KWE Publishing Newsletter - 06/01/23
Today, we'll be sharing an interview about influencer campaigns with our amazing team member, VIP Concierge Marketing Expert Jean Sime! Trust us, you do NOT want to miss out on some of Jean's amazing advice for authors at all stages of writing and marketing who want to learn about influencer campaigns! Keep reading to learn more!
1) Hi, Jean! Could you describe what an influencer campaign is and how it can differ from traditional marketing campaigns?
Basically, it is a marketing/advertising campaign utilizing the popularity and following of the “influencer” (content creator) through their social media. It's an investment used to present your book to an audience who follows the “influencer” and their preferred genre and the genre your book falls under. This campaign is used to increase interest in your book to a new audience and ultimately to sell more books and create interest via social media channels.
It differs from traditional marketing because it is reaching out to an unknown audience not familiar to you or your book. Here, we are using social media specifically through posts, reels, and videos (primarily on Instagram), which is a very effective way to get your message and book noticed, especially in this day of social media popularity. And we are targeting your genre specifically with the intent of reaching a broad range of interest through the popularity of an “influencer.”
2) Can you describe what the influencer campaign was like for our client with whom you worked recently and what results they saw from the campaign?
Our client agrees that it is working well and believes they have performed well with a lot of engagement, new reaches, “likes,” and comments. The client didn’t realize all the services and different packages that influencers offer.
Challenge: it is hard to navigate finding the right influencers for your book. There are thousands of “influencers” out there, so choosing the right ones for your book will take research and patience.
Our client is very satisfied with the results so far.
Results so far:
The results have varied, but we've seen posts reach thousands of accounts (in one case, over 30,000 accounts!) with high rates of engagement!
3) If an author wants to do an influencer campaign, how much money should they set aside to do this?
An author needs to first look at their budget and how much of an investment they want to make. Then, they need to set their goals (look at the potential book sales and interest) and decide what the purpose is for their campaign. Finally, they need to look at the “reach” (how many people they want to see their posts) and their ROI (return on investment). The three Rs of influence marketing are Relevance, Reach, and Resonance (engagement).
Price ranges can vary from a minimum of $25 but can go to the thousands of dollars depending on the number of followers the influence has and the type of services they offer as well as the timeframe of their posts ( ex: one-time post versus a three-month series of posts).
4) If an author is interested in doing an influencer campaign, is there a certain timeline prior to the book launch when they should start the campaign (or start researching about influencers)?
I would say they should start doing their research on the influencers at least four to six months prior to their book launch, but I recommend the sooner the better. Not only are there thousands of influencers out there to choose from, but some may not be interested in providing you with their services, so you must have a plan and have backups to reach out to. Also, in our case, they all wanted a copy of the physical book, so an advanced reader copy (ARC) should be ready to be sent out.
Some influencers live abroad, so authors must also consider the time it will take for the influencer to receive the book. Influencers also need time to read your book, so it is important to know what time is needed for them to complete reading it. Specific, detailed questions need to be asked so you don’t get surprised after you have paid them.
5) Could authors from different genres (beyond memoir/self-development) benefit from an influencer campaign?
Yes, there are influencers for many different genres. You just need to find the ones that support your genre. Authors will need to set time aside to do research and pick the right ones for them and their book or utilize our VIP Concierge services here at KWE Publishing to assist with their campaign.
6) Did you learn anything unexpected as you worked with our author to do their influencer campaign/did anything surprise you about the process?
Honestly, I did not realize how popular influencer marketing was! So many authors use their services and have phenomenal reach and engagement.
Secondly, I was not aware of the costs that they charged. In our case, our lowest package was $49 and went up to $1200.
Finally, I was impressed with the posts they generated. The influencers did a great job with their Instagram videos and in presenting our authors’ books to their audience (ex: highlighted areas of the book, underlined lines that resonated with them, and posted several pictures of the covers and interior of the book). The amount of engagement and the number of comments as well as “likes” were impressive. I would like to think that our client’s investment in the influencers helped with their sales and also helped them to reach #1 bestseller and #1 new release status on their official release day.
I do wish there was a way to see what sales were generated specifically from the influencer’s posts versus the author’s own efforts and advertising, which we're hoping to learn more about in the future.
7) Is there anything else you think our readers should know about influencer campaigns?
Follow-up is very important as well as continuous communication with the influencers during the campaign.
Expect not only to invest your money with them but also your time. Our author utilized our VIP Concierge Marketing Expert (me, Jean Sime) to take the burden of follow-up and communicating with the influencers, by using Jean’s communication skills and her passion for helping our authors have a successful campaign.
Sometimes, the client and influencer prefer to work directly with each other, which is fine also. Who knows what opportunities will come from a direct meeting with the two of them? In our case, a series of podcasts have been offered and contracted with our author.
Don’t be timid or limited. Reach for the stars! Reach out to some of the top influencers (largest followers, huge engagement)! Why not, right? You never know, they may even say yes to helping you with promoting your book. We did, and they said yes!
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Thank you, Jean!
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