What is your marketing plan for Shepherd? – Shepherd For Authors

My background is heavily in online marketing and SEO, and I love this stuff! Feel free to email me at ben@shepherd.com or leave questions in the comments below.

(If you are looking for how we market your book recommendation list, go here.)

Shepherd is in beta; what does that mean?

Beta means that the website is missing some key features. It is ready for authors and readers to use and offers a great book discovery experience.

The key features to finish to exit beta are:

T̶o̶p̶i̶c̶ ̶P̶a̶g̶e̶s̶ ̶(̶c̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶m̶o̶c̶k̶u̶p̶)̶ ̶-̶ ̶L̶a̶u̶n̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶J̶a̶n̶u̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶1̶1̶t̶h̶!̶
S̶e̶a̶r̶c̶h̶ ̶(̶c̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶m̶o̶c̶k̶u̶p̶)̶ ̶-̶ ̶L̶a̶u̶n̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶J̶a̶n̶u̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶1̶1̶t̶h̶!̶
̶A̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶n̶t̶ ̶p̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶(̶c̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶ ̶m̶o̶c̶k̶u̶p̶)̶-̶ ̶L̶a̶u̶n̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶F̶e̶b̶r̶u̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶1̶s̶t̶!̶ ̶
̶A̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶-̶i̶m̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶d̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶g̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶-̶ ̶C̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶A̶u̶g̶ ̶2̶0̶2̶2̶.̶ ̶
̶A̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶-̶i̶m̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶d̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶g̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶-̶ ̶C̶o̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶A̶u̶g̶ ̶2̶0̶2̶2̶.̶ ̶
Genre pages and age-specific pages (and filters) - Coming Q4 2022

We launched on April 19th, 2021, and I aim to exit beta toward the end of 2022 or the start of 2023 (I'll have a better ETA soon). As we get closer, we will plan a big "official" launch event.

What is Shepherd's marketing plan while in beta?

We are focused on three external marketing channels currently:

Search Engine Traffic - We work to rank pages on Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. This helps readers to discover the website and starts building our brand with them. The goal is that the next time readers look for a book, they come directly to Shepherd. This is my main focus for 2022, and I am focused on growing this channel. Search engine traffic is very valuable as it brings in readers looking to buy a book (unlike social media, where they are just browsing with no specific aim).
Social Media - We encourage authors to share their list on social media. Not only does this help the author sell their book and engage their fan base, but it also helps introduce readers to the entire author community at Shepherd. Shepherd itself is not active on social media; that is something we will be planning once we have maximized the search engine marketing channel and upcoming email marketing channel.
(Coming 2023) - A custom book recommendation newsletter for readers - This will launch in early 2023 and will be my main focus for the year (in addition to the search engine marketing channel). Building a list of readers who want book recommendations is very valuable. It is a medium we control and is full of active buyers (unlike social media, where they are just browsing with no specific aim).

And our internal marketing channels:

Our recommendation engine - We created a related book list feature that helps readers move through the website horizontally as they follow their curiosity from the list to list and topic to topic.
Bookshelves - Bookshelves are topic pages around things like World War 2, grief, microbiology, or dragons. We use NLP (a type of machine learning) to analyze what books are about and pull them into these sections to help readers browse for books in fun ways. The goal is to delight readers and help them find an author's book list.
Search - Search allows readers to find bookshelves and book lists based on Wikipedia topics they are interested in, favorite books, or favorite authors. The goal is to connect readers to bookshelves and book lists that interest them. In late 2022 or early 2023, we will add genre to the search feature as we integrate that into the site (see below).
(coming Fall 2022) Individual book pages - This page will show readers why they should read that specific book that is recommended within Shepherd. Plus, connect them with related books, book lists, and bookshelves.
(coming Fall 2022) "Books like" pages - This page will help readers who love a specific book find more books like that one. Plus, connect them with related books, book lists, and bookshelves.
(Coming Winter 2022) Genre and age integration and pages - This is a tremendous addition, and this will take a lot of time and probably run into early 2023. We will be adding genre pages around things like Fantasy or Science Fiction, as well as age pages so that you can find books for specific age/grade levels. Plus some other great stuff :).

(for a longer list of how we specifically market your book list go here)

SEO: Shepherd is pursuing a wagon wheel strategy, starting with the spokes.

This means we are starting with the book lists as they are the spokes. The idea is you build the outside of the wheel first, as those are the easiest terms to rank for, and then slowly build the inner wheel and go after more competitive search phrases.

The book recommendation lists are the heart of Shepherd, and we started with them for three key reasons:

We wanted to ensure the book lists delighted readers and authors and drove book sales. They are the core of our services to readers and authors, and if they don't work, nothing works (good news as they work really well). We could test our assumptions and evolve quickly by launching with these first. And these lists power upcoming features like the topic and genre pages, so it made sense to start here.
It takes at least three years for Google to start ranking a website for competitive searches (oversimplification but the gist of it). Launching as quickly as possible made sense to start building trust in their eyes.
The book recommendation lists are pursuing long tail keyword searches on Google, making them the easiest to rank for. We wanted to start there and work toward the harder search phrases to rank for.

Now that those are doing well, we are moving to the short tail by launching topic pages, genre pages, age pages, and a new front page. Those are all designed to delight readers and rank for high-volume competitive searches on search engines.

What is our marketing plan post beta?

Once we have a solid base and are out of beta (toward early 2023), we will start big marketing pushes. What types of things will that be?

New Book Discovery Formats - I am testing new formats to help authors bump into readers in unique ways (fiction and nonfiction). I am going to start testing these on readers in 2022. And you can now sign up for them here as we get ready to launch those in 2023:
- Sell books by sharing interesting facts.
- Sell books by sharing character profiles (online dating but for book characters).
- Another one is coming in 2023, which I will announce soon.
Social Media - I am going to work with social media influencers to create content to delight & engage their audiences while also introducing their audiences to Shepherd. The goal is to share amazing books and attract more readers to the site.
Big Content Pieces - Creating set pieces of content for larger marketing pushes. So this would be things like "80 books around the world" and promoting our author's books and lists while creating a unique book browsing experience for readers. And then, we will work on getting that content in front of travel websites, media, and others.
Social Media - We will be testing ways to help with social media amplification and letting authors know when another author has picked their book as one of their favorites.
Old School Media - We will pitch our unique story to more prominent media brands.

Why we were not active on social media?

Currently, our work with social media is focused on supporting our authors and their audiences. One day we will have more of a social media presence, but not for a while, given the low value of these channels. We want to focus our finite resources on the highest impact work, and that is with channels we control, like our newsletter, SEO, or content marketing. Social media has repeatedly screwed everyone who uses it (especially Facebook), and we won't invest in it until we have maxed out the higher-value channels.

Why is email and search a higher value channel?

Because the people using those are looking to buy a book rather than just browsing random stuff on social media. When someone searches for "books about space" or signs up to get book recommendations every two weeks, that strongly indicates they are looking to buy a book. Thus that traffic is far more valuable than the random person who sees something about books on their Facebook feed.

As we progress, I will share concrete plans as we get time to test more and figure out the highest impact features to move forward on. We are lean and resource-limited, so I try to make sure what we are doing has the highest return for authors and readers.