Introduction to marketing for smaller publishers
The marketing department of a publishing company is an exciting place to work. It is connected to all other departments – design, editorial, production, rights and sales – and has to interact with and collaborate with them all. Beginning your marketing career in publishing can be a bewildering position to be in. This course is designed to explain what happens within a marketing team and your role within it.
You need to learn who all your audiences are – including the consumers who buy your books, your colleagues in different departments and the retailers who will sell and promote your titles. You also need to understand the costs of the available media options, how to work effectively with your colleagues in publicity and how to measure the success of your campaigns.
In publishing, you are often expected to pick everything up on the job, and there is little time to ask questions. This course will explain clearly exactly what happens in all parts of the publishing process – within both trade and non-trade publishing – and give you the chance to ask all the questions you have had since you started. It is also a good introduction and explanation of marketing methods and tools for those who work in small publishers and whose main role is not marketing, and who want to understand how to execute marketing activity.
Marketing is as much about numbers as about words. Being able to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns is essential. Understanding your part in the business and what you are trying to achieve is crucial when both budget and activity have to be spent as effectively as possible.
Once you have taken this course, you will be a much more confident and knowledgeable marketer.
Who is it for?
Assistants and executives starting in publishing marketing departments.
Those whose background or role is not in marketing but have to take on some aspects of this work.
Note that this course focuses on marketing with smaller budgets, across academic, consumer (trade), educational, non-trade and professional publishing.
What will you achieve?
On completing this course you’ll be able to:
- identify and place the function of marketing within the publishing process, both internally and externally
- plan and execute a marketing campaign
- make a successful campaign and learn how to measure and evaluate it
- understand the requirements from sales and the book trade
Programme
Introduction
- The function of marketing
Marketing options in publishing
- Marketing 101
- Case study
- Budgets
Retail marketing and working with sales
- Supporting sales
- Bibliographic systems and metadata
- Working with the trade
Direct to consumer communications and owned media
- The big guys of advertising
- Digital marketing
Brands and authors and backlist
- Ongoing brand campaigns
- Authors’ voices
- Promoting the backlist
Planning a campaign, measuring effectiveness
- Creating a marketing campaign?
- Measuring effectiveness
Delegate feedback
“I loved the course and found the information presented really useful. I enjoyed the examples of successful campaigns and the activities to complete and feedback on. It was interesting to hear everyone's ideas. I’ve gained a wider understanding of how marketing ties in with the publishing process and other departments, the different types of marketing activities, budgeting and how marketing can work with retailers." Marketing Assistant, Bloomsbury Publishing
“I enjoyed the course very much. It was informal enough to feel comfortable with the exercise, and formal enough to feel you were in a class with people, all ready to learn. I have concrete information to implement for better marketing campaigns.” Editorial and Marketing Assistant, Red Dog Press
“I really enjoyed the course and thought it was an excellent introduction to publishing marketing. Having recently moved industries, into publishing, this course really shone a light on the industry, which I found really helpful. I’ve gained a greater understanding of the publishing industry and how other publishers work.” Canelo delegate
“I loved how the course was tailored to our individual circumstances. For example, most of us work with smaller budgets, so the advice given was specific to what we can achieve within our means. The interactivity was great. I understand significantly more about which marketing channels are best for which purpose and how to use them to reach my specific target audience. I also understand more clearly the different aspects of a marketing campaign and how to establish a budget.” Trotman and Indigo Publishing delegate
“The course content, length and group size were just right. It was useful to have a copy of the course content/slides. I’ve gained a much better grounding in the subject and have finally grasped the planning aspect of marketing!" Publisher, Phoenix Publishing House
“Hermione was fantastic! Her expertise and industry knowledge gave me the utmost confidence that I was receiving high quality training. Although the content focussed on bigger marketing campaigns, she acknowledged the challenges faced by smaller publishers and offered relevant solutions. I have a more in-depth understanding of planning and budgeting for a marketing campaign, the different forms of marketing that can be used and how they can be effective.” Marketing Executive, Jolly Learning Ltd
About the tutor
Hermione has worked in marketing in the publishing industry for nearly 30 years, in senior roles at DK (Dorling Kindersley); Little, Brown; Phaidon; and Hachette. She now runs a small wine book publisher, Académie du Vin Library. She’s seen huge changes in the field in that time but, while some of the delivery methods and media change, the key messages for campaigns, authors and brands remain consistent. She’s also learnt some interesting lessons from time spent in travel and fashion.
Date information for future sessions
Please email bookings@publishing trainingcentre.co.uk with the course name in the subject line to be notified when this course will next run.
Course format
- Virtual classroom
- 9am to 12.30pm
- Four x 1.5 hour sessions plus breaks, comprising two half-day sessions on two days, one week apart
A number of discounts are available
What you will need
To join the course, you will need access to a computer, tablet or laptop with a camera and microphone. You will need to activate a free Zoom account to join the course. This takes two minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.