Marketing Meetup Recap: Talk Genre to Me

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On Thursday, June 3, ABA held a Marketing Meetup dedicated to marketing genre books. Watch a recording of the session on the Education Resources page on BookWeb.org.

Guest speakers included:

Here are some of the top points from the session:

  • Capture the attention of your community through social media. Showcase what’s unique about your store, whether that’s the genre you specialize in or your bookstore’s pet, and try different platforms, like TikTok.
  • Create campaigns to promote pre-orders and new releases. Pair posts with fun, eye-catching images, and call out book-to-screen adaptations. 
  • Start genre-dedicated book clubs. If hosting in-store, set up special displays for customers to browse. Consider hosting groups for genres like cookbooks. You can also test book club ideas by hosting temporary pop-up events.
  • Send genre-dedicated newsletters and other targeted email marketing campaigns. If your store has genre-focused reading groups, send them upcoming titles they might be interested in pre-ordering. 
  • Use window displays to introduce titles to readers that might not have picked up previously. Create themes around certain topics, such as Star Wars, to bring in titles on a particular topic.
  • Schedule “in conversation” style events for specific genres. Not only does this introduce event attendees to two different books — the guest speakers bring energy and conversation to the event.
  • Host themed events with local authors, like book launches, arts and craft sessions, and even slumber parties.

The guest speakers also provided Edelweiss collections with book recommendations. Take a look:

Categories: 
Marketing
Education
Genre Books