Marketing Your Book as an Influencer

Written By Karli Davis

As Social Media Influencers look to expand their brand across different platforms, many decide to write a book on their unique life experience or provide their expertise in a written piece that expands on their social media content. In a world that is increasingly turning digital, one may assume that the idea of a Millennial or Gen Z spending an afternoon reading a paperback book or buying a physical book in person is a lost cause. Finding the correct marketing strategy to go about promoting a new book to generations consumed by fast-paced digital media is important. Many Social Media Influencer authors and their marketing teams are looking towards YouTube video promotions, collaboration with mass distributing companies, and promoting on television talk shows to target this demographic of young consumers. 

YouTube serves as a great platform to put out a free promotional video on an upcoming book and the authors reach a variety of audiences through this medium. For example, the Holderness Family holds a strong presence across many social media platforms and currently is in the process of promoting their new book coming out called Everybody Fights. They are releasing a series of “book trailers” and videos on their channel relating to the book to encourage their viewers to preorder the book and get excited about the release. 

Another big personality on the internet Laura Clery came out with her book titled “Idiot” in September of 2019 and posted videos on YouTube and Facebook to get her fans excited about it. She released a video on her YouTube called “I WAS SUCH A F*%KN IDIOT” where she narrates the start to one of the wild and hilarious stories included in her book. She ends the video on a cliffhanger and tells the audience that they will have to get the book to listen to the rest of the story.  

Another YouTube channel The King of Random used a bit of a different marketing strategy when they released their book 52 Random Weekend Projects. Instead of dedicating whole videos on their channel to promoting their book. They partnered with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and BooksAMillion to sell their book and promote it on their websites and stores. The King of Random’s YouTube channel never forgets to plug a link in their description to the book. By partnering with these bigger brands and book stores, The King of Random reaches a wider audience and captures customers who may not even watch their channel but are looking for a fun DIY book to read this weekend.   

Finally, television talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon are starting to have guest stars promote their upcoming books on their show. Data from Amazon shows that when a guest star comes on Jimmy’s show their book rankings on the website increase significantly days following their segment on the talk show. YouTube stars Rhett and Link from the channel Good Mythical Morning went on The Tonight Show to promote their book titled Book of Mythicality and it soon became a #1 New York Times Best Seller. 

Capturing the attention of these internet influencer’s younger audiences and getting them to purchase their books means creating a smarter marketing strategy. According to Statista as of 2019, about 44% of high school students or younger, 22% of college students, and 8% of college graduates have not read a book in the past 12 months. Influencers can most effectively promote their books to their younger audiences by posting promotional YouTube videos on their respective platforms, collaborating with big-name distribution companies, and going on talk shows to market their book. Hopefully reaching the number one spot on the charts.