What is Market Research?

The primary purpose of conducting market research is to examine and understand the market associated with a particular product or service. Through this research, certain conclusions can be drawn and decisions made to tailor marketing or advertising activities. 

Understanding How to Market to Your Ideal Customer 

Through market research, you will better understand the ins and outs of the industry and the market you are in. You will understand the trends and themes of your genre. You will study how others are marketing and learn why they have succeeded or where they are failing. You will look at their rankings and reviews. You will visualize who your target market is in terms of their interests and buying habits. And you will use this research so you can market your book well. 

In short, this is the stuff that will be invaluable to know when you go to sell your book. 

Learning From Your Competition 

In the book industry, much of your market research can be done by observing your competition, especially those doing well. 

Studying Amazon Bestsellers (in your genre) 

You can start by finding the best-selling books in your niche or genre and observing what they are doing well.

Go to Amazon’s search bar for books and type in keywords related to your market or genre, such as romance, Paris, historical or thriller, domestic violence, and hiding. This creates a list of books with these keywords in their title, book blurbs, or categories.

You could also go directly to their Best Sellers & More section and drill down to your genre there.

Considering Keywords and Categories 

Getting the right keywords and categories associated with your book is essential so the right reader can find you. Just as we searched by keyword above, so too will your reader. You want your book to be situated with other books of your genre, or it will be passed by. For example, if your readers are looking for a mystery and you market your thriller as a mystery, they might be turned off when they read your book. It may also affect the reviews you get, which will impact future sales.

But what is the difference between a keyword and a category? 

Keywords are the words a reader would use to find the book they want to read. As in the example above, ‘romance,’ ‘Paris,’ and ‘historical’ would be keywords. Ideally, these keywords should not contain any of the words in your title, book blurb, or tagline. This increases the likelihood of drawing in an appropriate reader to your book. 

To find keywords related to your book, on Amazon, search on the Kindle Store, e-books, and then your genre. From there, search for keywords related to your books. The themes in your book are a place to start brainstorming. The goal is to have the search bring back 1000–5000 books. This indicates interest but not oversaturation of the market. 

For example, searching on ‘Kindle Store,’ ‘e-books,’ ‘Mystery,’ ‘Thriller & Suspense,’ and ‘domestic abuse’ brings back 842 results. This may be below the 1000 book range I was looking for, but it is close and feels accurate with the titles that were brought back. This location is, therefore, an appropriate place for Northern Escape to reside. 

Tip: When you read the reviews for these bestselling books, notice repeated phrases that are positive in tone, as they may be your keywords (Ie. laugh out loud, page-turner, etc.)

Other keywords I chose were mental illness, addiction, and outdoors. 

Other places to search on keywords could be news sites, blogs, industry articles, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and Google for coverage of your topic. 

What will the keywords for your book be? 

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Wondering what Categories are? Tune in next month for the answer . . .