Book of the Month Target Marketing
Subscription services have become very popular over the last few years, from everyday items to more specific interests. One of the most popular subscription services is Book of the Month club. Book of the Month was originally founded in 1926 by Harry Scherman, Max Sackheim and Robert Haas. It started as a mail-order that offered “30 Great Books for $2.98.” Trying to keep readers interested in new books outside of city centers, they set up a monthly catalog for subscribers to select books to be mailed to them. After Amazon changed the way people bought and sold books, the Book of the Month club relaunched itself in 2015 to what is it known for today. A subscription box that gives readers a selection of five new books to choose from for $14.99; if a reader doesn’t find anything interesting from the five books, they can choose from older releases or skip the month. What makes this subscription service so popular is the appeal of receiving a new hardback book for a cheaper price than retail as well as finding new books before they are released.
Target Market
Book of the Month’s currently has a user base of over 150,000 active members. Their main target audience is predominantly women, aged 18–40. The target is geared more to those who are avid readers, who would usually buy over 6 hardback books a year; they have a steady income to be able to afford to do this. Looking through their website and Instagram feed, the majority of the images used include women reading the books offered each month. Book of the Month also chooses authors who are relatively new to the book scene and the majority of the authors are female authors.
Target Market Strategies
Book of the Month has grown to having one million followers on Instagram, about 388 thousand likes on Facebook, 15.5 thousand followers on Twitter and 10.2 thousand followers on TikTok. From personal experience, after searching or even mentioning reading on social media, I constantly see sponsored ads from Book of the Month showcasing the current offerings for the month.
The two biggest platforms that Book of the Month should focus on are Instagram and TikTok. Some of the biggest influences on readers are visual representation. By introducing five new books each month, posting appealing images of the new book covers each month with brief descriptions has been a successful social strategy. Instagram’s demographic is 57% female, 43% male, 22.8% of users are between the ages of 18–24 and 32.3% are between the ages of 25–34. TikTok’s demographic is 60% female, 40% male, 60% of users are between the ages of 16–24 and 26% are between the ages of 25–44.
One of the biggest strategies Book of the Month should focus on is the popularity of “Bookstagram” and “BookTok”. On both Instagram and TikTok, there are communities of users who follow book related content. These communities allow readers to get relatable reviews of new and popular books as well as book suggestions based on books they’ve already read. Focusing on paid promotions with book influencers can help the brand get out in front of more of their target audience in a more organic way. As well, pushing for subscribers to submit user generated content through Bookstagram and BookTok helps show the brand’s reliable quality in product service provided through the subscription.
Target Marketing Importance
Target marketing is important for brands and businesses. It takes a lot of time and resources for businesses to reach everyone with their product message. They are also not guaranteed any return of investment on a broad product message. By narrowing down the target market to a specific market allows the most cost-effective way to create brand strategies and is more likely to guarantee profit. Having a more specific market means its more likely the brand’s message and service is more likely to land in front of users interested in the service. Book of the Month focuses on a very niche market. By marketing to a broad audience, its likely their message would land on someone’s feed that has no interest in reading or buying a new book every month. By focusing more on their target audience, they are more likely to land on the appropriate social feed, with a bigger potential of gaining a new subscriber.
Sources:
https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/
