With Thanksgiving approaching quickly and the Christmas season following soon after, it’s a great time to let people know about your books and how their content and message might serve their needs. What are some practical ways you can make your books relevant in the holiday season?
#1 - Create a special holiday bundle.
This is ideal if you have multiple titles to bundle as a set, but even if you don’t, you can add bookmarks, recipes, stuffed animals, or other theme-appropriate items to your book to create a custom bundle. These are perfect for gift-giving and can help people solve the “what to get for the person who has everything” quandary.
Ex: You have a book about creating habits that stick, and you add on a bookmark with an encouraging quote, a journal or notebook for recording thoughts and reflections each day, and a magnet with the tagline from your book. Think outside the box!
#2 - Show your books in a holiday-themed setting to connect with gift-giving.
There are lots of ways to stage your books: You can set them up with autumn leaves, a hot cup of cocoa, a warm blanket, or other holiday accouterments to set the mood. Books are an incredible gift, as they can show a person’s thoughtfulness and knowledge of the gift recipient. If you’d like us to create special holiday-themed images for you, email us for details or check out Derek Murphy's free 3D Book Cover Creator tool!
Ex: You wrote a book about everyday miracles and create a holiday-themed Instagram post or reel showcasing your book with Christmas music in the background. The text over the post/reel and caption invite the viewer to give your book as a gift to someone who would be encouraged by the stories of miracles to strengthen and deepen their faith.
#3 - Create a holiday gift guide for your target audience, then make sure you add details on how to purchase your book!
Not everyone is a list-maker or planner, but almost everyone appreciates gift guides to help them navigate gift-giving well for friends, family, and other loved ones. Create a “top ten” list of gifts for people who read your genre.
Ex: You have published a book on leadership in Christian ministry, and you create a 10-item gift guide for pastors or others in full-time ministry. You will be doing a service both to the gift-giver, who wants to bless the recipient, and the gift-receiver, who doesn’t need another coffee mug. See an example here!
#4 - Run a short-term promotion on your e-book or offer a promo code.
You may want to use the holiday season to draw new readers in with a short-term e-book promotion. Depending on the print-on-demand publishing platform you used, you can adjust your pricing for a limited time, then send out an email blast or run ads for the promotion. Or if you deliver e-books from your own e-commerce site, you can offer a special promo code for a percentage off the retail price to new subscribers during the holidays. You may also consider doing an ebook giveaway on Goodreads to get in front of new readers.
Ex: You published a picture book about service dogs and plan to offer the fixed layout e-book version at a significant discount from December 1-24, offering a promo code for 10% all purchases for new email list subscribers.
#5 - Offer a holiday-themed checklist, coloring page, infographic, or other digital media as a thank you to new and current readers.
Sometimes marketing is a long-term consideration, especially when you are working on building relationships with new readers and subscribers. Think of what your target audience wants or needs. What problem can you solve for them? Do some investigating, then create a downloadable item that meets that need or solves that problem.
Ex: You wrote a family Christmas Advent devotional and discover your target audience of young families would really like to find out ways to make devotionals a more natural part family experience. You create a 3-page PDF outlining ways to create family rhythms that stick and offer a coloring page at the end. (You also include a link to purchase the Advent devotional book for other families who might enjoy it!)
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There are so many ways to make your book’s content more relevant and engaging to your audience around the holidays. Keep your audience top of mind and imagine how you can best serve their needs. That is always the right way to market, no matter the season!
Want a one-on-one consult to brainstorm holiday marketing ideas? Click here to schedule: https://calendly.com/inspirebooks/book-marketing-consult
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