I love book banners and enjoy making them. They're like a visual summary of our books. As a consumer, I acknowledge how effective they are as an advertising tool. How many brands managed to sell products to me because of their ads? Many, I'm sure. So today, we'll talk about how to make book banners that work.
WHY DO YOU NEED BOOK BANNERS, ANYWAY?
Book banners are crucial to effective book launches and sales campaigns. They don't guarantee sales but they will bring attention to your books - and that increases the possibility of sales. Post the banners often enough and the information will be retained in the minds of the people who see it, consciously or unconsciously.
When you walk through a mall, or when you're cruising along the highway, you see banners of all shapes and sizes. They can be reading material when you're stuck in traffic or you may only glance at them as you pass them by - either way, they get stored in your memory, if they're catchy enough. The result? The next time your husband needs a set of briefs, or you need to buy a new lipstick... your brain will retrieve the data from its memory bank. You will then remember the sexy hunky guy posing for the brief ad, and the luscious lips of the model on the billboard - and chances are high that you will buy the brand they were endorsing.
That, is the power of advertising
Book Banners have the same purpose - to let people know that your book exists, to familiarize them with your brand. A visual ad, makes your posts several times more interesting than those without. They get attention... and isn't that why self-published authors spend time on Social Media? To bring attention to our books?
Images make our tweets and posts more eye-catching - as compared to a shout out without images. Which, if you ask me, is a waste of time. You may use the most intriguing words on Thesaurus, but nothing can beat a beautiful and descriptive image - if you're using the right image, that is. If it's really good, people will pause just to see what it's about. You'd have met your goal then. You have brought attention to your book.
On Twitter especially, banners are a must for authors who advertise. You do notice that when you turn your head the other way, you have 100 new tweets - that's how fast posts get buried in Twitterdom. Without something that makes your post stand out, you'll be outshouted. Is Twitter a shouting match? It's not that. There are thousands of content and they go by especially fast on Twitter.
I know this cause I always notice posts with beautiful banners. I just have to RT. They're pretty... Think about it, which books advertised on Twitter are embedded in your mind? The one that you often see images of, right? So... do I need to convince you more? You know it's true.
Another purpose of banners is that they save you from having to sell your book directly, which often happens when you just use words. Your book banners can speak for you instead - you can then be mysterious and vague on your tweets. Especially if you're the shy type. With a banner that's complete in details, you can just tweet the book link and use those 280 characters for reviews and #hashtags.
If you're taking the time to make book banners, might as well make it as effective as you can.
WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE BOOK BANNER?
A good advertising banner answers the following:
What is the Product?
So you need to have the book's cover on it. Without the image of the book on the banner, it's not much of a book banner... is it? You want your book's image to be embedded in people's minds and that means showing them what the book looks like.
What is your book about?
This would be a short description or teaser. Is it a scary horror novel, a fast-paced mystery thriller, or a toe curling romance? Would-be buyers want to know what it's about. Give them a hint.
Ex. "Reading this book will help you know your partner better." "A heart-pounding mystery thriller that will keep you turning the pages.
What are you promising readers? What experience will they get? Tell them.
How do I know it's worth buying?
If you notice, snippets of reviews are included on some of the banners you see. This is to add credibility to the book. You might say that it's the best book in the world, but who would believe that statement when it comes from the author themselves? An unbiased or published opinion is more believable. So, copy a portion of your 5 star review. The more credible the reviewer, the better. If the book has earned badges and medals, please, flaunt it!
If it's a REALLY long review, don't copy it all! 3 sentences MAX. People don't like to read long things on social media. Also, if the review is too long, you'd have to make the fonts smaller and it becomes unreadable. You've seen those banners, right?
How much is it?
The price of the book can be helpful but it's optional. It should be there when it's on sale or FREE.
Where can I get it, if I decide to buy it?
Where can they buy the book? On Amazon, Smashwords, your Website? Tell the readers what their buying options are. Like if it's available on paperback or audio book. Don't make the reader search for the book on Google. When you get to be a famous author, then you can do that. For now, show the way... lay down a trail of breadcrumbs if needed. Include the book link to your post.
Where can they buy the book? On Amazon, Smashwords, your Website? Tell the readers what their buying options are. Like if it's available on paperback or audio book. Don't make the reader search for the book on Google. When you get to be a famous author, then you can do that. For now, show the way... lay down a trail of breadcrumbs if needed. Include the book link to your post.
It's a Graphic war out there.
Images sell books.
Images sell books.
If you don't know how to design, and you don't want to pay a graphic designer, you can use Canva to create banners for different social media platforms. If you use your own backgrounds, you can make a nice banner for free. Some images are free, some are priced at $1. Take your images from Pixabay, which is a free image site, or from Pexels, and use it on Canva.
Banner design is about knowing how to present images and text in a layout. Sounds simple? It's not. That's why there's a graphic design industry. That's what you need Canva for. They have different layouts to choose from and you can use it as a guide. Simply replace the texts and images and you'll have a professional looking banner.
Banner design is about knowing how to present images and text in a layout. Sounds simple? It's not. That's why there's a graphic design industry. That's what you need Canva for. They have different layouts to choose from and you can use it as a guide. Simply replace the texts and images and you'll have a professional looking banner.
Make several versions of your book banner. Sometimes, when I go to someone's profile page so I can RT their book, there's only 1 version. I can't retweet the same image repeatedly, so I move on.
Variety keeps readers from developing advertising blindness. What's that? That's when people see too much of the same thing, it doesn't affect them anymore. No, I didn't invent that. Google it and keep it in mind when you design your banners.
Variety keeps readers from developing advertising blindness. What's that? That's when people see too much of the same thing, it doesn't affect them anymore. No, I didn't invent that. Google it and keep it in mind when you design your banners.
This one's important:
Think of a theme that is appropriate for your book... and STICK TO IT! I see many people advertise using different themes for the same book, in their desire to capture several types of audiences. That only dilutes the message you're trying to send through your banners. Don't confuse. If it's a romance then keep your theme romantic, and if possible, use the same images in different combinations. If it's a thriller, don't use flowers there just to capture the female readers. Banners MUST be consistent so that the image AND the book will stick to people's minds.
We spend so much time on Social Media and I know many authors hate marketing. So I think it's important that we make every post count. I see so many tweeting about their books, using all the captivating and intriguing words in the dictionary. You don't have to try so hard and do aggressive marketing. Book Banners can help you promote your brand more effectively and have a bigger impact for a shorter period of tweeting time.
If graphic design is not your cup of tea, you can have beautiful banners made HERE.
Think of a theme that is appropriate for your book... and STICK TO IT! I see many people advertise using different themes for the same book, in their desire to capture several types of audiences. That only dilutes the message you're trying to send through your banners. Don't confuse. If it's a romance then keep your theme romantic, and if possible, use the same images in different combinations. If it's a thriller, don't use flowers there just to capture the female readers. Banners MUST be consistent so that the image AND the book will stick to people's minds.
We spend so much time on Social Media and I know many authors hate marketing. So I think it's important that we make every post count. I see so many tweeting about their books, using all the captivating and intriguing words in the dictionary. You don't have to try so hard and do aggressive marketing. Book Banners can help you promote your brand more effectively and have a bigger impact for a shorter period of tweeting time.
If graphic design is not your cup of tea, you can have beautiful banners made HERE.
Read: 5 Reasons Why Your Banner AD Is A Bomb
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