Social Media and Content Marketing Basics for Booksellers: Take $50 Off

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Sarah Benoit, the cofounder and lead instructor of JB Media Group’s JB Media Institute, is running a new social media and marketing online education program for booksellers and offering a discount for ABA bookstore members who participate.

Program instructor Sarah Benoit of JB Media Group
Program instructor Sarah Benoit of JB Media Group

The three-month program titled “Social Media and Content Marketing Basics for Booksellers,” which booksellers can begin now, is the outgrowth of a program beta-tested this April with 15 volunteer booksellers from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). The new self-guided course featuring video classes and corresponding downloadable guides will teach booksellers strategies and best practices to take control over and enhance their store websites, improve their online presence, and attract and engage more customers.

“Different materials launch every month; it’s mostly video classes as well as live webinars with me and other special guests. Each month we launch eight classes, which range from three minutes to a half-hour,” said Benoit, who has led popular education sessions on social media strategy at several previous Winter Institutes and at Children’s Institute in New Orleans. “We’ll talk about challenges on a wide variety of social media topics, specifically focusing on Instagram and Facebook, both organic and advertising.”

Booksellers will also learn about event promotion and local marketing, she said, as well as “how to research and understand your audience, keyword research, hashtag research, listening to your audience, and understanding your analytics, including Instagram and Facebook insights and Google Analytics, and how to use to them to see what is working and not working.” Students will also have the ability to ask questions online and have them answered each week during live Q&A webinars with members of the JB Media team.

Interested booksellers can send an e-mail to ABA’s membership department with the subject line “Social Media/Marketing Promo Code” for a special discount code giving ABA members $50 off the program’s $299 price tag; booksellers can input the promo code when they register for the program. Registration has been extended to July 31, and the program will run until October 31. The content for month one is already live; booksellers who sign up now can get started on their classes and have an extra week or two to work on the curriculum, Benoit said.

For more information and to see a video of the program’s July 16 introductory webinar, visit the designated landing page on the JB Media Group website; another introductory webinar is scheduled for July 26. Booksellers with questions about the program are invited to e-mail Benoit at [email protected].