C Is For Case Study – Stephen King’s Digital Marketing
It’s still April, and still time for the A to Z Blog Challenge. Today is C, and C is for Case Study, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now but never got around to. I want to take a look at how one author’s digital presence and see what we can learn from them. Today’s candidate is Stephen King. I picked him since he’s perhaps the most celebrated author of the last few decades. I’m sure he needs no introduction, but in case this is the first time you’re hearing about him, he’s created classic works including Carrie, It, and The Shining.
Website
First things first, I search for Mr the King’s website. This link will take you there.
First impressions, the website looks visually as though it was first built in the early 2000’s. There’s empty spaces to the left and the right of the middle panel where the information is laid out newspaper-style. Not knocking it, of course, there’s something nostalgic about it. But that being said, he could do with an upgrade. At least it seems to be maintained with up-to-date information. Now we just need to see if his website will leave a tracking device on my computer so that his ads will show up everywhere else. Usually, I find this to be instant if someone has their marketing funnel set up correctly. No ads for him yet on Instagram, but I’ll keep checking and edit this case study if I see any. Which brings me to…
Social Media Presence
No. In news reports that I can find, he deleted his account over “false information.” I’m deeply troubled by false information as well, so I don’t blame him on that front. Still, Facebook is one of the leading digital marketing tools available to authors.
Yes. And by the looks of it, it’s the man himself at the helm of the account. He’s very vocal about his political leanings there. But since he’s on the side that made it socially acceptable to tear into the character, words, intelligence, and looks of another human being, I’d say that this is gaining him a very specific type of audience.
Personally speaking, I’d say that division is not a great way to build an audience. It is believed that Michael Jordan once said, “Republicans buy sneakers too.” Division isn’t going to help anyone, especially not during a time when people are supposed to come together. And I don’t know about you, but I lose hope for all mankind when I see nice people turn around and talk derogatorily about another person.
No.
No.
…I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that Stephen King is only active on Twitter. If you happen to know where else he has an account, please let me know so I can update this case study.
Case Study Summary
Updated website with an outdated look-and-feel, and politically-charged messages on Twitter. I’d say that he’s not going to do himself any favours when it comes to gaining an audience online. However, since he’s one of the first names that pop into anyone’s head when we’re talking about famous authors, I’d also say that he doesn’t need any amount of brand awareness when it comes to the older generations. His books pretty much sell themselves by this point and he gained some die-hard fans over the years. I’m sure the publishing houses would trip over themselves to sign him up, and they’d throw in an enormous amount of marketing budget to sweeten the deal. But if he was very clever about this, Stephen King could build an all-new generation of young horror readers who won’t know how good his writing is until they start clicking on his ads. He could definitely stay relevant if he used digital marketing.
Agree or disagree with my case study findings? Do you think that he’s got all the fans he’d ever need? Have your say in the comments below.
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