Cross-Marketing Done Right: A Case Study - Tawna Fenske & Melia Alexander

Morgan says: We've said it before and we'll say it again...When you have FUN with your marketing your audience will have FUN, too. Today we will focus on two authors who teamed up to execute their promotional plan. Trust me when I say that all manner of shenanigans occurred!

Our dear friends Tawna Fenske and Melia Alexander are doing some AMAZING cross-marketing for their new books. Let's first take a look at what they've been up to....

The Perfect NYE (New Year's Eve) Kiss

'The Perfect NYE Kiss' combined with their other holiday themed video 'Mistletoe' provided funny and light entertainment during the otherwise stressful holiday season. However, it also drew attention to their books during holiday gift giving, too.

By far the funniest installments involved the use of plushy hand puppets to reenact love scenes from their novels. Puppets + Love Scenes = BRILLIANT! <WARNING: Adult material, not recommended for viewing at work without headphones.>

Puppet Scene Merger of the Heart

A Special Scene from Best Man for Hire by Tawna Fenske (as told by puppets?)

Here's why this cross-marketing campaign works:

• Each video opens with the authors introducing themselves next to the covers of their books. This repetition combined with the video content makes their names and covers memorable by engaging both the audio and visual senses of their audience.
• The videos are short and well scripted. (There's almost nothing worse than a long, meandering YouTube video without a point or distinct ending.)
• There are multiple videos for their readers to view, which means more opportunities to showcase their books and author personas.
• Each video focuses on either a topic or one of their books. (Yes, each author gets equal amounts of air time, BUT this equality is accomplished throughout the video series NOT in one long video.)
• The videos are professionally edited and produced. (Again, polished combined with being short, sweet, and focused will keep your readers engaged...not distracted and bored.)
• Their publisher, Entangled Publishing, has a YouTube channel. In addition to their own author networks and reader lists, they are now able to tap into Entangled's broader readership to attract NEW readers.
• Both authors write contemporary romance. Though each story is unique, they still have a shared audience (readership).
• They are clearly having FUN!

Things to consider when cross-marketing with other authors:

• Choose the right partner. Make sure that cross-marketing makes sense for your books. (Just because you and another author are great friends, doesn't mean that her horror audience will want to read your sci-fi romance.)
• Be professional. (No brainer, but still needs to be mentioned.)
• Plan what you are going to do and ensure that your expectations are clearly stated and understood.
• Check with your publishers (if you are traditionally published) to keep them in the loop, especially when you are planning to post your promo work on broad platforms like YouTube.