In the song “Make New Friends, But Keep the Old”, the next line states “One is silver and the other gold”. Both gold and silver are valuable. However, gold is more valuable than silver. I think this idea is important to remember when it comes to marketing techniques.
With so much marketing emphasis on social media and mobile these days, it is easy to abandon older technology in favor of the new. Here is a word of caution. Older friends are gold, while newer friends are silver.
I think the same applies to marketing. Social media is silver. However, the older marketing techniques such as email blasts, mail campaigns, and good old fashioned in-person promoting and selling of books are still gold. Don’t throw them away.
BookBrowse, a website all about secular books, recently completed a survey of its 3,400 member reading audience. Here is part of what they found out:
- 65% regularly use social networking sites, ranging from 95% penetration among 18-34 year olds, to 37% for those aged over 75.
- Facebook dominates, followed by GoodReads. LibraryThing, and Shelfari trail.
- Even though two-thirds use social networking, only 25% use it to keep up with websites. E-mail remains the preferred vehicle to stay in touch.
I think the last point means that readers still rely on email to stay up-to-date with the companies they like. While they may be fans of these companies on Facebook, they still prefer to receive emails alerting them to new products, specials, etc.
Email is still gold. Don’t abandon it yet. Use it to keep your customers and potential customers informed about your books, your authors’ events, and any sales or specials you are running.
