Marketing Part 1: Your Toolkit

Pick 'n' Mix your way to marketing joy

Welcome to the first part of our Marketing series! (This is part of our series for paid subscribers, releasing every other week between free posts.) Technically, we’re talking about both marketing and publicity, but the series title is long enough so we’re leaving it as is. What’s the difference between marketing and publicity? Publicity is general free (e.g. events, media coverage) while marketing is generally paid (e.g. ads).

Today, in Part One, we’re going to offer up a spread of marketing tools for you to pick from including social media, launch events, and newsletters.

In Part Two, we’ll cover which tools Vicky and I use and how we use them.

Finally, in Part Three, we will cover working with your publisher and publicity team.

Ready? Let’s go!

Pick ‘n’ mix

As a kid growing up in England, picking out a bag of “pick ‘n’ mix” sweets was one of my favorite treats. But there was so much choice, how could I decide which candy to stuff my bag with? Cola bottles? Gummy bears? Fried eggs? And of course sometimes I took too much and ended up with a stomachache!

Pick ‘n’ Mix in England via WikiCommons by Tiia Monto

Think of this post as a pick ‘n’ mix, or an all-you-can-eat buffet if you prefer that analogy. Choose from the selection but don’t take everything, otherwise, instead of a stomachache, you might end up with a headache, or worse: burn out! Pick what works for you, and leave the rest. Just like Vicky said in last week’s post, find what’s fun for you.

Before you Start

Before starting any marketing campaign it’s important to think about who your customer is. Our readers are kids but the people making the purchasing decisions are adults: parents, grandparents, teachers and librarians.