Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

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By: Lynne Cantwell

I can’t count the number of times I have heard indies talk about getting a return on their investment when it comes to advertising. Most people consider an ad successful only if they make more money from sales of their books than the ad cost them.

It’s undeniably great when that happens. But that’s not what marketing is for. Marketing is not for selling stuff – at least, not directly. It’s for making your brand so familiar to consumers that they will decide they need whatever it is you’re selling.

A single ad does not familiarity make. There’s an old chestnut in the marketing business that it takes seven contacts with a prospective customer before you will see any results. In general, someone needs to see your novel seven times before they’ll decide to buy. The technical term for this is “effective frequency” (also known as the Marketing Rule of Seven).

There’s actually some dispute whether the “seven times” rule is still true. Thanks to the intertubes, we’re so overwhelmed with marketing messages nowadays that it probably takes even more impressions to, uh, make an impression. One blog post I read while preparing this article suggests the new number is 13. Although big numbers aren’t new; back in 1885, a guy named Thomas Smith wrote a book called Successful Advertising in which he claimed it takes 20 views of an ad before it makes a dent:

Read the full article HERE!

~*~

If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:
  1. Seriously Write: Planning Is Not A Dirty Word by Susan Sleeman http://ow.ly/uxMJk
  2. How to Promote with Twitter with Mike Stelzner — Amy Porterfield http://ow.ly/uxU4m
  3. Making the Sale: How to Sell More Books on Your Own Website http://ow.ly/uxUyi
  4. The Phonogram WH http://ow.ly/uyA1u Daily Writing Tip
  5. Finding Balance: Play Hooky | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/uyZP3
  6. 17 Eye-Opening Social Media Facts [INFOGRAPHIC] - AllTwitter http://ow.ly/uz7Ze
  7. RT @elizabethscraig: Should You Self-Publish Or Not? http://ow.ly/ulFjy What Makes a Story Event a “Turning Point”? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author http://ow.ly/uzpB9
  8.  @literaryeric
  9. Social Media Examiner: Social media marketing how to, research, case studies, news and more! | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/uzpJk
  10. Writer Unboxed » Here’s What Both Pantsing and Plotting Miss: The Real Story http://ow.ly/uzpM0
  11. The Name on Everyone’s Lips: Effective Frequency | Indies Unlimited http://ow.ly/uzq0p
  12. Novel Rocket: Out of Focus . . . http://ow.ly/uzqbl
  13. 5 Crucial Google Analytics Customizations to Boost Ecommerce Sales http://ow.ly/uzqdu  
  14. Getting the Details Right in Your Novel: Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist | WritersDigest.com http://ow.ly/uzqkh
  15. The Kill Zone: 13 Ways to Sell More Books http://ow.ly/uzqEx
  16. 5 Easy Ways to Write Your Book http://ow.ly/uzqN1
  17. Southern Writers: Suite T: It Worked for Me, Tips from the General http://ow.ly/uzqP7
  18. Writability: On Writing Dead Genres http://ow.ly/uzqXK
Happy writing and running, Kathy

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