There are some
marketing tactics
that can only be used once.
For example,
in the Romance Novel Business,
there’s the
“Banned by Amazon”
tactic.
A writer writes a story,
crafts copy,
creates a cover
that breaks Amazon’s terms of service.
The story gets banned.
The writer and her crew
talk about censorship,
getting the community riled up.
The book is made available
at other booksellers.
That book and the writer’s backlist
see sales lifts.
And the next time
the writer releases a book,
everyone knows her name
and is in a rush to buy the new book
in case
it also gets banned.
It is a proven marketing tactic
but a writer can only use it once.
The second time,
readers don’t react nearly as strongly.
With one time only marketing tactics,
you really have to think
about whether or not
now
is the best time to use them.
With the “Banned” tactic,
the writer ideally should have
a healthy backlist of books
(i.e. other products available).
She should also ideally have
the next book releasing soon
before the readers forget about her.
Maximize the use
of the one time only marketing tactic.