Six Tips for Book Trailers That Sell Books

Trailers or teasers have long been used to promote movies. Now publishers and authors are using trailers to promote books on the web.

Trailers are a form of content marketing, so they should not come off as an advertisement but rather as a piece of entertainment that promotes.

I’ve recently produced some book trailers and I want to share a few tips for getting quality results with tight budgets. The reality of most book marketing budgets means that one must create more with less.

People in the book business tell me that books sell because of a) the topic or genre and b) the author. That being said, a trailer can help sell a book by engaging people emotionally. People remember and act upon things that trigger feelings. Furthermore, video is highly discoverable in Internet search results.

While it’s easy to follow the familiar format of film trailers, I don’t think one must slavishly emulate that format. Books are not films. They can be promoted with short documentaries (especially non-fiction books) or voice-over narration for a scene from the book. Anything goes as long as it draws viewers into the story and creates that ‘want to read’ feeling.

Whether you do-it-yourself or hire a professional, here are some tips for good results:

Tip 1: Answer the question, “What’s the hook”?

Identify the hooks or selling points and use them to inform the trailer’s content. Is the book written by a popular author? Is the book written in a recognizable genre? Does the story raise intriguing questions that are answered in the book?

Tip 2: Choose an appropriate format, style, and tone.

The book’s cover design can guide the trailer’s tone and style. Maintaining consistency between the book and the trailer is good for branding. To further inform the trailer’s style and tone, answer these questions: What is the book’s category (fiction or non-fiction)? Who is the audience (by demographics and interests)? What is the genre (mystery, humor, thriller, etc.)? What is the tone (light and funny or dark and suspenseful)?

Tip 3: Work within your budget.

Be realistic about your budget and choose the highest quality approach for the money. It’s better to have great stills and illustrations than poorly done live action or cheap looking animation. If the book itself has illustrations or photographs, use these to create the trailer. It will ensure visual consistency with the book which is, again, good for branding.

Tip 4: Show the book cover.

This is obvious. However, I have seen a few trailers that did not show the book.

Tip 5: Use a call to action.

The trailer should feature the book title (with an image of the book cover), the name of the author, and a website URL where people can buy the book. You can even include a link and a call to action to ‘buy now’ or ‘download now’.

To provide an example, here is a trailer I made for a tween adventure book. Working with a tight budget, I used some of the book’s illustrations combined with live footage I shot for a related documentary. To create dynamics I used image motion and layering. The music befits the adventure genre. Have a look.

Tip 6: Spread the video.

It’s a mistake to only post the trailer on the publisher’s or author’s website. This misses the goal of driving traffic to where people can buy the book. Seed the trailer on relevant book review sites, platforms like YouTube and Facebook, book blogs – anywhere the target audience can see and share it. Provide an URL or link to the book’s purchase point.

Do you have more tips for book trailers?

AUDIENCE BUILDING FOR THE WEB: Part Two – Audience Needs

In the previous post, Audience Building for Web Video: Part One – The Human Factor, I explained two basic theories that describe how audiences interrelate with content. In this article, I’ll look at audience needs.  

Over the years (yes, even before the Internet), I’ve developed a simple list of Three Audience Needs to inform my decisions to produce, market and distribute content. Looking at how content is promoted on the web, I think there’s a general tendency to focus on technology and tools. There’s a loud chorus out there on how to SEO your show and use the latest techniques. This focus can overshadow audience needs and can result in a one-size-fits-all tech-centric approach. The failure to consider audience needs explains, in part, why some web shows struggle to build audiences. What works for one show doesn’t necessarily work for another.

 To apply my list of Three Audience Needs to the web, I’ve looked at available web tools that invite and engage audiences. Some tools, like those for sharing and feedback, are useful across all needs while other tools are more specific. For example: shows that fulfil the audience’s ‘Need to Know’ have a higher than average sign-on rate for push tools like RSS, email, and subscriptions because people see these as a way to get the information the want or need. Also, shows that fulfil the audience’s ‘Need for Cultural and Personal Identity’ have better success with merchandise because merch helps people feel connected to a show. I’m not suggesting that other shows should not use these approaches. Experimenting is good. However, when faced with limited time and resources, prioritizing the most relevant tools and strategies will reap higher rewards.

These needs are non-hierarchical. In other words, people don’t have to satisfy one need before they will seek to satisfy another. (This isn’t like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). Also, audience needs can overlap. Most shows fulfil two needs while the occasional show will fulfil all three (a triple threat!)

Now here are my Three Audience Needs:

1. NEED TO KNOW

People need information to survive and feel safe. They need to know what’s going on in their world and they need to learn. The Need to Know explains why some people are news junkies or fans of do-it-yourself, issue-driven, and other factual shows. People who want information tend to want it straight-up  — not watered down. They seldom plough through a lot of irrelevant content to get what they need. If a show fails to deliver the goods, people who Need to Know will go to a more direct source.

SHOWS: The Need to Know is a powerful motivator so it’s no surprise that a lot of content targets this need; (and you thought it was just because info content is cheaper to make). Shows that fill this need include news, how-to, documentaries, talk and interview shows, some dramas that are issue-driven (especially social issues) or portray how to cope with more complex things like relationships.

TOOLS: Think about how people seek information. Topic keyword SEO works well. Also, people want to be the first to know, so tools that push content like RSS, email alerts, and subscriptions are effective. Tools that help people share with friends and give feedback work well. Strategies like affiliate partnerships related to the topic or issue are also effective.

2. NEED FOR PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS/SOCIAL

We need to interact with other people and feel we are part of a community. This is fulfilled by knowing and interacting with other people but it can also be fulfilled by connecting with other fans and the show’s performers and creators. This explains the popularity of celebrity. To take this a step further, people can even form virtual relationships with fictional characters. Character fan bases are huge in the popularity of some genre fiction.

