Twitter lacks noise with serious readers
25.10.09 | Victoria Gallagher
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter cannot be relied on to build book sales, as an overwhelming majority of readers do not use the sites for recommendations.
The results of a survey, conducted in collaboration with book website Lovereading and market research firm BML, discovered that while 56% of respondents used the internet to find out about books, only 17% of respondents found Twitter “useful” for recommendations.
This was the lowest score of any source. Only 34% found other social networking sites “useful”. The figures contrast with author and retailer websites, which 83% found “useful”.
Social networking sites, Twitter in particular, have burst into national consciousness recently. Jonathan Ross’ Twitter book club received national press attention when it was launched in May. However, it has not been updated since July.
Digital publishers said the book trade needs to adapt its marketing to use social networking effectively. Sara Lloyd, digital director at Pan Macmillan, said: “The tendency is companies will use them as this vehicle where they can cut and paste traditional marketing approaches into the social networking environment.”
Jeremy Ettinghausen, digital publisher at Penguin, said that social networking websites are in their “really early days”. He added: “The media spend a disproportionate amount of time talking about Twitter, it’s like Second Life was a couple of years ago.” Ettinghausen said social networking can be used to give companies a “human face”. “We don’t use it as a broadcast mechanism, we ask questions and play games.”
Ros Lawler, head of e-commerce at Random House, added that social networking can be a good way of promoting books and backlist. “I think it’s here to stay. It’s become a part of how we behave now.” She added that Random House has utilised social networks to talk to fans of particular authors and create fan groups.
The survey also found 87% of customers expect e-books to cost less than physical books. Only 12% expected that e-books should cost the same as their physical counterparts. Macmillan’s Lloyd said: “Market forces tend to bring prices down so you would expect that to happen.”
Other publishers spoken to by The Bookseller said that pricing was constantly up for review. Ettinghausen added: “We sell through retailers who are at liberty to sell at what discount they wish . . . It’s something that is being constantly looked at and reviewed. We don’t want to start underselling our authors.”
Lovereading interviewed more than 1,300 people, the majority heavy book buyers, about their reading habits.
Comments on this article
By Jo Bottrill
This talks about mainstream publishing and applying the old school marketing ideas in new environments. It would be interesting to know how important social media coverage is to innovative players like O'Reilly. Ettinghausen seems to suggest Twitter is a fad. I think it's more mainstream than Second Life was two years ago.23 Oct 09 07:36
By Scott Pack
Hmm. On the day we published Atheist's Guide to Christmas we got the author and contributors to tweet with a link to Amazon. It became the #1 Mover & Shaker and rose several thousand places to 14 on their chart. It set the book up really nicely and was definitely a contributing factor. There are ways of using Twitter that are both fun and productive. Not sure I agree with many of the views expressed in this article, delightful and fragrant though the individuals are.23 Oct 09 09:20
By sassyele
i have to say that i personally read lots of reviews etc through twitter and have bought books upon recommendations on there too! i totally disagree with the results of this survey and will continue using twitter to find out about new publishings!23 Oct 09 09:24
By Kieron
I don't think people do use social media such as Twitter for book recommendations from businesses; their 'real-time' nature makes them better for conversations with existing customers rather than as a recruiting tool. They're also good for getting a quick view on issues or what people are saying about the company or on particular topics, something that in lieu of a shop floor, face to face relationship, is helpful. Additionally giving customers tools or 'things to talk about' which promote books can be very powerful and get attention though personal endorsement.23 Oct 09 09:25
By Nicky
I belong to a couple of publishers Facebook groups that send out proof copies of forthcoming books to members and have been lucky enough to receive many of these over the year. They have directly lead me to buy more of the same Author on at least 5 occasions! Also on my Twitter account I have every publisher going and several Authors too and have found so many new reads that way. The survey was wrong! ;)23 Oct 09 09:34
By Bookmark
I think the key to this discussion is not that an "overwhelming majority of readers do not use the sites for recommendations" but rather an overwhelming majority of readers MAY use the sites for recommendations in the future. I have to disagree with comments such as this because I think Twitter is a fantastic and relevant vehicle for authors to self-promote, along with publishers, their latest books. Once someone is interested in what a Twittering author has to say they will naturally look to that authors backlog to explore their thoughts an views. It's incredibly narrowminded to suggest Twitter may not fulfill an avenue of recommendations - a bit like saying the internet would never catch on, or email will never replace letters. It is another form of expression that the younger generation will, and will continue to with each successive generation, utilise as a way of information gathering and opinion forming. I also fervently disagree that Facebook is not a viable environment to advertise books. Only last month did we see the spend on online advertising for the first time exceed that of print and tv. If that is not an indication that FMCG advertisers see online as a viable and lucrative medium, then I don't know what is. It would be interesting to see the demographic ratio of the Lovereading audience. The segmentation of results in line with the age groups would give a far better view of who believes what about book buying practices rather than a sweeping generalisation as we've seen above.23 Oct 09 09:54
By Lizzy Ewer
Twitter is a new way of connecting, informally, with your potential customers without hitting them with a big corporate sales stick. I think it is unwise at this stage to dismiss it. Of course there is little in marketing books that can be relied upon in isolation but social networking is only going to become more important, not less. The article mentions that 56% of those asked used the internet...it would be interesting to know how many of those are actually using twitter at all, let alone to get book recommendations. From my experience, people on twitter are mad about books and about telling others about them.23 Oct 09 09:55
By Bookmark
