What is the best way to promote your books?

The answer comes from an interesting article on GrowSurf.com that explained the power of referral marketing. According to the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), there are more than 2.4 billion brand-related conversations every day in the US alone. Sharing is an innate human trait, and people are always interested in talking about their favorite products/services.

Leveraging word-of-mouth is one of the best marketing decisions you can make. Referred customers are more loyal, less likely to churn, and are a cost-effective way to sustainably grow your business.

Referral advertising | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's book

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The power of referral marketing:

Here are some incredible numbers that show the power of referral marketing:

  1. People who were referred by their friends are 4x more likely to make a purchase (Nielson)
  2. 84% of consumers trust the recommendations of others over other forms of marketing (Nielson)
  3. The lifetime value of a referred customer is 16% higher compared to a customer who wasn’t referred (Wharton)
  4. The churn rate of referred customers is 18% lower than other channels (Wharton)
  5. Referred customers generate 16% more profit than non-referred customers (Harvard Business Review)
  6. 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know (Nielson)
  7. People are 2-10x more likely to rely on word-of-mouth than paid media (Boston Consulting Group)
  8. Referred customers have a 37% higher retention rate (Deloitte)
  9. Word of mouth generates more than twice the sales of paid advertising in some industries (McKinsey & Co)

Nielsen survey results

In a related Nielsen survey, recommendations from people we know are the most trusted form of advertising, followed by branded websites, online reviews, and newspaper articles. On the other hand, online banner ads and text ads fare significantly worse:

Trusted forms of advertising | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's book

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So, if you aren’t currently leveraging word-of-mouth marketing, you could just be sitting atop a large potential of missed sales. The simplest way to do so, as Jackie Weger always reminds us, is to add something like this at the end of your books:

Thank you for taking time to read [title]. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated. Thank you again, (author name).

Happy (book) marketing!