing practice, or you could invest more in learning about writing. So with an improved product, and more product, you will boost book sales.
3. Boost book sales with better reviews
All authors get hung up about reviews, and rightly so because reviews mean social proof. That means other people have read your book and if the reviews are positive, if they loved your book, reviews can boost book sales.
When you know who your target readers are, you can put your book in front of them knowing they will love it. They are more likely to leave favorable reviews, which is what you need to inspire other people to take a chance on your book.
On the flip side, if you try to reach everyone, you may get your book into the wrong hands because your marketing is too general. You could end up getting punished in the reviews. If you position your book as a romance, for example, but in fact it's more of a sci-fi fantasy, then you will likely recieve negative reviews.
If you target the wrong audience, you will disappoint that audience and they will leave negative reviews. This will have a negative impact on your sales going forward as well. So take the time to get to know who your ideal reader is. Get your book into their hands to make sure you get the best possible reviews. Those reviews can then do the hard work to sell your book for you.
4. Boost book sales with an author platform
It is much easier to grow your author platform with your target readers in mind. I've explained what an author platform is, why you need one and how to start building one in my post Author Platform: What is it & how do you build one? Getting clear on who your target reader is, is the very first step.
If you have a specific person or group of people in mind, it will help you create more targeted content. So your blog, your social media content, your emails, they're all going to appeal more to that targeted group of readers. You want to invest time here because a solid platform will help support future launches and boost book sales. My last post Serving Readers | How To Sell Your Book With A Simple Marketing Shift talks more about how to serve your readers with your content.
5. Boost book sales with collaborations
When you know your readers, you can do more and better collaborations with other authors. Those collaborations can lead to more book sales.
If you know who your ideal readers are, you can identify who you share a readership with. And when you work with other authors that you know have an audience that overlaps with your own, you can reach a wider readership and sell more books.
Collaborations also enable you to grow your mailing list. Plus, you can run far more effective promotions when you have several authors combining the power of their own email lists to reach more people. Successful collaborations and promotions lead to more book sales.
6. Boost book sales with effective advertizing
Finally, you will see a better return on your advertising investment and sell more books when you know your readers. If you are running ads then, of course, it makes sense that you target the right people. And if you don't know who those people are, then it's going to be tricky to get your targeting right.
In the backend, you want to have that targeting set up correctly so you reach the people that are most likely to want to buy your book. On the front end, you want your ad design to appeal to your target reader as well. They need to see your ad in their feed and immediately think, oh, that looks interesting to me and click on it to check out your book. When you get these things right, then that will boost book sales.
There are so many ways that you can lose money with ads, but the fastest way to lose money is to have your targeting wrong. But know your target reader and you can improve your targeting. You can improve your creatives and you can start selling more books and make your ad spend pay off.
And once you have everything dialed in and working, you can start to scale up. You will very quickly be able to sell a lot more books.
Join The 5-Day Challenge!
So those are my six ways that knowing your target reader can help boost book sales. If you want to learn more about your target readers and how to improve your book sales, then I am excited to let you know that I'm hosting a free 5-day challenge. ‘5 Days To Mastering Your Book Marketing‘ will show you a clear path to improved book sales, starting with identifying your ideal reader. This challenge is for you even if you're starting from zero or you hate the idea of selling.
The challenge starts on September 20th and you can register here now. I can't wait to see you inside the challenge!
