VOL.69/2024.04

The Online and Digital Marketing of South Korea's Publishing Industry

Current status of online, digital marketing and actual cases

 

2017.8.18

 

Previously, marketing related to publishing was all done in-store. The most effective way to manage this was to place materials where people would most go and where their eyes would focus most inside a store. However like all other industries in this day and age, offline channels are losing their effectiveness and book reviews, which were one of the most effective ways to market books in the past, are also losing their influence in line with printed materials. As B2B, B2C out-bound marketing tactics no longer work as they used to, everyone is now thinking about what to do about content marketing. The publishing industry is no exception.
The core of content marketing is to create materials that are interesting or of value to potential customers and have the customers seek them out first. The first step to this would be understanding the customer.

 

The Last book store

 

 

Give customers the experience they want

 

People often say the reason they buy books is in order to gain information from the books or to discover a different world. However, people don't buy books just to gain knowledge or feel emotions. Many readers actually buy books to tell themselves they 'possess' this book. What is as important to the public as the content in the books is the experience from the purchase. After they have a book in hand, they wish to share the experience with others. The perfect platform upon which to do this are social networking sites. By posting one line from a book or the title of a book, they can share their experiences with strangers or their acquaintances.
Publishing companies should step forth and take advantage of this wanting to share. The public is already accustomed to sharing things online but when it comes to books, they hesitate in sharing unless it is a well-known author's book or a bestseller. Actually, the public is usually unaware of books that are neither of those things.
Then what should we do to sell relatively unknown books to the public? It's an easy answer but you need to inform them about the books. What's key is the next step: inform the public through content on books not yet published.

 

 

How to be discovered by consumers

 

In the case of movies, they attract the interest of possible moviegoers even before the movie is on the screen through previews, character introductions, interviews and still cuts from the movie. Thanks to these efforts, we naturally see the public sharing their experiences on social networking sites after watching the movies.
Books must also go this direction. Introducing stories of books through video content is one way to do it. If the book's content focuses on knowledge, you can urge the public to react to questions by asking them about facts inside the book, spurring curiosity.
If books are published after this content is made available, the public will have already shared that content online and start to form their own knowledge groups and communities upon buying the book. The following are a few examples that have seen success through this strategy.

 

 

Success cases in publishing marketing

 

Case 1. One line in a book, and Changbi

A mobile application and Facebook page called 'A Line in a Book' were created around 2011 and 2012. In the early stages, all that was done was copy-pasting one or two lines from books onto those platforms. It was short and easy to access, but readers failed to show a special reaction to that content. What the public wanted was a story they might have already experienced, or could experience -- not just a random line from a book.
In 2014, 'A Line in a Book' caught onto this and started using flashcard-type posts that carried storylines. The result was a success. Readers started sharing this content amongst themselves and sometimes, this resulted in a book topping bestseller lists years after it had been published.
Changbi is also another similar case where storylines played a crucial role in their publishing marketing. The publisher created its own radio channel to tell listeners about new releases and on its Facebook page, provided different types of content to spread interest and awareness in the name Changbi. With the release of the movie “Dongju”, the publisher released poems by Dong-ju Yun as well as other poets published by Changbi. Recently it has been carrying out a similar campaign on its Facebook account for the upcoming publication of a book on feminism.

 

Case 2. Podcasts and bookteasers

Podcasts and bookteasers are two other publishing marketing techniques that stress storylines or emotions through video and sound than just text from books, directly approaching readers. A leading podcast channel for books would be “Lee Dong-jin's Red Bookstore”. Podcasts are popular among readers as they allow today's public to read books in a different way in their busy lives. Listeners can listen to books through podcasts as they would music. Also, for readers who have read books for a long time, podcasts also bring up memories of the past when other people used to read to them.
In the case of bookteasers, YES24 leads in this area. Before books are published, they provide video content for readers to boost interest in books before they are published - exactly like movie trailers.

 

Case 3. Economics of a strange world

The marketing for Economics of a Strange World that was published in 2012 combined the best of the marketing techniques seen above. The publisher for this book created infographics for the book. These days, many publishers turn to infographics before a new book release, but at this time, there was no other infographic that whetted the curiosity of readers like this one. For example, it asked readers, "The money from an iPhone you purchased, where did that money go?" The facts below would tell readers the answer through a chart or graph.
They also created webtoons and book trailers. As readers can deduce from the title, the targeted readership of this book was limited, but the diverse content that went into marketing this book helped expand its reader base.
What really helped the book's popularity was Twitter marketing. The publishers realized the content of the book itself could be utilized, so they operated a Twitter bot to post tweets throughout the week. The first tweet saw over 500 retweets and nearly 4,000 prospective readers started following their account in the first month of the marketing process.

 

Case 4. Drama product placement

Books can become bestsellers through drama product placement. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane kept firm on bestsellers lists for an extended period of time after it was featured in the Korean drama, My Love From a Star. It stayed there long after the drama ended. One Stormy Night, a story about the friendship between a wolf and a goat, and La Vie Devant Soi by French writer Emile Ajard received fresh attention after they were also featured in Korean television dramas.
One cautionary fact to note on product placement is that viewers can find the PPL distasteful if they believe the products appear out of nowhere. It is most effective when the books act as a foreshadowing mechanism or a tool to show the emotions or characteristics of those on the show.

 

Case 5. Social media flashcard news

The flashcard news format can be seen on Facebook in South Korea quote often. It is useful in the fact that viewers can quickly go through content, but much effort is required to fill the space with images where text can't, so at times, its effectiveness compared to the effort that is taken is questioned. However, those into book marketing should take a look at the Internet social networking accounts of 'Passionoil' that has used this format quite effectively. They use the flashcard format quite readily and with images and short sentences, they deliver the core message of books with 25 to 30 cards. They draw out the participation of Facebook users by delivering emotions rather than information.

 

 

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Written by Jeong-hwa Ryu (Head of Contenta)