horror flicks and advertising?

Last night I was watching a movie. The premise was that a bad guy was killing people and the more hits on a website, the faster the person died.

Normally I don't watch gory movies but I thought this one might be more psychological...and I was right. As usual I watched it as a writer and as a marketer [I can't simply WATCH movies or READ books anymore. Laugh.]

So here is the premise, whether good or bad, word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising. In fact, there is a line in the movie where the bad guy says exactly that.

So what is being spread about you and your work? Are you a person who follows through on your word, or are you consistently late on deadlines?

When you say on the book jacket that you have an intense emotional thriller, do you deliver?

When you have a contest, do you give an award?

If you give someone a powerful experience, good or bad, it will get around. Think about the impression you'd like to make.

But this blog isn't all about wagging a finger :-), Also think about how to best create buzz to get your reader chatting. In this movie the bad guy built up anticipation. He'd leave the site down until he was ready to kill again, then he gave a count down. He'd done market research. He knew how to take advantage of his target audience and manipulate the powers that be to create buzz. He knew little triggers to draw in more watchers.

This is what we all must do in our marketing campaigns. We must know our audience so well that we can anticipate their next move, their next need, and deliver. Even just curiosity seekers should be able to find something compelling that makes them want to know more about you and your book.

Do you know what those triggers are for your audience? You'd better take some time to learn them.

I have to go, I have marketing research to do.

Your Coach for the Journey, Tiffany Colter