Are Book Trailers Effective for Marketing Written Works?

It’s every author’s burning question, “Do book trailers actually sell books?” As a published author that’s releasing a new book, you’re probably wondering this same thing. In fact, at Beverly Boy Productions, we frequently work with clients that ask us, “Are book trailers effective?” And, while it’s hard to say exactly what marketing technique will be most effective for your book, we can confidently state that book trailers are incredibly effective when they are a part of your complete book marketing strategy.

What Makes Book Trailers Effective?

What is it that makes a book trailer so incredibly powerful? It’s the video! Videos get more engagement on social media platforms and through your email campaigns than any other type of content will.

In fact, check out these video marketing statistics to help you better understand why when you ask, “are book trailers effective?” we are compelled to say, “Yes, they are!”

• Animoto recently found that 85% of marketers found video to be effective in gaining audience attention online. They also found that 93% of brands that had used video on social media were able to gain a new customer.
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• Another study by Animoto found that 1 in 4 consumers purchased a product after seeing it featured in a story on Instagram and that 24% of consumers are making more frequent purchases on social media as a result of video ads compared to last year. 
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• YouTube recently replaced Facebook as the leading platform to affect consumer behavior and is preferred for video marketing by 89% of marketers.
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• 69% of consumers say they’d rather learn about a new product by watching a short video according to a recent Wyzowl study.

Consider all of the above, along with the fact that consumers recall up to 95% of what they see in a book trailer versus less than 20% of what they read in a written review, and you should have plenty of reasons to see why book trailers are so effective.

But, I Heard Book Trailers Don’t Directly Sell Books?

You may have heard this in the past, or it’s possible that you’ve recently heard from an author that fell victim to the cringe worthy book trailer of the past which was less about quality production and more about slapping together a dull slideshow with some bland music and calling it a promotional video.

Why did anyone ever think this would work?

Book trailers of the past were less about creating an exciting and engaging teaser video that draws audience attention and motivates the purchase and subsequent reading of a book.

They largely under delivered to the audience and probably didn’t contribute much in the way of sales or revenue increases. But that absolutely does not mean that when you ask, “Are book trailers effective?” the answer should be anything less than, “Absolutely, Yes, they are!” today.

Book Trailers Drive Reader Interest & Book Sales

Professionally produced book trailers can be used to drive reader interest and increase book sales. We’re not talking about those old slideshows of the past, we’re talking about true production of professional book trailers.

You saw the statistics surrounding videos, the number of people consuming video content and the frequency of video being used to generate new customers online. Those figures are real!

And they show you that, book trailers can be incredibly effective if you take the time to work with a professional production crew to create a book trailer that will:

• Target your desired audience.
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• Hook your audience and attract readers.
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• Keep your reader engaged with a story.
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• Boost audience trust with endorsements & reviews.
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• Deliver a CTA that encourages your reader to pick up the book, share it with others, and purchase it for themselves.

The next time you ask, “Are book trailers effective,” the most likely response should be – they are when you hire a professional production crew to assist you with the creation and distribution of the book trailer!