Precious Words Bookstore online marketing strategy

1. PRECIOUS WORDS
BOOKSTORE:
A MARKETING STRATEGY
PROPOSAL

2. Introduction
Precious Words Bookstore is fairly new to the industry,
having opened two years ago, June 2011 at the Hitachi
Tower.
So far, it’s the only bookstore in the area, creating an
advantage for this niche operating bookstore to target
book lovers from nearby offices and also passing by
tourists.
It’s a small yet intricately charming designed store, with
books chosen by the owners, giving it a more personal,
warm touch.

3. Challenge
But independent bookstores are always inundated
with industry and market issues, making it challenging
for them to further expand, let alone meet ends.
We’d like to propose a strategy that can further
strengthen PWB’s brand and to encourage store visits,
increase purchases and gain a steady and loyal
following amongst the book-loving market, for its
continuous standing and possible expansion, as a
bookstore.

4. PRECIOUS WORDS
BOOKSTORE SWOT:
FROM AN OUTSIDER’S POINT OF VIEW

5. Strengths
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
 Location: the only bookstore in the area for
possibly, hundreds, if not thousands of book
lovers in nearby offices.
 Variation of customers in the area; from all
sorts of races, ages and places
 Store Design: small yet quirky and intimate
 Product: features personally chosen books
from its owners. Also diversified offerings,
selling other items such as gifts, CDs, toys
and stationaries
 Facebook followers: 1,693 which can be
tapped into for more purchases and
recommendations

6. Weaknesses
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
 Lack of e-commerce: website is still
under construction, lack of an easier
way to purchase books online
 Fairly new in the market
 Lack of consistent online marketing
strategies: facebook posting is
Sporadic, has no twitter account to
reach more consumers, no website to
feature or sell books online
 Lack of personnel to handle extensive
marketing activities
 Lack of funds for advertisements and
promotions

7. Opportunities
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
 More intimate and personal interaction for
customers
 Easy to manage and change strategies
without the hassle of corporate hierarchy
approvals
 Easily tap into existing, close knitted
database of customers
 Quicker to adapt to current trends
 More favourable instances to partner with
local authors in new and creative ways, in
turn for loyal and goodwill for years to
come
 Enhanced browsing experience through
store visits

8. Opportunities:
Common reasons why customers prefer physical books over ebooks
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
Mashable: Why Printed Books Will Never Die by Josh Catone jan 16,
2013
 Books have physical beauty
Uou can't display a digital book, even if you wanted to. Any
electronic book that boasts beautiful design, does so only
ethereally. - Craig Mod points out in his essay "Hacking the Cover,“
 Books have provenance
"I think print and paper has a lasting value that people appreciate.
Pixels are too temporary," said Praveen Madan, an entrepreneur
on the Kepler's 2020 team, via email.
 Printed books are collectible
"Paper books don't get replaced by e-books, because there's just
part of the experience you can't reproduce," said one man. (Of
course, nostalgia is generational.)

9. Opportunities:
Common reasons why customers prefer physical books over ebooks
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
In a digital age, parents value printed books for their kids
By Kathryn Zickuhr May 28, 2013
 More than nine in ten parents of minor children say it is
important to them that their children read print books—
eighty-one percent say it is “very important,” and an
additional 13% say it is “somewhat important.” Very few say
having their children read print books is “not too important”
(3%) or “not important at all” (3%).
 Modeling the Reading Habit: Some parents may want their
children to have the same pleasant book-reading
experience they remember from when they themselves
were children. Many parents described positive memories
of their early reading habits and library use, memories
centered around print books. One said that picking up
books from the library was a reward for good

10. Opportunities:
Common reasons why customers prefer physical books over ebooks
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
In a digital age, parents value printed books for their kids
By Kathryn Zickuhr May 28, 2013
 A Sensory Experience: Some think that children’s books,
which often feature large illustrations and may incorporate
various tactile elements, aren’t as well suited to e-ink or
touchscreens. And given the relative newness of e-reading
and uncertainty around the effects of reading on screens,
some parents may simply want to temper the exposure their
children have to digital materials. “Somehow, I think it’s
different,” Alexandra Tyler told the New York Times. “When
you read a book, a proper kid’s book, it engages all the
senses. It’s teaching them to turn the page properly. You
get the smell of paper, the touch.”

