Author Media presents Novel Marketing, the longest-running book marketing podcast in the world. This is the show for writers who want to build their platform, sell more books, and change the world with writing worth talking about. 

I’m your host, Thomas Umstattd Jr., and today we are going to answer a listener question. If you would like to ask a question to be answered on a future episode you can call 512-827-8377 or upload an audio file at novelmarketing.com/contact. 

We are about to get to the question but first, quick reminder, the promo pricing on the new course How to Get Booked on a Podcast ends in 3 days!

Question from Shauna

What do I do with statistics from my website, social media and book sales?

This is a great question! I suspect this is a follow up question to Episode 191 How to Track Your Marketing Efforts. Which if you haven’t listened to that episode, I highly recommend you go back and listen.  

Why This is Important

There is an old saying: “What Gets Measured Gets Managed.” Part of the reason authors work so hard at social media is all of the feedback you get for your activity. That feedback feels like measurement, but it isn’t unless you are tracking it and then using that information to make better decisions. 

Measurement is what separates masters and bozos. 

Part of the reason this podcast has been able to last so long is that we aren’t stuck on any one marketing approach. A lot of marketing gurus have there specific set of techniques that they stick to long after they stop working. 

Some of my guiding principles of marketing are:

* Each author is different au.* Experimentation is the key to finding what works for you. 

* The lesson I learned the hard way the first time I gave advice.nd their marketing approach must be tailored to their specific strengths and weaknesses. Just because something works or doesn’t work for others doesn’t mean it will or won’t work for yo

Step 1 Start Collecting Data

You can’t use data you don’t have. 

Collect data before you need in. You can retroactively install Google Analytics for instance. 

Listen to Episode 191 How to Measure Your Marketing to learn more about how to collect data

Step 2 Write Some Questions

Computers are great at answering questions. They are terrible at asking questions. 

Some questions you could consider starting with:

* Were sales up or down last month?* Do my promotions on Facebook boost book sales?* Do my ads on Facebook pay for themselves?* Do my promotions on Twitter boost book sales?* Does my website traffic correlate in book sales? * Are my followers… mostly men or women?* What blog topics get the most attention?* What is my sell through rate?* Did my bookbub ad pay for itself?* Are my Amazon ads making money?* How many additional books did my podcast interviews help sell.* Did that blog tour sell any books?* What is the lifetime value of a new reader?* How much of my revenue comes from ebook sales?

Step 3 Keep a Marketing Journal

Analytics measures effects. This won’t make any sense unless you know how to connect those effects with causes. The first step to figure this out is to start journaling your marketing act...