As an author building your writing career, you know that building a reader audience of your ideal readers is crucial to your success. But with so many marketing tactics to choose from, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start when engaging your ideal reader.

Here at Writer's Coaching we like to make life a little easier for you and we'll walk you through the considerations and key steps that help you with your email list building, so let's get started!

Connecting your website and email list together

If you read our previous article in this series, you'll remember we talked about your website being the hub of your digital marketing. And it absolutely is, because you can use this for audience building. One of the most effective ways to attract and engage an ideal reader is to contact readers directly with your offers and related content of value to them, via your email list.

An ‘ideal reader magnet' connects your website and email strategy together. The power is in your email list! In this article, we'll explore what an ideal reader magnet is, why it's important for your digital marketing strategy, and how you can set one up using a free email autoresponder on your website.

We'll also walk through how to integrate your reader magnet into your social media content and nurture your growing email list ready for when you launch your next book. We want to help you get a clear understanding of how to use an ideal reader magnet to attract and engage your reader audience and build a loyal following for your author brand.

Additionally, we'll provide we'll help you see the benefit of a reader magnet first-hand; we offer you a magnet or two of our own that we hope you find valuable, so you can see how you might integrate an Ideal Reader Magnet into your digital marketing/social media strategy.

What is an ideal reader magnet?

A ‘lead magnet' is the more general marketing term for a valuable (to your audience) resource that you offer for free in exchange for someone's email address.

An ideal reader magnet is essentially the same thing, but targets your ideal reader, and attracts them to you. This magnet is specifically designed to attract and engage your ideal reader or target audience. Unlike a general lead magnet, such as a discount or free trial, an ideal reader magnet is tailored to your audience's interests and needs.

It's a way to connect with potential readers and offer them something of value and asking for nothing more than their email address in return. It speaks directly to your ideal readers, and crucially, only to them. You want your audience to consist of your ideal readers, that are interested in your work and are likely to buy your books.

Benefits of using an ideal reader magnet

There are a few key benefits of implementing this audience-building strategy.

Firstly, it allows you to build your email list with engaged readers who are interested in your books and content. This means you can reach them directly with news about your upcoming releases, blog posts, invitations to your advance team, or other interesting content.

Secondly, it helps you establish your authority and credibility as an author who understands and cares about your readers.

Finally, it provides a way to start nurturing your audience and building a relationship with them, which can lead to book sales and loyal readers.

Step 1: Create an ideal reader magnet

Now that you know what an ideal reader magnet is and why it's important, let's talk about how to create one. Follow these steps to create an effective reader magnet that resonates with your audience:

Identify your target reader audience

The first step is to identify your target audience. This means understanding who your ideal reader is, what they're interested in, and what problems they need help solving. You can do this by creating reader personas or profiles based on your existing readers or research. The more specific you can be, the better.

To get started with this step, consider asking yourself the following questions:

• Who are my existing readers? What are their demographics, interests, and needs?
• What kind of reader would be most interested in my book(s)? What are their pain points or challenges?
• What kind of content or resources do my ideal readers engage with online?

By answering these questions, you'll be able to create a detailed profile of your ideal reader and understand what kind of reader magnet would be most valuable to them.

This is the foundation upon which this strategy is built, without knowing your ideal reader, you will struggle to find success in growing your email list. If you need some extra support in this area, you would benefit from our Digital Marketing Course for Writers, which helps you to focus on your ideal reader, as well as much more.

Choose a reader magnet that appeals to your readers

Once you know who your audience is, the next step is to choose something that appeals to our readers and is aligned with your books as well as your author brand.

This could be anything from an exclusive short story, a novella, a prequel or exclusive author content.

To help you to decide, consider the following:

• What are the most common tropes or themes my ideal reader engages with?
• What content related to my book(s) or author brand would be of interest to my ideal reader?
• What can I produce of sufficient quality that it reflects professionally on my brand?

Answering these questions will help you identify a magnet that is both relevant to your audience and unique to your author brand.

Create the reader magnet content for your author brand

Now that you've identified your target audience and chosen a topic, it's time to create the reader magnet content.

When creating the content, make sure to keep it valuable and relevant to your audience. Use clear and concise language, and format it in a way that's easy to read and visually appealing. You may want to include images, graphics, or examples to illustrate your points and make the content more engaging.

Remember, the reader magnet is meant to showcase your writing and/or author brand to your audience. By creating high-quality content, you'll establish trust and credibility with your potential readers.

Set up an email autoresponder for email list building

An email autoresponder is a tool that allows you to automatically send a series of pre-written emails to your subscribers. This is a great way to welcome new subscribers to your email list and to keep them engaged and interested in your author brand.

