Marketing Ideas From Cheri Cowell

Cheri Cowell

I’m often asked to name the number one marketing strategy for authors. With that question most are asking whether it is Facebook, a blog, writing articles, or one of the numerous other choices for marketing. But I choose to answer that question another way. I believe the number one marketing strategy is to cultivate community, and thus to identify what that means for you. Here are some questions to help you.

1. Have you written a character description of your target reader? This was an eye-opening exercise for me. My description was complete with how my typical reader spends her day, what she wears, what she fears, where she shops, and what she knows about God.

2. What does your reader wish someone would tell them, what questions does she have, what is her deepest need?

3. Why is she on Facebook, Twitter, searching blogs, browsing Amazon Books or her local bookstore shelves? What need is she hoping to fill?

4. What does she wish you would ask her to do? What would make her feel good to be a part of?

5. What extras could you offer on your website, what can you give-away as free downloads or links that would be a blessing to her?

6. How can you say “thank you” to her?

7. How can you help her feel like she is connected to you and your ministry?

8. How can you connect what she does on any given day to your core message? What can you invite her to do?

9. Now think through your current marketing strategies–how are they answering these questions? Can they be tweaked, or do some of them need to be dropped so you can focus on others?

10. Finally and perhaps most importantly, have you prayed for that reader? Perhaps the best way to cultivate community is to picture that woman you’ve described and pray for her specifically. God will apply those prayers to her and she will be drawn to you. It is simply the way God works.

Cheri Cowell is the author of several books including Parables and Word Pictures in the AMG Following God Bible study series and Living the Story: Reaching Outside the Church Walls. Her new devotional book, 365 Devotions for Peace, releases in December from Zondervan.

Connect with Cheri Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and you can read her blogs on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month Cheri’s Blog