Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Academic Literary Website

Posted by MossPublishing on 9/17/2013 at 1:25 AM ET 250 Points
Our literary website for secondary schools and colleges (teachers and students) and reading clubs has established a good reputation, been well reviewed in the academic press and highly rated compared to similar sites. We are not, however, generating sufficient sales and are running out of capital to invest, so we're feeling cornered. We currently offer the site to two markets, individuals who purchase access to a particular e-book and institutions who purchase access to the complete site, whom we call on individually. We've been doing some guerrilla marketing, some social networking, etc., and are beginning to wonder if we need to team up with another company that's got established marketing muscle? We have not yet generated capital via advertising on the site, but have been warned about this not being the solution, generating too little to make the difference while compromising the site (www.gleeditions.com). Any ideas?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 9/17/2013 at 5:08 AM Accepted
    You've done some guerilla marketing. What I'd like to know is the kind of information you got about your client's likes and dislikes. Done properly you should find that you can form a character type for your best customers - likes, dislikes, where they live, income range, level of responsibility and all the rest.

    My point is that media like Google PPC/display and the new Facebook* algorithm (already running in the US) are perfect for this kind of below-the-radar style of marketing. It's laser sharp targeting means your advertising spend is modest and your ROI easily determined. (*You can see if Facebook would work for you here: https://isfb4me.com)

    However you are in the information market, selling goods that are easily copied and pirated. The likes of Amazon and Kindle have effectively trashed the market through poor marketing activities - competing along the bottom line. This has led to a perception that information is cheap. One tip I can give you is to drop your "free" offer and give a voucher to the value of your ebook instead (you'll also get their email address at the same time). Sure, it still costs nothing, the perception to the reader is that you are worth something. It instills the idea that you are offering something of value.

    Who, after all, are your biggest competition.

    Now: who are your biggest customers? Why do they return? Have you been focusing on them to get more people like them? Because targeting of this kind is relatively easy through Fb and Google. This is quite distinct from "individuals who purchase access to a particular e-book and institutions who purchase access to the complete site". Which individuals return to buy again? Which institutions? These are the bedrock of your revenue, and getting another will spike your revenue rather than nudge it.

    Does this help?

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 9/17/2013 at 8:51 AM Accepted
    Are your competitors also having similar sales problems (i.e., your market is shrinking) or are the sales decreasing just for your company? Are the problems with both the individual and institutions markets? Are you confident that you understand why (or why not) customers choose your texts (instead of the competition)? What are your installed Google Analytics telling you about your site visitors? If you were to team up with another company, who'd be a perfect fit - and why?
  • Posted on 9/17/2013 at 11:33 AM Accepted
    The problem you're facing is more common than you probably realize. It is the result of developing the product before you had business and marketing plans in place. You were focused more on delivering what YOU had (or could develop) than on what your primary target audience needed (and would buy).

    The result is that you're not making enough money to keep the enterprise afloat.

    There are really two options at this point: (1) You can fold up your tent, admit defeat, and chalk the experience up to a valuable lesson -- a mistake you won't make a second time; or (2) Start anew by researching your primary target audience thoroughly and developing the business and marketing plans from scratch -- with no preconceived notions about the product, pricing, distribution or marketing -- to see if you can really expect the idea to work (from a commercial standpoint).

    Because you have already "poisoned the soup" with your first attempt, you might want to bring in some outside marketing help if you decide to try again. There's a natural tendency to defend prior decisions without an objective evaluation.

    BTW, there's a report titled "The 3 Pitfalls That Kill Most New Businesses ... and How to Avoid Them" that you might find helpful. It's available here: https://bit.ly/SstLq2

    Good luck to you.
  • Posted by Moriarty on 9/17/2013 at 2:22 PM Accepted
    I would like to add something to what Mr Goodman has said. Because the online advertising is very different to the conventional. It is extremely fast and it allows you to move with the tide.

    To be honest, it's one of the most effective ways to determine if your business plan is correctly laid out. You can test over the period of a weekend and see if it all pans out. Done properly, it'll cost you $100. The data you get, the feedback, will be invaluable in determining where to step next.

    Because it's all to easy to make up a business plan, get funding - and find that one unknown factor put a branch in the wheel. All those weeks of work, thousands of dollars invested - gone at a swoop.

    Turning all this around means you can scoop out a client base for yourself. What's more, you'll have the objective evidence by way of your visitor's reactions to go by. This is anything but fly-by-night marketing. Ask the right questions and it's the most powerful marketing you can get.