Oh, and also if credibility were a continuing factor in terms of using sites such as Twitter i.e. the research comment: "...respondents said they actively seek out more authentic expert views on the web from author websites as trusted independent sources of guidance" then all I will say by way of defence is: Wikipedia. After all, that was derided when it first appeared since it is editable by anyone and yet how many people now go to a site whose information may not be credible when they are trying to find something out? Using Twitter for recommendations isn't about suggesting it is the ONLY place to go, but rather one of the places to see reviews - a platform for further exploration on a topic of interest.23 Oct 09 10:01
By Tam
Surely this is missing the point? Twitter (and other social networking sites) allow you to reach people you wouldn't ordinarily have contact with and enables them to get to 'know' you by directing them to your blog/website. Anyone who uses Twitter to say "Buy my book" is destined to fail - it's a little more involved than that. I see Twitter as a promotional tool but not the sum total of my online presence.23 Oct 09 10:03
By Sam Shone
The great thing about Twitter is that the reviews are authentic in because it is a form of social media; a place where you interact with friends and with people who whose opinion you sign up to hear. As Scott has said it can directly influence sales if approached correctly, but if publishers copy and paste other marketing expertise into this arena, as Sara Lloyd discusses in the article, of course it will fail. People don't sign up to follow publishers and be bombarded with advertising. Sales are not the only, or indeed primary, advantage for publishers in the world of web 2.0; it's an area to engage with readers, the wider public and fans and to listen to what they want and then respond to that.23 Oct 09 10:53
By Alistair Spalding
Twitter should be viewed as a route to trade/industry people and feedback by companies that have accounts online, not as a route to consumers. It's great for generating trade publicity and can lead to really interesting conversations about books. Twitterers are also highly engaged with what they read online, an incredibly high proportion of our followers will click and look at links that we provide. However I would agree that twitter is not a significant consumer sales tool (unless Stephen Fry or Jonathon Ross get involved). @Open_Book23 Oct 09 11:21
By Kit Berry
I disagree with the findings of this survey too. Twitter is still perhaps a fledgling, but has massive potential to soar and is pretty impressive already. On a personal level I've had several new members join my own social network group because they heard of my books on Twitter. It's simply electronic word of mouth, and the 140 character limit is brilliant. Comments are succinct and pithy. However I agree with Sam Shone in that, used clumsily, it can be a turn-off. He said "People don't sign up to follow publishers and be bombarded with advertising" and this is so true. A publisher started following me so I returned the courtesy, only to be completely swamped on an hourly basis it seemed, by pointless plugs for an author I would never ever read. I'm now not following this publisher any more, needless to say. One strange thing I've noticed is the age demographic of Twitter users. I don't know of any youngsters who use it. They use MSN or Facebook, but they don't like Twitter. Anyone else noticed this?23 Oct 09 11:46
By Scott Pack
Those of you on Twitter could search the hashtag #ilovethisbook for a range of interesting book recommendations.23 Oct 09 11:59
By Joe
Scott's right- the recently started #ilovethisbook hashtag on twitter has many fascinating recommendations on it and I've bought a couple from this. Twitter has only just started, really, so the fact that 17% of 'serious readers' (whatever that odd term means, do they never laugh while reading?) find it 'useful' is astounding.23 Oct 09 14:48
By literatiwatch
Twitter is interesting as it is a real-time word of mouth tool with immense reach - depending on how influential your twittersite and your followers are. It has got great potential either in its present form or some new incarnation. I get lots of authors and publishers asking how to get on twitter so I think there are probably many people who just have not joined up. Alastair Spalding is right about how twitter is being used. It's early days for books and twitter - it's been great for connecting authors, journalists and publishers - but it is a form and means of communication that will develop in the future and it's a good idea to learn how to get the best form it now. Not sure how representative LoveReading is of the kinds of new and younger bookbuyers out there looking at their demographic etc. I've tested the tweet/ amazon link/ rating levels and there does appear to be a positive correlation. I've had incredible feedback etc from twitter as well as work - it is useful but at moment perhaps more as a B2B and cultural therapy for those employed in industry?23 Oct 09 15:16
By Sarah Blackwell
I agree with Kit Berry, not many of my age group (25-30) use or even like Twitter, prefering Facebook instead. Twitter requires time and patience, the more you put into it, the more you definitely get out of it. Facebook is different because you can connect with an exisiting network of friends, for Twitter I found in most cases you need to start from scratch. I would never rely on social networking sites alone to increase book (or non-book in our case) sales but I have no doubt of the huge potential for word of mouth sales via Twitter. Watch this space!23 Oct 09 15:35
By Julia
I, too, disagree with the survey. Social Media isn't about a hard sell, its all about conversations and creating buzz. We're all experimenting with the likes of Twitter and Facebook to promote our books, it'll work for some and not for others. And of course it'll take time for us to master these tools. Recently Chris Brogan's Trust Agents broke into the US bestseller lists thanks to his activities on Facebook and Twitter - of course he has the advantage of having a huge presence in social media23 Oct 09 15:57
By James
Like many others posting above, I find myself struggling to support the findings of this survey. It's difficult to disagree with a survey as the results are in black and white but it looks like the wrong questions have been asked and the wrong conclusions drawn. The result is a headline story that challenges the use of social media and this will bring a wry, I told you so, smile to some. However, if you really understand the role of social media in the marketing mix, you'll hopefully be able to see through this misdirection.26 Oct 09 12:44
By Gary Ockunzzi, self published author
I agree. I have given this social medium a brief, "test the water-like try," and find a lack of substance in a viable platform for my book. I run very deep and find too many tweets to be shallow. I'm invisible there (but that is o.k., because in a way, it defines me).19 Jan 10 13:17
