How to Succeed in a Changing Market
Brian Jud
The demise of Borders can provide lessons for book
publishers. Beyond the fact that ebooks are changing the competitive terrain
for us, there is an opportunity for substantial revenue growth of printed books
in non-bookstore markets. Publishers who ignore these changes and rely on the
traditional business model of selling primarily through bookstores will run out
of room to grow.
Publishers with a creative flexibility will be more likely
to strategically adjust and thrive in this changing market. It is not
difficult, and may be easier to understand by looking at a similar situation in
a different field. Netflix changed the way DVD rental firms competed by
starting delivery through the mail. It quickly sought to reinvent itself by
obsolescing its own way of doing business and developed technology to replace
mailing physical DVDs with digital streaming over the Internet. In contrast,
Blockbuster blindly continued its successful superstore model, by making minor adjustments
in their current way of doing business (no more late fees). It failed to
respond to fundamental market changes and is closing stores nationwide.
Returning to our industry, Barnes & Noble has
demonstrated a history of strategic flexibility. It was one of the first to
discount bestsellers, publish its own titles, create super-stores, and put
coffee shops in its stores. Rather than swim against the e-book tide, B&N
reinvented itself with the Nook, apps and the sale of toys and games. Other brick-and-mortar
booksellers have offered e-books online, but B&N is the only legacy
retailer to create its own device (Borders licensed a reader of its own from an
outside company called Kobo). In an industry that started with Gutenberg,
B&N creatively reinvents its business model to respond to market needs.
Borders failed to respond to fundamental market changes and is closing stores
nationwide.
The lesson? Publishers that reinvent
themselves can succeed in this new, competitive rapidly changing environment.
One way to do that is to expand outside your core business into non-bookstore
markets. Publishers that simply tweak their current business model (sell to
Barnes & Noble and independent stores instead of Borders) are doomed to
falling sales and the return of unsold books.
When publishers focus on the
opportunities in non-bookstore segments, they may actually get a better picture
of their future. Non-traditional marketing is basically the process of writing
quality content in response to an identified need, publishing it in the form
desired by the reader and then selling it to people in defined groups of
prospective customers. Doing this successfully may simply require a little
flexibility, a change in concentration from traditional book selling to a...
1)
Focus
on the content of your book, not the book itself.
What your book does is more important to buyers than what it is.
Content is king in special-sales marketing, and the old adage, “find a need and
fill it,” was never more relevant.
2)
Focus
on target customers. Segment your total market into
several “mini-markets,” each with identifiable needs and selling
idiosyncrasies. The Kindle tries to be everything to everybody. Barnes &
Noble’s Color Nook is focused on readers and is reported to do a better job with
children's books. In its design and marketing, the Nook aims directly at women
– the largest group of book buyers. It is targeting customers who love reading,
yet have not been coddled by its larger rival.
3)
Focus
on marketing as much production. The concepts of frontlist and backlist
are irrelevant in special markets. Publishing more titles to keep your
frontlist current is not nearly as profitable as concentrating on selling the
titles you already have.
4) Focus on getting people to buy
rather than selling to them. Discover what your business prospects need --
which will probably be some combination of products and services -- then
describe how you can help them improve revenues, margins or brand image. Add
value to their way of doing business. For example, you may be trying to sell a
barbeque cookbook to buyers at Lowe’s or Home Depot. They do not want to sell
cookbooks as much as they want to sell high-priced, more profitable barbeque
grills. Sell your cookbook to them by demonstrating how it could be used as en
enticement to get people to buy the grills. They could use your book –
rather than sell it – by giving one away with each grill purchased. This
is the concept of cross merchandising.
5)
Focus on the differences of your content, not on its sameness.
Authors sometimes describe their book by saying, “It’s the next Harry Potter,”
or “It’s like The Tipping Point, but better.” Buyers do not want
more of what they already have. They want to hear how your information is
different from the better-known titles and why it is better.
6) Focus on push and pull.
Push marketing is directed at the channel members, helping them sell
more books to the next higher level in the distribution network. On the other
hand, pull marketing is directed at the ultimate consumer, making people
aware of your title and getting them to buy it. While both strategies are
important, push marketing is the preferred strategy in non-retail marketing and
pull is the strategy of choice in retail marketing.
7) Focus on what you can control.
There are four primary activities you can control in book marketing: 1) its
content and form, 2) the price at which you sell it, 3) the ways in which you
distribute it and 4) how you promote it.
The publishing industry is making the transition from physical
books to ebooks. Some publishing companies will not be able to make that leap,
but those who will succeed are those that will look to the future with a little
creative flexibility.
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Brian Jud is the author of How
to Make Real Money Selling Books and now offers commission-based
sales in special markets. Contact
Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001-0715; (860) 675-1344;
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