MARKETING MONDAY: Street Teams I heard a lot about Street Teams at the RWA Conference. Authors are embracing the use of “super readers” to help them pound the pavement and talk up their work in reader groups and book clubs. A Street Team is a group of fans, friends and even family who are willing to promote your work both online and in person. Street Teams are great for reaching new audiences because readers love to make recommendations to other readers. Word of mouth is very effective marketing. Here’s a step by step checklist by Sara Humphries, author of Street Team Smarts: First, create your team: Put out a call on social media. A simple message will do. For example: “Hi! Would anyone like to join my Street Team and help me spread the word about my books.” Engage your members with things like asking If they’d like to help name the group. Create a private group on Facebook for your new group. Create a page on your website. Add personal pictures. Write clear expectations of the team’s responsibility. Collect mailing addresses for everyone on your team and send them a welcome packet. The packet should contain a personalized thank you note; swag for street teamer to give away: bookmarks, business cards, magnets, etc.; and a thank you gift with the team logo. Remember gratitude is key. Say thank you. Engage with your team. Stay connected even in between releases. It’s all about the connection. Seems like a lot of work and money, doesn’t it? One way to soften the blow and distribute the work is to join forces with other authors and form a multi-author street team. I met an author who did just that. There are four authors in her team and they split a cost of a VA (virtual assistant) to handle the admin work. She says it works well because the Street Team always have something new to promote. If you’d like to learn more about Street Teams, I recommend Sara’s guide, Street Team Smarts. It’s $0.99 on Amazon. Does anyone currently have a Street Team? Are you considering starting one?
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 11:01:53 +0000
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