Broke the Marketing Bank But No Sales? Here's Why!

Ever wonder why your marketing efforts aren't translating to book sales? The answer might be simpler than you think. 

Marketing and sales are often used interchangeably in the publishing world, but they're fundamentally different beasts. This distinction isn't just semantic—it's crucial for your success and sanity as an author. When you confuse these two functions, you set yourself up for disappointment, wasted resources, and unnecessary frustration.

Traditional marketing wisdom suggests it takes at least seven impressions before someone makes a purchase decision. In today's overwhelmed digital landscape, that number has likely doubled or more. This explains why focusing solely on immediate sales numbers after marketing efforts is the wrong approach.

By understanding this crucial difference between marketing and sales, you'll develop more realistic expectations, make better strategic decisions, and maintain the motivation needed for long-term success. Have you been confusing marketing with sales? Share your experiences in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe for more insights that will transform your approach to book marketing!

Buy Penny's book The Amazon Author Formula

Please leave a review!

1. Locate Ratings & Reviews: Scroll down on our podcast page until you find the "Ratings & Reviews" section.
2. Rate the Podcast: Click on the stars to give the podcast a rating.
3. Write Your Review: Under the star rating there will be the most recent review and just below that click "Write a Review" and compose your review in the text box that appears.
4. Save: Once you've written your review, click "Save" to submit it.

Be sure you're following or subscribed to the show first.

Can't leave one on your preferred podcast platform? Email us your review and we'll put it on our website: info@amarketingexpert.com.

Check out our full-service publishing consulting here:

https://amarketingexpert.com/publishing-consulting/

Chapters

• 0:00 Rerun Introduction
• 0:54 The Marketing vs Sales Confusion
• 2:10 Marketing Brings People to Your Door
• 3:45 The Impression Factor
• 5:11 Closing and Book Announcement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello, this is Penny Sanseviery and Amy Cornell, and we are here with a rerun of a really popular show from 2022, Believe it or Not, the Difference Between Marketing and Sales. This was a big one. We got a lot of comments on it, a lot of emails, and for good reason, because marketing and sales are often used interchangeably. But that's not how it works. It's a common mix-up, but it can be a really costly one and it really ends up derailing your motivation. So we wanted to explain why marketing and sales are two very different beasts and how understanding the difference can actually transform how you approach your book success, and it will actually improve your sales and improve your marketing, but both separately.

Speaker 2: 0:46

Yeah, I think this is great. We're really looking forward to your feedback. We hope that you love these show replays and we'll see you next week. Bye-bye, hello, and welcome back to a mini-show to the Book Marketing Tips and Author Success Podcast, and I'm going to let Amy lead this one because she has strong feelings.

Speaker 1: 1:08

I swear to God, before the end of the year we need some sort of swag, because we've been saying it forever.

Speaker 2: 1:14

Right, amy has strong feelings. I mean, I do as well, but Amy's feelings are stronger, so why don't you run with? Why don't you run with this episode?

Speaker 1: 1:24

Absolutely, and I will say the reason I think I feel so strongly is because a lot of times this conversation happens when authors first reach out to us and most of the time you know I'm the one that that goes through their contact form and kind of digs into their platform and what they're dealing with and all this kind of stuff to get to know them better. And a lot of times authors lose perspective on the difference between marketing and sales and truly, as much as we were laughing at the beginning of this, it can actually be kind of dangerous because it affects your outlook on your role as an author and how you contribute to your own success and what you think you're going to accomplish by bringing in teams and publicity, people and things like that.

Speaker 1: 2:10

So marketing is exposure, it's letting the right people know you exist. Good marketing, right people We've had we've had episodes, I think, on bad marketing, but truly, really good marketing is letting the right people that you're going to resonate with most know that you exist. Your book exists, but marketing doesn't sell your book. And I know it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around like, well, why not Then? What is the point? Well, the point is you're not going to sell any books if nobody knows you exist.

Speaker 1: 2:45

So marketing is the first step. You got to get people there. You got to get people to the open house. You got to get people you know what I mean to your front door and it brings them a lot closer to your book, closer to the sale. But your book, your platform, your branding, that is what actually makes the sale. So the sales part is what you've put out to the world, what your brand is, what your product is. So again, that's your cover, your title, your subtitle, even your description, the reviews you're getting, how you present yourself on a retail page those elements are what make the final sale. So marketing is step one that brings people to the door. Your book and your branding is step two. That is what closes the deal and we just. It's so important to keep that in mind because, again, having the right outlook and perspective and expectations can make all the difference in the world between how you view your steps towards success. Right, penny?

Speaker 2: 3:47

Yeah that's absolutely true and I think that that's really where you know where authors get caught up and marketing is not the same as it's not the same as sales and marketing done well. So there's an old marketing adage right, that you need seven impressions to your book, message or product to make a sale. I would say, in the age of overwhelm, you need maybe 17 or you know more, you definitely more impressions. Nobody really knows what the exact number is, so it's not just me, but the point being is that you have to look for the right type of impressions, and we've talked a lot about this and you can cycle through some of the old episodes. Not all marketing is created equal, but impressions to the right market, getting in front of the right eyes, will at some point lead to sales. But focusing on marketing because we have authors sometimes who say, well, I'm going to invest in this, but then I want to see how many, how many you know what my sales are like at the end of whatever 30 days or, and that's that's really the wrong focus, because focusing on marketing and actionable marketing to the right audience, getting in front of the right readers, is the thing that's going to lead to sales.

Speaker 2: 5:05

Thank you so much for tuning into this mini-sode understanding the difference between marketing and sales. It's definitely a short one, but it's absolutely worth mentioning because it is an important definitely it's an important distinction. We love hearing your show ideas, your getting your reviews and we have some fun stuff coming up for the new year. I am working on a new edition of how to Sell Books by the Truckload on Amazon. I'm updating that book again. Would love to get your feedback on the prior book and, as I mentioned previously, if I include it in the book, if I include your ideas in the book or make changes based on your ideas, you'll be entered into a contest to get some really cool free stuff. Thank you so much for tuning in. Bye-bye.