In case you missed it, here’s my article that appeared in the 5th February issue of the Bookseller, entitled ‘The Long Game’:

There is an interesting discussion taking place at the moment on how useful social media is as a marketing tool for those in the book trade.

While many in the sector feel that the potential of sites such as Twitter and Facebook to fuel sales of books is limited, others see social networking playing a huge role in publishers’ and booksellers’ marketing strategies.

Many readers agree with this latter view, with many having acted – and spent money – as a result of recommendations made across the social networks.

One crucial factor that is extremely important in this equation is that social media is a communications mechanism in which you can have a constructive dialogue with people. Sales and marketing impact can be a consequence of an effective social media engagement strategy. That is to say, sales and marketing results are a secondary, but still very much ‘real-world’, effect of social engagement.

Fortunately what most people on both sides of the debate recognise is that social media as a marketing channel is still in its infancy. Couple this with the fact that technologies, particularly those that integrate different channels, support digital products, and are based on mobile devices, are still young, and what you have is a vibrant and constantly evolving environment.

The challenge of influence
As many brand owners now recognise, social media has deprived them of the ability to reliably control the conversation. No longer can they dictate the agenda as they could with TV, radio, press ads and the first generation of websites. One of the first rules of embracing social media is to acknowledge, and embrace, this loss of control.

At first glance, the social media landscape appears as a bewildering array of separate channels offering access to distinct audiences. Your average Twitter user, we are told, is older and more likely to be male than his Facebook counterpart, though the age gap is closing. Bebo and Piczo by comparison are significantly more popular than Facebook amongst the under-18s. Within these communities a range of forums, groups, fan pages and other facilities is to be found, allowing like-minded individuals to connect and share their views on a range of interests.

Participating in – and influencing - these threads, as well as contributing to conversations taking place on one’s own website, is a challenge for even the most assiduous of online marketers in the publishing sector. Even more disturbing is the potential risk that something might go wrong in the communication, making the community turns on its host.

The publisher, with its access to authors, critics, readers and the wider public, is in an ideal position to build and place itself at the hub of this resource. One way to mobilise this advantage is to create a distinct online destination that enables conversations about authors and publications taking place across the internet, and externally-created user generated content, to be brought into a single site.

We are increasingly seeing organisations appoint Community Managers, staff occupying a role that encapsulates a participation-rich model of interaction where book clubs, blogging and forum discussion can all be steered by the Publisher. This role fits perfectly with such ‘destination sites’.

And far from competing with the established channels such as Facebook and Twitter, your sites can connect and draw content in from them. This enables readers to stay a part of, and post content at, the sites they are most comfortable with and still be part of the conversation on your site. It is also possible, meanwhile, to create a social media environment within an existing website that connects to social network sites in a way that’s appealing and seamless to readers, for instance by allowing them to log into your site with their Facebook credentials.

The idea of a social media focal point, either within your main site or as a separate destination site, creates opportunities for publishers and booksellers of all sizes to get closer to their target audiences, develop brand identity and grow their online presence. For publishers, it also re-invigorates their original role – that of a creative selector, an authoritative commentator, a lens for talent – something that is hard to find amongst the sheer quantity of content that exists online.

And it doesn’t need to be prohibitively expensive. Many publishers have already invested in interactive functionality within their websites – and many more are gearing up to do so in the knowledge that the initial outlay will generate valuable dividends, and be offset by repeated PR campaigns in support of an extensive backlist and constantly flowing number of new publications.

Linkage
None of which means, of course, that publishers should abandon their existing activities on social media sites. Quite the contrary: the interactive element to their own sites will benefit from the linkage between their presence on Facebook, Twitter, LastFM, Bebo, You Tube.

All of which means that, a concerted social media strategy, supported by your own tailored web presence, offers an excellent way to bring authors and readers closer together - with the publisher and/or bookseller at the heart of the dialogue.

And a final cautionary word - it is, however, a mistake to expect an immediate and direct increase in sales as a result of engagement. Consider engagement the  initial goal and decide how much you value it. Using interactive channels to show a human face, join in conversations, get to know communities and add value to users’ experiences takes time. The rewards however, such as trust, customer loyalty, consolidated brand positioning and the resulting sales uplift are similarly long term.