I’m accustomed to reading a lot of business idea manifestos and the more or less revolutionary or evolutionary ideas of people such as Patricia Martin, Seth Godin and Chris Anderson. Whether it is the form of marketing in customer service or the theory behind the long tail, I find a lot of people are so focused on their core business that they really forget about their key business. I got talking with a colleague at work and I explained why I felt independent booksellers in Canada need to get their act together. It’s not that they are not great booksellers, it is just that they slow to realize that customer behaviour is shifting online, or they are reluctant to adapt to this trend.
The argument is that small booksellers do not have the resources for online marketing is valid and very true, and by no means am I suggesting that they take upon online marketing themselves when they are already short-staffed and short on resources. I however must point to the Canadian Booksellers Association and ask why the lack of vision? Why the lack of direction?
The first step towards an online presence IS NOT e-commerce. I think that is where independent booksellers are mistaken. What should be happening is a result-based campaign focused on bringing awareness of independent booksellers across Canada. How? I point to the American initiative — Booksense.com
I’m allowed to make fun of myself — I am in marketing. Sometimes I think this is true of all marketers when we’re so focused on our core business that we forget about our actual business.
Why does it work so well as a first step?
It’s all about making it easier for consumer to find you. Booksense.com just simply asks the visitor to type in their zip code and it automatically brings up the closest local independent bookstores. Is that so hard to create? Instead we have a difficult to navigate website.
My colleague who happens to be a very loyal supporter of independent booksellers argued that people should know about them and consumers should just go find out about them. Very true and ideally, this should work but here’s why it hasn’t worked and it will continue that way until independent booksellers change their strategy.
The first element that is working against an independent bookseller is brand and the fact that I can recognize only Chapters or Amazon indicates that it is one strike against them.
The second element is pricing and well, that’s just not going to be something that can be addressed in the industry. Big retailers can under cut the pricing of any small retailer easily. There just isn’t any way around that. You can only differentiate in order to compete.
The third element is whether or not the consumer is aware. You may judge me however you may want — but I can honestly say that until I finished my publishing program in school a couple of years ago, I did not even know about independent booksellers. I understood that there may be a small bookstore here and there, but I had no idea that there were so many. My friend pointed out that there was a huge marketing campaign to promote buying from local independent bookstores so I should have known. Should — exactly the word that will cause a marketing plan to fail, and precisely how that marketing campaign failed me as a consumer by not equipping me with the freedom and options to shop elsewhere.
Did I notice it? — No.
Have I even heard of it? — No.
Where was it? Where was this campaign that was meant to encourage people to not buy from big box retail stores like Chapters Indigo? If I did not notice it, then think of how many people did not notice this campaign as well? If I did not know about independent booksellers then think of how many people how there that do not know about them as well?
Is it a bookseller’s role to promote themselves to every single consumer? — Definitely not!
Is it a bookseller’s role to ensure that they are easily found by all consumers? — Most definitely.
Ensuring that your business is easily found is my main point in this post. We are too focused on managing the processes of our daily lives and not looking forward. We are too busy focusing on who will buy it rather than focusing on who might be interested in it. We are so focused on the already converted — those who already love books that we forget about those who may just actually buy it if they knew more about it, but it requires more effort than simply promoting a book in the newspaper, hand selling a book, or hoping for a television interview.
We should spread some of that intense focus on to consumers who don’t view books as a high priority. Why? Just because they regard books as a second or third or lesser priority doesn’t mean that they are not a viable customer. Consumers are individuals of a great multi-faceted and multi-layered society, to reach them, we need to actually reach out in many different ways — or at the very least make it easy for these people to find us or the products we create. Is this marketing? To many it isn’t but it really is and ironically it is the most fundamental aspect.
Make life easier for them, help them find your local bookstore, and they may just happen to drop by and purchase a book. I don’t expect the independent booksellers to take action alone, but I do look towards the Canadian Bookseller Association for the leadership.
This was only the first step … there’s more but that’s enough out of me — for now.
