Finding A Voice
A marketing plan can be beneficial when you are cultivating a brand and promoting a service. In literature-based media, such as poetry, it is best to consider if you want to be a poet that has a presence which would require certain branding, think Frida Kahlo. It's also best to distinguish what goals come to mind when you think about monetizing your work. A marketing plan is utilized to capitalize on your audience’s interest.
When you are deciding what form of marketing works best for you, consider whether you need to fulfill a long-term or short-term need. A long-term goal for someone selling their poetry would be to increase how many people purchase their book, while a short-term goal could be reshaping the way a poet wants to brand themselves. One could approach this through the utilization of online templates, such as the Hubspot free marketing template or through Trello, both would allow you to set goals and track performance and ultimately help define your strategy, which Hubspot defines as the why, into actualized steps.
A branding marketing plan for a poet who hopes to distinguish themselves as a political or social commentator must decide the direction and kind of influence they want to have and put forth. You can set up a short timeline to introduce or rebrand yourself in the image you want to present. This can be done through social media, networking events, and presentations where you show a large audience over a period of time your consistent message and authority on the matter. If a poet had the goal of becoming poet laureate, I would draw a multi-step plan that ensured they spoke at rallies, posted their work on a blog, got published in print, to maintain a presence. This would ensure that they are being represented in various circles that allow for opportunities to distinguish their work and their voice among others.
A situational analysis may be required for a poet who wishes to sell more work as they identify customers and competitors and assess their growth as an author. I would recommend a Market Development Strategy, as the need for a writer would be to reach new audiences. You would need to do primary research to find out who this new audience would be, and can ascertain this by using social media to see the range of who purchases similar content. Spyfu, an online tool, can be employed to analyze keywords and traffic on works of similar themes. Once you understand your audience, you can plan how to tailor your work to appeal to them, such as the cover. Understanding who you are appealing to helps you create your plan in detail as you map out your marketing strategies. Your marketing strategy would be a multi-step system that lays out in detail how to execute your goal.
This cover, pictured above, displays the overall tone and message through the imagery
and the title. It is bold and simplistic and appeals to mature audiences who want to read
about romance, identity, and conflict.
