In this article, I’m going to show you how authors can use sales funnels and email marketing to turn subscribers into superfans—and most importantly to sell more books!
Now this strategy is based a lot on an article that was published by AWeber. I’ve added in some of my own thoughts, but I’ve also included a link to the original article so you can check that out as well.
Now, if you’re like a lot of authors that are trying to sell your books on Amazon, you’ve probably realized that Amazon is a way to distribute books, but not a sales strategy. So, by using a sales funnel with some effective email marketing, you’ll be much better positioned to gain more fans and customers!
Start with the Right Email Marketing
Let’s start with your email marketing component. While it’s really tempting to use one of the free services, you really need a quality email marketing provider so your email messages don’t wind up in the spam folder—or worse (losing your entire list). I use AWeber and GetResponse, but there are definitely other great email marketers like Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign. I’ve also included links to these companies as well.
Customize Your Landing Pages and Newsletters
Once you have your email marketing in place, you can focus on the other parts of your sales funnel—starting with your landing pages. While the basic landing page strategies still apply—like capturing your readers attention and tapping into their emotions, when you’re selling books, it’s also critical to tailor your message to your audience.
This is also important when it comes to your email newsletters, but I also recommend that you start your customization with your landing pages. So, for example, if you write for different genres, you want to really include the type of verbiage and images that connect with that type of audience.
You Have the Best Lead Magnet as an Author!
And most importantly, you want to offer a lead magnet to get people to sign up for your newsletter. As an author, you have the ideal item to give away—and that’s a free book. It can be an abbreviated or novella version. But the key is giving your audience something for free—simply in return for their email address.
Segmentation is the Key
Now, once people opt-in to your free book offer and sign up for your list, you need to continue to build a trusting relationship with them by offering more free sample books. Again, going back to our customization strategy, you want to use segmentation with your email lists to tailor your email messages to your different audiences.
Any of the premium email marketing providers include segmentation features you can use. For example, with GetResponse, you can create segments from your email lists based on your subscriber’s identification information or some other custom reference data you assign to them. You can then send out customized newsletters to each specific segment.
Your Fans are Your Best Marketing Tool!
Ultimately, you can build a base of superfans by offering your list members pre-launch copies of your books and then soliciting reviews from them in return. You can then use these reviews to further promote your books online. Reviews are one of the best marketing tools to increase sales!
And by establishing your email marketing list through your sales funnels, you’ll be able to get more superfans who will also promote your work and allow you to sell even more books!
Resources
I mentioned a number of resources for email marketing and landing pages in this blog post. Here is a recap for your convenience.
AWeber Blog Article by KRISTIN MACLAUGHLIN
ActiveCampaign
- Best Landing Pages - November 5, 2020
- Best Email Marketing - October 30, 2020
- DropFunnels Pricing - September 29, 2020
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