leverage both the power of technology and our business connections to help our prospects place the
greatest number of book orders during a single day.
Here’s the roadmap we used:
Advance publicity. We broadcast an email-based
“Curves Ahead” caution sign to give prospects
advance knowledge of the campaign. The announcement explained the offer and emphasized the need to
take action on a specific date.
Plan ahead. We knew our one-day campaign
would make for a wild ride. To reduce the risk of
abandoned book orders, we created a short route
with limited curves. Each step included clear signage
and directions. Travelers on our route were only a
phone call away from assistance.
The route. The journey started with an email
broadcast containing only three points: who the message was from, why the recipient received the invitation, and what he or she needed to do to take advantage of our special offer.
The purpose of the email invitation was not to just
sell the book, but to sell the idea that recipients should
investigate our valuable offer. It only required a small
leap of faith. A link in the message invited prospects to
visit a Web landing page for more information. The page
Jerry Gitchel is president of Make Technology
Work, which helps professionals use the Internet
to connect with qualified prospects and build
better client relationships. For more information, visit http://jerrygitchel.com/nsaspeaker/.
contained detailed information
about the book, including topic,
chapter titles and pricing. We demonstrated value by including a list of
additional resources available once
they confirmed their purchase. The
page finished with a request form
they could use to receive instructions on how recipients could take
advantage of our offer.
Accepting our invitation transformed our suspects into qualified
prospects. It created a business
relationship between us and confirmed their all-important opted-in status. While the instructions
were being sent to their inbox,
they were automatically redirected to the Willie’s Way order page.
The email instructions detailed how to purchase
the book and claim their valuable resources. It ended
with a form buyers could use to confirm their purchase and request the access code to our resource
center. The entire process could be completed in just
a few short minutes.
The use of the request form and purchase confirmation forms provided us with valuable tracking
information. By using auto responders, we were able
to track the number of interested respondents and
actual customers. Knowing the number of invitations
sent in the initial broadcast provided us with an accurate picture of our sales funnel. Our tracking strategy
allowed us to provide follow-up marketing to those
who had requested information, but had not completed the purchase process.
The results. After a lot of well-planned, thoroughly
tested work, the book launch campaign was an
unqualified success. Willie’s Way debuted with a ranking of 68,000 and ended the day as the No. 1 business book on BarnesandNoble.com. If you’re ready
to experience the trip to “BestSellerville,” start packing! Your first stop is ensuring your book launch campaign is loaded with the right gear!
Susan Van Hooser, wife of author Phillip Van
Hooser, supports the sales and marketing
effort of his book. She has more than 19
years’ experience in the speaking industry,
and can be reached at info@vanhooser.com.
