Some of the main marketing strategies and messages that I inferred include:
- Constantly engage with audience:
ASI posts at least once a week on their Facebook page, but usually about every 3 days. They also participate on Twitter on a regular basis. The posts and tweets cover all sorts of topics- announcing events, giving writing advice, even advertising career opportunities. In addition to these social media outlets, ASI has been frequently hosting webinars and posting interviews at the Author Learning Center website. ASI also engages their audience in person fairly often by organizing events like book signings, the Annual Indie Author Conference and PitchFests. The more exposure they can get with their audience, the more authority they can build and the more of a trusted resource they can become. It also allows them to keep in touch with what is most important to their clients and potential clients.
- Present self-publishing as an achievable goal for anyone, but at the same time, tailor unique marketing efforts to specific audiences
This strategy is evident in their campaign toward senior citizens. They focus on the "bucket list" angle and the fact that even later in life you can still start a new career to encourage older generations to self publish. ASI participated in the AARP convention and posted articles on older first time authors like Gene Hackman and 92 year old Garnett Reed.
-Allow authors to feel they are still in total control
ASI is careful to position themselves as a guide to help an author navigate the process. Kevin Weiss, even clearly emphasizes this in his interview with Michael Hyatt. The aim is to empower the author- part of the appeal of self-publishing is that the author maintains control over the production of his/her book. ASI does not want to diminish that element. ASI presents a ton of different packages and services that an author can purchase from them. The abundance of choice allows the author to determine the level of involvement they want from ASI and in a way build a very customized experience.
- Look to other media and publishing partnerships in order to grow
Not only does ASI work with self-publishing authors, they have partnered with traditional publishers like Thomas Nelson to form Westbow Press, a Christian self-publishing imprint. In April of this year, they partnered with Guideposts and launched Inspiring Voices, which is a self publishing platform for inspirational stories. As mentioned, ASI has a script development fund and is hosting "PitchFests" for authors to try to get their books adapted into films. Finally, Kevin Weiss, ASI's CEO, spoke about the future of ASI (and I will discuss in more detail at the end of this post), but he specifically mentioned DIY audio books as an avenue of interest. Clearly, ASI does not just think in traditional author to book terms.
- Publicize the success of self-publishing authors that eventually get traditional publishing contracts.
As a company that assists authors with self-publishing, ASI has used the success of authors being picked up by traditional publishers as a selling point. Most recently, ASI posted this article on Facebook about Chris Marks landing a deal with Sea Lion Books. This is interesting for me because at first glance the message seems somewhat conflicting- self-publishing with us is great because you can ultimately get picked up by a "real" publisher and become more legitimate and not even need our services anymore. After a little thought, I do think it is smart in that it may resonate with a variety of audiences. It could capture the attention of the author that has written a book and is struggling to get a contract with a traditional publisher or the writer who is less serious about publishing but might be excited at the thought of being "discovered" without having to endure the rejection and work that typically comes with traditional publishing. It also speaks to the author who still views self-publishing as less prestigious and wants to eventually gain the personal satisfaction of being traditionally published. After consideration, the message does work, especially because out of all of the self-publishing authors out there, only a small percentage are actually going to get contracted by a large house and in essence the message will be attracting more customers then ASI will ever be losing.
As far as the competition goes, I mentioned both Lulu.com and CreateSpace at the beginning of this project and they both share some similarities with ASI, but I believe they differ in one key aspect. Both have active Facebook and Twitter accounts, offer tips for writers and provide blogs and forums for discussions, but both seem to be focused on the end product, the commodity that the user is creating, while ASI appears much more focused on the experience of creating that end product. For example, the last three press releases from CreateSpace were about MTV, VHI, & Lifetime all releasing DVDs through their service. A recent Lulu blog post suggested using Lulu customized products, like personalized calendars, as a holiday fundraiser. It seems to me that these two competitors focus on selling while ASI does not.
As for the future of ASI, in his interview with C.M Rubin that I discussed in an earlier post, Kevin Weiss, CEO of ASI, identified the following major areas of focus: more international business, publishing partnerships, e-book only imprints, better e-book formats, DIY audio books, and children's books. All of these future directions seem to be logical progressions for their business. I would conjecture that the two objectives with the potential to have the greatest impact would be continuing to partner with more traditional publishers and creating better e-book formats.
If ASI can partner with more publishers using the same model they have with Thomas Nelson, the potential for growth here is huge. I would assume that every traditional publishing house (no matter the size) has spent at least some time considering the effects that the self-publishing movement will have on their business. For some it may not be a serious threat today, but if a publishing house could figure out a way to position themselves to profit from the public's desire to self-publish, why not? For ASI, this is hundreds of potential new partnerships, especially with houses that don't have the internal resources or the expertise necessary to develop a self-publishing imprint or strategy on their own. As we have discussed, as the industry continues to change, it will be the companies that have figured out how to change with it and capitalize on those changes that will ultimately survive and be successful.
I would take this idea of partnering with more publishers a step further. Thinking past just traditional publishers, ASI should be looking to add more relationships like the one they have established with Guideposts through the creation of Inspiring Voices. I think that there are many other online communities that have members that regularly contribute to blogs or forums that could be interested in partnering with ASI to create a self-publishing platform. The benefit of these relationships would lie in the fact that there would already be an engaged, contributing group of writers that ASI (and partner) could create a highly focused marketing campaign around.
The second major area of focus for the future should be technology. If ASI is successful in developing a more effective and easier to use e-book format, there would be several opportunities for growth. First, a new technology that makes creating e-books easier would probably entice more self-publishing authors to use ASI's services. In addition to growing their own author customer base, possibly the bigger advantage would lie in licensing the use of their technologies to other publishing companies of all kinds. As the current e-book technology is far from perfect, but undoubtedly the format for the future, an investment in developing a better solution is a worthwhile risk.
ASI should enjoy a long and profitable future if they continue to think as creatively as they have been and take financial risks that are sensible. Although a good amount of ASI's marketing has been free through online networking sites, I have been impressed by the financial investments ASI must have made by hosting events, offering certain free services, developing the film fund and other general marketing campaign expenses like paid advertisements. I do think it is a wise strategy right now, especially since the company is so young, to accept these financial burdens in the hopes of gaining brand recognition and establishing authority in the industry. The key to the longevity of their success will lie in their ability to position their brand as a credible and invaluable resource for both authors and publishers alike. In order to accomplish this ASI will have to continuously engage with their audience and present solutions that make author's and publisher's goals easier to achieve.
