Ambassador of Possibility

There is a business side to books, something that many people forget when they start marketing their book, or start looking for agents and publishers.  When you begin your book, it is important to know who your target market is, and to find out as much about their demographics and psychographics as possible.  Knowing the demographic and psychographic profile of you ideal customer could make or break your book, especially as a business.

If it has been a while since your last marketing class, let me give you a quick run down of what those terms mean, how they relate to each other, and how they are different.  There is a great excerpt in my Wealthy Writer’s Wisdom Workbook Lesson 4 on this topic…

 ”A demographic is a set of criteria, usually based on quantifiable variables such as age, race, education, and income.  The psychographic profile of a group is determined by variables relating to personality, values, interests, lifestyles, and opinions.  Demographic data is a concrete numbers game, while psychographics are based more on qualitative consumer behavior.  Both are statistical, although demographics are usually easier to collect, and people are more honest about them.  Sometimes, surveys meant to collect psychographic data do not reflect actual consumer behavior, especially since much of this data is subjective. 

Both demographics and psychographics are used in every type of marketing research, and it is important not to confuse them.  All publishers and agents will ask you something like, “what is your demographic” or “who is your target audience.” When they ask this, they want to what your target demographic and psychographic are. This information will help you to find an agent and publisher interested in your market. Agents and publishers use demographics and psychographics to determine the viability of a book’s success, just like grocery store manufacturers do with goods. 

Have you ever noticed that when you sign up for a club card at a grocery store you begin receiving coupons for the items that are usually in your cart?  That’s because those cards are a way of collecting psychographic data.  When you use your card at the checkout, your purchase decisions provide the supermarket’s marketing department the data it needs to classify the types of things you like to buy.  On a larger scale, this helps them to establish a psychographic profile that will be integrated with demographics, such as age and place of residence.  All of this is in place to provide highly targeted marketing campaigns.  This information trickles down to a manufacturer and eventually determines what goods will and won’t be produced.”

  Each book is targeted toward a different demographic and psychographic because each audience is unique.  If your content does not fit the needs of, or is not suitable for, your target customer, it may not get produced.  This is not because  your content isn’t good, it is just because it isn’t marketable.  To powerfully position your book, familiarize yourself with to whom you are writing.  If you don’t know who you are writing to, or what you are writing about, whether for business or pleasure, your writing can become misdirected or muddled.  Identifying the demographics and psychographics of your ideal customer or reader is part of starting at the end, and plays an integral role in the tone and approach you will take when addressing certain topics.  It also comes into play when it is time for you to select you ever-important title.

Take the time to create your ideal customer.  Keep your description near and dear to you when you write, it will make your writing clearer, more concise, and more directed.  This is some of the best advice I could give to anyone who is looking to get into the book business.