One more thing: When thinking of how to fulfil this need, there is a certain kind of show I call the Super Slam. This is when the show, performer, and the character played by the performer combine into a compelling brand that hits an audience sweet spot. When all these things work together, audience building can generate a powerful fan base.

SHOWS: Shows that fulfil the Need for Personal Relationships and Social include dramas (including soft genres like comedy, romance, children’s, light mysteries), celebrity-driven shows, issue-driven shows that are fiction or factual, talk and interview shows hosted by a personality.

TOOLS: Think about how people want to reach out and connect. Audience feedback tools fulfil this need as do community building tools that let fans connect with one another. Tool for sharing let fans spread the show to like-minded friends who will join them in the show’s community.

3. NEED FOR CULTURAL AND PERSONAL IDENTITY

People need to define themselves within groups and the larger society. They need to be part of a ‘tribe’ and they need to display their membership to their fellows and to outsiders. The range of cultural and personal identity seems endless and provides many opportunities to create content.

SHOWS: Genre fiction, documentaries relevant to a defined group, special interest, issue-driven, celebrity-driven.

TOOLS: Think of what helps people find their tribe. SEO by genre, topic, and issue is effective as is promoting via genre and fan media (blogs, magazines, etc) and groups, special interest media and groups. Think of how to help people be part of their tribe (badges, merchandise, clubs, subscriptions). Tools for feedback and sharing help them connect with the show, with like-minded people, and to advocate to others.

Those are the three basic audience needs and I think understanding them makes it easier to work the choices for audience building. What are the ways you’re building your audiences?

AUDIENCE BUILDING FOR WEB VIDEO: Part One – The Human Factor

I’m a huge believer in video on the Internet. I think we’ve barely begun to see the opportunities. A lot has been written about search optimisation, promotion, and paid services. I think these tools are great but I also think one shouldn’t slavishly follow a prescribed method. Guidelines for building audiences are useful but they are not a guarantee.

Beginning with this post, I will write a series of articles that go beyond tools and strategies to examine the people factor — audience psychology and behaviour. Content creators who understand people can make better use of the latest tools and strategies and can better understand why audience building strategies that work for one video or series don’t necessarily work for others.

What is an Audience? To begin, I think most people intuitively understand an audience is a defined group of people who collectively view, hear, or otherwise receive content with or without input and participation. Beyond that basic definition, there is a vast scholarly body of work on audience analysis. Let’s outline the two basic concepts.

1)      Passive Audience: This is also called the Hypodermic Model because it’s based on the concept of ‘injecting’ content into a passive homogenous mass of people. It assumes the creator or exhibitor is the powerful deliverer of content and that the masses have few choices but to receive what is delivered. This model views media as a powerful tool to shape the minds of the masses. Critics argue it limits content to a prescribed message and ignores how audiences use media beyond simply receiving it. It also ignores how each viewer’s individual experiences and beliefs cause him or her to have different perspectives on the same content. While the Hypodermic Model is rejected by most of today’s media thinkers, it has some proven applications. The most obvious example is propaganda  delivered within a controlled environment that excludes dissenting messages.

2)      Active Audience: The definitive example of an Active Audience Model is the Uses and Gratification Theory (Blumer and Katz 1974). This model portrays the audience as a diverse proactive group who choose and use media in different ways to fulfil their personal goals and needs. It acknowledges individual perspectives. Critics of the Uses and Gratification Theory point to flaws in data used to arrive at the theory and say it fails to explain why some people do appear to behave like passive consumers.  This theory continues to evolve as more media scholars analyse and build upon it.

If you think web video most closely fits the Uses and Gratification Model, you’re correct. Audience behaviour on the Internet is exemplified by people making choices and interacting with content. The next post, Audience Building for Web Video: Part Two – Audience Needs explains what motivates audiences to choose certain shows.

Why New Ideas Die

In the creative business, the tyranny of the status quo says, “Give me the same thing, only different.”

From the moment new ideas are conceived, they face tough odds. The more innovative the idea, the more likely it will be rejected or reduced to something familiar and safe. I’m not completely knocking the status quo. It keeps the wheels turning and the cash registers humming. That is, until “the-same-old, same-old” doesn’t work anymore. Then people demand something new and different. Unfortunately, by then it can be too late.

To promote creativity and avoid the tyranny of the status quo, beware these killers of new ideas:

Silence

Countless ideas are never spoken because the people who envision them fear criticism and rejection. To ensure people pitch and share new ideas, create a receptive environment. This doesn’t mean you should blindly embrace every new idea. Just give them a fair hearing so the team can decide if they’re worth pursuing.

Fear of the Unknown

When a new idea is first pitched, it’s difficult to know if it’s a stroke of genius or a dud. There’s always the nagging worry, “What if it doesn’t work?” The risk of investing time and resources in the unknown too often leads to new ideas being dismissed while familiar ideas gain traction. Familiar ideas are easier to embrace because they are predictable in terms of time, resources, and outcome. To give new ideas a chance, identify how they can fit into your known resources and workflow. Do some early inexpensive testing to get feedback from the community (clients, audiences).

Pressure to Conform

The need for accountability and control can prematurely derail new ideas when unknowns and misfires are seen as failure. Once labeled as a failure, new ideas surrender to pressure from the status quo and are either abandoned or reduced to being “the same old thing”. To help new ideas survive, determine stake holder tolerance for the unknown and decide in advance how much time and resources can be allocated to bring the new idea to fruition.

Fresh new ideas are the way forward. Knowing how to steward them through these perils will ensure more of your ideas gain traction and succeed.