We have tested a variety of tools over the years and found MailerLite to be the best for getting started. It's also free for up to 1,000 subscribers and offers a range of features to help you manage and grow your email list. Here's how to get set up:

1. Sign up for a free MailerLite account and follow the steps to connect it to your website.
2. Create a new email campaign and choose the autoresponder option.
3. Write a welcome email that introduces yourself and your author brand. Include a link to download your ideal reader magnet, and let your subscribers know what they can expect from your email list.
4. Create a series of follow-up emails that provide value to your subscribers. These could be blog posts, exclusive content, or promotional offers.
5. Set the intervals between each email in your autoresponder series. This will depend on the content of your emails and the preferences of your subscribers.

MailerLite also offers a range of other features, such as email segmentation, landing pages, and A/B testing, that can help you optimize your email marketing strategy and grow your author brand.

By setting up an email autoresponder using MailerLite, you'll be able to manage your email list more effectively and keep your subscribers engaged with regular content of perceived value.

If you need faster results and more detailed learning, then our Digital Marketing for Writers Course covers all the essential points you need to grow your audience and gives your a deeper dive into key areas to grow your author business – to sell more books!

Step 2: Integrate your reader magnet into your digital marketing

Now that you have your reader magnet set up and ready to go, it's time to integrate it into your digital marketing strategy. Here are some tips for promoting your reader magnet and growing your email list:

Promote your ideal reader magnet on your website

Make sure to prominently feature your reader magnet on your website, so that visitors can easily find it and sign up for your newsletter. Use pop-ups, banners, or sidebar widgets to promote your reader magnet, or create a dedicated landing page for it. You can either embed the code into your preferred location or use the URL link within a button on your page.

Share your reader magnet on social media

Share your reader magnet landing page on your social media platforms, and encourage your followers to sign up. You can create social media posts, graphics, or videos to promote your reader magnet and highlight its benefits.

Create related content to promote your reader magnet

Create related blog posts, videos, or podcasts that promote your reader magnet and provide additional value to your audience. Make sure to include calls to action to sign up for your reader magnet throughout your content. Like this one – get the Writer's Coaching Ideal Read Magnet Guide by signing up for our newsletter, currently for free!

Collaborate with other comparative authors

Collaborate with other authors in your genre to reach a wider audience and promote your reader magnet. You can guest post on their blog, participate in a joint giveaway, or offer to promote their reader magnet in exchange for them promoting yours.

By promoting your reader magnet across your website and social media platforms, and collaborating with other authors in your niche, you'll be able to reach a wider audience and grow your email list more quickly.
We help our email subscribers and members by offering the option to share your details in our newsletter to help you find comparative authors that you can swap with. You can sign up for FREE!

Step 3: Nurture your email list

Now that you have a growing email list, it's important to nurture your subscribers and keep them engaged. Consider the ways you can nurture your email list more effectively so that your audience is receptive to receiving more promotional content from you.

Send regular newsletters to your email list

Keep your audience up-to-date with your latest news and content. Make sure to include links to your blog posts, social media platforms, and upcoming book releases.

Provide exclusive content to your email subscribers

Give a sneak peek of your upcoming book, exclusive discounts, or behind-the-scenes glimpses into your writing process. This will help incentivise your subscribers to stay engaged and active on your email list.

Ask for feedback from your email subscribers

Ask for feedback from your email subscribers, to help you understand their needs and preferences better. This could be in the form of a survey, a poll, or a simple email asking for their thoughts.

Segment your email marketing list

Segment your email list based on your subscribers' interests, preferences, or behaviours. This will help you tailor your content and offers to each segment, and provide a more personalised experience for your subscribers.

By nurturing your email list and keeping your subscribers engaged, you'll be able to build a loyal and dedicated follower base, who will be more likely to purchase your books and support your author brand.

Growing your Audience of Ideal Readers

Using an ideal reader magnet as part of your digital marketing strategy is a powerful way to attract new readers, build your email list, and grow your author brand.

By following these 3 steps, you can create and integrate your reader magnet into your digital marketing strategy. Remember to nurture your email list and keep your subscribers engaged, to build a loyal and dedicated following of engaged readers.

Do make sure to look out for our next article, where we explore the time-saving benefits to your author business of social media content re-purposing.

We cover helpful strategies for the particular phase of your writing career, the key points to consider when developing your social media workflow, templates to focus you on key tasks, tools & resources to save you time (and reduce stress!), as well as supporting you with ideas and prompts so you know exactly what content you're sharing – and why.

Looking forward to seeing you here again very soon!