Publishers have better access to their readers than ever before. Content marketing, social media, as well as tried-and-true techniques like eMail marketing are all becoming increasing essential areas of publishers’ marketing efforts. But as anyone in book marketing will tell you, while there are more ways to reach readers than ever before there aren’t more hours in the day to do it. Publishers and marketers need tools that are efficient and practices that are clearly aimed at defined goals.

Our team at Ampersand has a strong, practical, background in direct-to-consumer sales and marketing. We know what works and what doesn’t and how to measure results.

We provide:

• A survey of best-practices aimed specifically at testing marketing campaigns to optimize the results.
• Advice on the emerging strategy of content marketing and how it dovetails with your digital marketing strategy.
• The tools and practices to effectively collecting eMail addresses, managing eMail campaigns, and tracking results.
• Suggestions for how to tailor products and offers to attract the most customers.

In this still emerging digital landscape, the need for agility, often in the face of limited resources, requires a deep look at one’s fundamental goals and a clear articulation of the strategies required to reach them.

Our approach to strategic planning is work with you to:

• Clearly evaluate the baselines of the current health of your company.
• Facilitate a genuine evaluation the company’s core strengths.
• Define the opportunities that emerge from this evaluation and specify goals for realizing them.
• Collectively chart a course to meet these goals.
• And, finally, define the true measures for progress.

One of the results of the tumultuous changes going on in the media industry is that resources—both financial and human—are being taxed, often to the breaking point. The impact on management can create an environment where opportunities for growth are overlooked and inefficiencies in resource allocation are allowed to linger on.

Ampersand offers a fresh perspective without any agenda of our own.

Our general approach to business development is to:

• First analyze overall trends in profit-and-loss and departmental expenses.
• Then compare expense allocations against industry standards, with your company’s unique profile in mind.
• Establish potential areas for growth and/or possible strategic partnerships.
• Provide an impartial evaluation with recommendations for cost savings and business development.

 

Having a digital strategy has come to mean much more than simply publishing eBook editions of your print books. A true digital strategy includes a whole range of considerations such as pricing, archiving, metadata, and—most importantly—marketing. It requires a clear vision of how your content may be used to drive discoverability both now and in the future. Our approach in working on digital strategy is to:

• First evaluate the baselines of your digital archives and current digital publishing program.
• Establish how your digital strategy fits with your strategic goals.
• Provide a survey of your current digital strategy with recommendations for refining it going forward.