When marketing your book, the old adage, "slow and steady wins the race," is often right. While it's important to introduce your book with a big bang (lots of press releases, book signings, etc.), the key to a successful campaign that reaches the right audience is persistence and time.
Many authors market insistently for a couple months, don't see the results they want, and decide to stop their efforts. Other authors don't even begin to market their book because they don't have the time or resources to aggressively market their work. Slow and steady marketing (sometimes referred to as "drip marketing"), doesn't take as much time or monetary commitment at one time, and usually yields more results.
"Doing one promotional activity a month is often better than doing multiple activities for a month and nothing after that..."
Marketing is about making connections, and should be constant and consistent, not fast and sporadic. Doing one promotional activity a month is often better than doing multiple activities for a month and nothing after that (or randomly marketing). Prospects usually have to see your book multiple times before deciding to make a purchase, so making your name familiar with your target audience steadily over an extended period of time will make your book more likely to meet the success you hope for.
The purpose of continued marketing over a long campaign is to reach the same group of prospects multiple times. This requires developing a clear picture of the consumer you want to connect to, and targeting that person again and again. Defining your target market takes research and a succinct vision of your goals for the book. Take some time to get to know the people you hope will read your book, and what marketing materials and messages will appeal to them. Then, developing your promotional pieces and timeline for your campaign will be a lot easier and your plan will likely create better awareness.
Before starting any promotional activity, create a plan of execution. Look into upcoming book fairs or events relating to your topic, to see where you may be able to distribute your promotional material. One event a month is an excellent place to start. Explore niche magazines that may be interested in your story. Don't forget to check out blogs as well.
After researching, detail what promotional pieces you will use, when and where you will appear for events, and when and where you'd like to send your press releases and other promotional pieces (or any other combination of promotions that work for you and your book).
Make sure to consider major holidays (books make excellent gifts) and be ready to adjust your plan to make your book more timely. For example, if a major news story hits that is related to the topic of your book, it would probably be savvy to do extra marketing around that time.
For your product to make a lasting impression on your consumer, your marketing messages must be recognizable. A slogan or phrase that is used in all your marketing material is an excellent way to make sure that your potential customers recognize you and your book after seeing your promotional pieces a few times. Be careful not to repeat the exact same message in all outlets, though. You don't want to bore your consumers into no longer listening to what you have to say.
Selling takes time. Keep a steady flow of marketing going to your consumers without bombarding them with material. Don't give up after a couple of months. Slow and steady wins the race.