  • Posted by MossPublishing on 9/21/2013 at 9:44 PM Author
    Moriarty

    What do you mean "Done properly, it'll cost you $100?" How would you do it properly?
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 9/21/2013 at 10:35 PM Accepted
    By asking people to log-in to buy something from you you're adding extra stumbling blocks when
    you ought to be adding stepping stones. If you're going to collect this kind of information, do so
    AFTER the purchase, NOT before.

    See more about your site here: https://www.sitescore.co/gleeditions.com

    By "done properly" Moriarty means setting up a PPC campaign that's aimed at the people most likely
    to buy from you as a result of clicking on your ads.

    Consider adding a blog to your site and then, link to similar sites that are ranking for the same kinds of terms you want to rank for. You then use the blog, PPC, and social media to connect to more places where your buyers are likely to be.
  • Posted by MossPublishing on 9/22/2013 at 12:39 AM Author
    Thank you all for the guidance!
  • Posted by Moriarty on 9/22/2013 at 5:05 AM Member
    In answer to your thought "What do you mean "Done properly, it'll cost you $100?" How would you do it properly?" If you'll allow me, I'll begin where I began and expand from there ...

    "My point is that media like Google PPC/display and the new Facebook* algorithm (already running in the US) are perfect for this kind of below-the-radar style of marketing. It's laser sharp targeting means your advertising spend is modest and your ROI easily determined. (*You can see if Facebook would work for you here: https://isfb4me.com) "

    Two further resources before I dive in, both inexpensive, both valuable. Perry Marshall's "Google Adwords" and Howie Jacobson's "Google Adwords for Dummies" - both excellent publications and wonderful people to deal with. They are open, sensible and write in an easygoing but determined manner. You can find them online at https://perrymarshall.com and https://askhowie.com. Perry has whole vistas on Google Adwords including his legendary Bobsled Run (this season's starts Tuesday but entrants are vetted carefully. The cost is well over $5000 and comes with serious guarantees. Believe me, it's worth the money you spend on it).

    The basics you can find on Perry's site at https://www.perrymarshall.com/google/

    Now: allowing that you will read one of the quoted books thoroughly, this is a rough beginner's guide to give you a taste of just how powerful this medium is.

    1) You will need a Google Adwords account - start here: https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=adwords

    2) Go to the Google Adwords keyword tool. Find the most expensive keywords that you are likely to need and focus on them.

    3) Go to the 'campaigns' page and open a new campaingn, choosing search only.

    4) Follow the process through and include a default bid and maximum limit for your daily spend as well. You can use their geographical targeting and other features here. Bear in mind that your default bid can be well less than the first page bid - Google will whinge at you but that's what Google's for. OK? Enable sitelinks and forget the rest.

    5) Sort out an ad group

    6) insert your chosen keywords. Note that here you can insert negative keywords. To find these look at the first ten pages of Google and note any words or phrases that you think inappropriate. This will make your campaign effective. Many people do this, and many Adwords jockeys use this technique when they guarantee a 25% increase in your CTR.

    7) Make sure you're using "exact match" only. This will limit your campaign but it will mean you get real data about your keywords. At this beginning stage this is as much about your place in the market as it is about making money. All right?

    8) The beauty of Adwords is to use an ad that stands out. The secret of this was discovered back in the 1880s - yes, you did read that right - using newspaper advertising. Adwords for all its power and newness is but an old game. The people who dominated newspaper advertising in 1913 would dominate Google Adwords today. Not because they know the algorithm but because they know how to get people's attention. The answer is to think what irritates the person viewing your ad. That will trigger a response and interest. They'll want to learn more and that means going to your website and that means a click. Standard click through rates (CTR) is around 1-3% and rarely 4%. Using a better ad means you can get CTRs of well into the teens and twenties. I have, you can.

    9) Check the performance of your ads on a daily basis and then weekly. Tweak as necessary, pause disasters and enhance winners. Having done all this is the time to RE-READ Perry or Howie's book because then a lot of the words will make a lot more sense because you've made a few mistakes. I did, I do and you will. Just make sure they're small ones. One guy went out to lunch, came back and found that his Ad spend was $20,000. He'd maxed out his monthly spend in ninety minutes. Thankfully Google couldn't do any more because he'd set a maximum. He realized his mistake and put it down to learning.

    10) Basic rules: focus tightly and start small. Work out where the winners are and expand to meet their other needs - or other people like them. This way you'll both learn what it's about and get a feel for the way it happens. Which is important if you're hiring someone to do it too, not all Adwords jockeys are that good: they can only manipulate the algorithm. The beauty of adwords is the questions you ask.

    Phew! my pdf will appear soon, it was supposed to be Friday but Jasper knew it was my birthday and had other ideas. You can get it through my website or sign up for my zany newsletter that has little to do with marketing and everything to do with wondering what your customers are thinking.
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