BRINGING AN AUTHOR’S MESSAGE TO LIFE WITH A DIGITAL MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Jason Valad?o came to Greenleaf with an almost unbelievable personal story and a passion for adding value to the lives of every person with whom he comes into contact. As he developed the manuscript that would eventually become his debut book, Exceptional Every Day: An Empowering Process to Unlock Your Why and Transform Your Life, he also sought guidance on how to connect with more people to amplify his impact.

The challenge with Jason’s project was twofold:

1. Distill his incredibly diverse background into a cohesive story that would enable him to leverage the many messages he could credibly deliver. After all, there aren’t many active-duty-Naval-aviation-officers/family-medicinephysicians/certified-leadership-coaches who have written a book while simultaneously serving their country and community and raising a family.

2. Identify the most effective avenues for him to channel his efforts to help him take the right next steps in his process pursuing success.

Jason was searching for a publisher who not only could create a final product he would be proud of, but also could help him develop his online presence in a strategically sound way. In the end, he found his ideal publishing partner in Greenleaf Book Group.

Brand & Media Potential

Jason had already been operating a website with weekly blog posts that had a small yet consistent following, but he knew that his personal platform would need to evolve and grow for him and his book to reach their full potential.

Working with his Greenleaf brand strategist, Jason established his brand positioning to ensure he focused on a distinct and compelling space in the marketplace, developed a strategic approach to growing his audience on social media, created a series of short, personal videos to deliver his message quickly and succinctly, and developed sales tools to help him secure speaking events. Taking these steps set up Jason to make the most of his efforts by driving discoverability and effectively serving his audience. Never one to do just the basics, Jason also took advantage of Digital Media Marketing—a Greenleaf offering with a strategic approach to media coverage that focuses on podcast interviews— to significantly boost his visibility and amplify his impact.

Greenleaf built a custom outreach program for Jason to take advantage of his gift for connecting with others, his genuine desire to help anyone and everyone, his rich variety of personal stories that illustrate his message, and his dedication to the project. Based on these unique strengths, the campaign focused on press release distribution to spread the word about Exceptional Every Day and positioned Jason to secure guest spots on hyper-relevant digital media outlets, with impressive results.

Spreading the Word about Exceptional Every Day

Greenleaf partnered with the Independent Book Publisher Association’s Media Outreach Program to generate exposure with industry influencers, media outlets, and professional reviewers for Exceptional Every Day. This targeted email offered a complimentary review copy of the book to a segmented media list based on genre and interest. Exceptional Every Day’s press release targeted business, health and wellbeing, and selfhelp media professionals and received over 400 email opens. Among those who learned about Jason were media professionals from outlets like Men’s Health, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and BookPage.

Digital Media Marketing

Greenleaf researched and identified niche podcasts relevant to Jason’s content with a range of 1,000 to 100,000 followers. Jason’s digital media strategist crafted a customized pitch for each of these podcasts and conducted outreach and follow-up as necessary to secure interviews. Once a host requested an interview, Greenleaf assisted in scheduling and provided Jason with guidance on how to successfully promote the shows for additional exposure as they went live. Jason was featured on a variety of notable podcasts in multiple genres, including:

The podcast interviews provided discoverable and shareable content that serves as proof of Jason’s expertise. For each podcast interview, Jason promoted the coverage on his Twitter, Facebook, blog, and website. Greenleaf also partnered with an Instagram book influencer account, Bookthinkers, who shared an IGTV video review of Exceptional Every Day that was viewed by over 3,300 users.

Once coverage started going live, the validation of being featured on legitimate media outlets with vibrant audiences attracted more interest from similar media entities. This virtuous cycle continues to help Jason reach new audiences and impact more lives

An Exceptionally Successful Campaign

For a first-time author operating under significant time restraints and within strict content guidelines due to his position as an active-duty Naval officer, the results of Jason’s Digital Media Marketing campaign were nothing short of incredible.

The campaign’s effectiveness started with his updated website, consistent content creation, and online engagement efforts, but was truly taken to the next level with the media amplification he was able to secure with the help of his Greenleaf digital media strategist.

As the title of Jason’s book makes clear, he knows that his work as an author is never truly finished. Driving interest in his book and his message will continue to present opportunities for him to grow and evolve every day. With Greenleaf at his side, though, Jason knows that he will always be equipped to tackle that challenge.

Greenleaf Book Group is a publisher and distributor best known for its innovative business model, distribution power, and award-winning designs. Named one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc. Magazine, Greenleaf has represented more than 3,800 titles, including over 60 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestsellers. You can learn more about Greenleaf at www.greenleafbookgroup.com.