Does Marketing Ever Sell Anything?

Does marketing actually sell anything?

That's a question everyone on the internet who has a product to sell probably asks. Companies spend millions on marketing and promotion. Authors spend big bucks for ads for their books.

The hard truth is that marketing and promotion really don’t sell anything.

Then why do companies and individuals do it?

Because it calls attention to the product.

What You're Actually Buying

Buying ads means you're buying exposure. Exposure brings attention to a product. If the public is constantly exposed to a product, they remember the product. That's why authors (and companies) should create a brand for themselves. Then you can bring exposure to your brand, not just to one book at a time. 

Traditional advertising wisdom said a person had to see and/or hear the name of a product 9 times before they remembered it.

In today's short attention span world with so much vying for a personal's attention, I wonder if that 9 times rule still applies.

Maybe it's 9 times 9 now? Maybe if someone sees a book cover or hears an author's name and/or the title of a book about 80 times or more, they remember it.

Remember Title Vs. Remember Your Name

Wouldn't it be better to have them remember your name every time than trying to get them to remember a title every time you publish one?

Why work so hard to bring exposure to a title when you'll be publishing another book in a few months and have to start the process all over again.

Wouldn't it be better to use that time, energy, and money to brand your name and then bring exposure to your brand?

Connecting your name to a brand means the next time readers are browsing for a book, they have a light bulb moment: "Oh yeah. Let's see what Joan Reeves books are available."

That's making the most of exposure—branding your name so that's what the reading public remembers.

It's a lot easier to remember one name than the 20-30 books I've written.

The same is true for Paige Turner, Ima Writer, and you. I'll write more on this next week.

Takeaway Truth

Whether you're selling widgets or books, you want to create that light bulb moment.

Joan Reeves—Keeping Romance Alive…One Sexy Book at a Time—is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary Romance. Joan lives happily-ever-after with her hero, her husband. They divide their time between a book-cluttered home in Houston and a quiet house at the foot of the Texas Hill Country where they sit on the porch at night, look up at the star-studded sky, and listen to the coyotes howl.

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