11. Threats
Precious
Words
Bookstore
SWOT from
an
Outsider’s
Point of
View
 Global competitors: Large publishing companies and
bookstores such as times and kinokuniya
 Ebook publishing and online purchasing such as amazon
and NOQ online bookstore
 Technology and gadgets encouraging online reading
 Free downloading of ebooks
 Dwindling number of physical book lovers
 High rental issues
 Other local competitors
 Youtube commercial of kindle

12. • Increase brand awareness and favourable
attitudes among consumers
• Increase store visits
• Increase book purchases
• Generate consumer interest and purchase
intentions
• Build a community of loyal followers
• Grow a PWB community
• Gain a significant share in the book selling market
Marketing Objectives:

13. Demographics:
Single, in a relationships,
with/without children,
yuppies, middle agers,
office workers, ages 20-50
yrs. old, working in a city,
higher level of education,
mid to high range income
Target Market

14. Psychographics:
Heavy book readers, Book
collectors, prefers reading
physical books, enjoys
browsing books, has a
small stack of books at
home
Target Market

15. Benefits sought:
for entertainment, to
educate and improve
themselves, for the benefit
of their kids
Target Market

16. AN ONLINE MARKETING
STRATEGY IS SUGGESTED AS
AN INITIAL EFFORT, AS (1)
IT’S THE MOST COST
EFFICIENT AND (2) IT WOULD
BE EASY TO HANDLE AND
MANAGE SUCH STRATEGIES.

17. Online Media Marketing Objectives
Goals
 Grow no. of supporters
 Increase comments on blogs
 Increase website visibility
 Increase positive mentions
 Have website visitors stick around
 Make our content more viral
 Get people to take action
 Get people to attend events
Metrics to Measure
 No. of newsletter subscribers,
likes, shares
 Ave. no. of comments/ posts
 Increase in traffic or link backs
 Mentions in blogs & social
networks
 Stick rate, bounce rate
 No. of shares
 No. of purchases
 No. of registrants, year over year

18. PROPOSED ONLINE
MARKETING
VEHICLES

19. Create a website
Online
Marketing
Strategy
A great website can do wonders for your
organization:
 Can immediately reach customers from
around the world
 Can be used for customers to easily peruse
and purchase a book online or to make
inquiries
 Can save you money for advertising
 Can save you more time to update and
inform your members about upcoming
events, promotions and more

20. Create a website
Online
Marketing
Strategy
There are a sites that offer you to create a
website from scratch, free of charge
 Weebly
 Wix
 Webs

21. Social Media
Online
Marketing
Strategy
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Instagram
 Blog

22. Others
Online
Marketing
Strategy
 E-newsletters

23. PROPOSED ONLINE
MARKETING
STRATEGY

24. Online Media Content Strategy
Facebook
 schedule author readings and
related events
 follow and tag authors on
your facebook page
 tag another business in your
facebook page, as will
enable your posts to show in
their facebook page as well,
thereby widening your reach
 tag reading and writing
groups
 ask provocative yet fun
questions

25. Online Media Content Strategy
Facebook
 feature a facebook follower
and their favourite book
 create a contest eg. Essay
contest then let everyone
vote on it
 post inspiration quotes from
books
 post relevant articles about
authors
 post some clever and
interesting book related trivias
 encourage followers to post
their book reviews

26. Online Media Content Strategy
Facebook
 plan events on facebook eg.
Author book readings, author
book signings, graphic artist
meet and greets, family story
telling night, book launch
parties
 inform them about e-
newsletter subscriptions for
exclusive member updates,
promotions and such

27. Online Media Content Strategy
Facebook
 create and promote
advocacies eg. Donate your
secondhand books for charity
 post relevant youtube videos
of books translated into
movies or vice versa

28. Online Media Content Strategy
 blog about personal
recommended books, staff
pics, promotions, news
 reach out to independent
authors by tweeting to
them or promoting or
blogging about their book
 write book reviews or
teaser copies with a link
from your website, to buy
the book
 approach aspiring writers
to write a book review
Blog

29. Online Media Content Strategy
Twitter
 find relevant book
questions via twitter
 greet store visitors via
twitter and keep in touch
with them
 follow authors and retweet
their relevant posts

30. Online Media Content Strategy
 post pictures of the books
you’re currently reading, or
other book-themed books
 Post pictures new books
that arrive in you store,
take a picture of them and
give interesting tidbits
about it
Instagram

31. Online Media Content Strategy
E-newsletter
 create a membership and
loyalty program

32. • Integrate relevant social media channels eg.
Instagram with twitter, twitter with blog
• Create an editorial calendar
• Diversify your content and postings
• Monitor the effectiveness of your strategies
and stick to what works
Note:

33. Other Strategies
Added
suggestions
 Create and facilitate events
 Enhance free public relation efforts

34. THANK YOU!