Q&A: How effective is YouTube for book marketing?
QUESTION: I'm hearing an awful lot about YouTube as an avenue for book marketing. I've gotten some quotes from companies who offer to produce a book trailer for $2,000 and up. Is this an effective way of marketing a book?
ANSWER: My philosophy is to try everything. You've got to get your book out there every which way you can, and hope that one-fifth of your efforts pay off.
But there are only 24 hours in a day, and if you're like me, your marketing budget is finite, too. I haven't felt compelled to produce an Internet video yet, for the simple reason that videos generally get far fewer eyeballs than blogs and Web sites.
For example, take my niche, book marketing. Search on YouTube for "book marketing," and one of the top results is this video from self-publishing guru Dan Poynter:
This video was uploaded to YouTube one year ago, and it's been viewed about 2,900 times -- about eight times per day.
How many unique visitors have viewed Dan's Web site during the same time? I'd estimate it's between 5,000 and 10,000 per month.
Conservatively, that's about 175 visitors a day for the Web site versus eight daily views of the video. Also, Dan's Web site is a virtual cash register -- he's selling hundreds of special reports, mailing lists, and e-books there. What is the video doing for him?
So if you're setting your priorities, this is a no-brainer. Get written content on your Web site and everywhere else on the Web. Remember, we're marketing to people who read.
I'm not suggesting that book marketers should ignore multimedia, just keep things in perspective. Don't blow your budget on some newfangled thing just because it's new. Of course if you've already got some video, it certainly won't hurt to upload it to YouTube.
But here's something that's a lot more realistic: podcasting. If you have any recordings of yourself, get them online with a podcast, and get transcripts on your blog or Web site. That way, all those readers can find your audio content.
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, plans to give away digital audiobooks of his next title to everyone who buys the physical book. An even better idea might be to make the audiobook a free podcast and upload it to every file-sharing service out there.
---------------
If you like my articles, click the orange button to subscribe:
ANSWER: My philosophy is to try everything. You've got to get your book out there every which way you can, and hope that one-fifth of your efforts pay off.
But there are only 24 hours in a day, and if you're like me, your marketing budget is finite, too. I haven't felt compelled to produce an Internet video yet, for the simple reason that videos generally get far fewer eyeballs than blogs and Web sites.
For example, take my niche, book marketing. Search on YouTube for "book marketing," and one of the top results is this video from self-publishing guru Dan Poynter:
This video was uploaded to YouTube one year ago, and it's been viewed about 2,900 times -- about eight times per day.
How many unique visitors have viewed Dan's Web site during the same time? I'd estimate it's between 5,000 and 10,000 per month.
Conservatively, that's about 175 visitors a day for the Web site versus eight daily views of the video. Also, Dan's Web site is a virtual cash register -- he's selling hundreds of special reports, mailing lists, and e-books there. What is the video doing for him?
So if you're setting your priorities, this is a no-brainer. Get written content on your Web site and everywhere else on the Web. Remember, we're marketing to people who read.
I'm not suggesting that book marketers should ignore multimedia, just keep things in perspective. Don't blow your budget on some newfangled thing just because it's new. Of course if you've already got some video, it certainly won't hurt to upload it to YouTube.
But here's something that's a lot more realistic: podcasting. If you have any recordings of yourself, get them online with a podcast, and get transcripts on your blog or Web site. That way, all those readers can find your audio content.
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, plans to give away digital audiobooks of his next title to everyone who buys the physical book. An even better idea might be to make the audiobook a free podcast and upload it to every file-sharing service out there.
---------------
If you like my articles, click the orange button to subscribe:
Steve Weber is author of Plug Your Book! Online Book Marketing for Authors
Labels: book trailers, podcasting, YouTube
posted by Steve Weber at 7/18/2007
2 comments
links to this post
2 Comments:
I have heard about the outrageous fees to produce book trailers also. I did my own and have enjoyed success with it and have been asked to do others. I charge ALOT cheaper than others and I think it is a great, unique way to get your book out there.
Check out my book trailer at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=aQD0R5IXOhs
Thanks,
Taryn Simpson
Taryn, that's a great example of a do-it-yourself video. That's one option I should have mentioned, for people who are savvy enough to make one. Someday I'll get off my duff and find out how to do it too.
Steve
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home