Special BEA 'Marketing Strategy Session' Offers Booksellers New Insights to Stay Competitive

On Thursday, May 2, ABA will be kicking off its annual convention, held in conjunction with BookExpo America (BEA), with a full day of special educational programming for booksellers. The day’s sessions will include an in-depth workshop on bookstore finances, inventory management, and a special "Marketing Strategy Session," designed to provide the latest in marketing insights and recommendations, as well as key updates on current consumer trends in book purchasing.

The marketing session will run from 8:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Admission to the session is included in the full-day session’s price of $25 for ABA and ABC members. (Non-ABA members may attend for $50.) For a full schedule of the day’s programming click here, and for more on the other sessions click here.

Set against a national backdrop of ever-growing competition for the consumer’s retail spending dollar, "the marketing workshop is designed to share some key insights from marketing and strategic planning professionals who have worked across many industries, and who have a deep understanding of the retail environment," said Michael Hoynes, ABA marketing officer.

The panel will feature:

• Robert Spector, consultant and author of Anytime Anywhere (Perseus Books Group) and The Nordstrom Way (John Wiley & Sons) and
  
• Doug Hall, founder of the Eureka Ranch for Business Consulting, cited by Inc. magazine as "America’s number-one idea company," and the author of Jump Start Your Business Brain (F&W Publications).
  

Hoynes told BTW that Spector will address the concept of a "seamless customer service, and the five essential elements for its effective implementation." He will also discuss how booksellers might successfully integrate a Web site with their bricks-and-mortar stores, and will provide advice on effective communications with customers, as well as suggestions on cross-marketing and cross-promotional strategies.
"Doug Hall will be presenting some very practical marketing concepts that independent booksellers can take back to their stores and implement immediately after BEA," said Hoynes. The day before the workshop, Hall will be working with a panel of nine booksellers to develop a comprehensive list of marketing concepts that will be analyzed and evaluated overnight at his Eureka Ranch. At the workshop, he will then present the concepts with the highest probability of success for independents.

Following the two presentations, a panel of three booksellers will ask questions and explore the concepts presented in the workshop. The booksellers on the panel will be: Michael Tucker of Book Inc, in San Francisco; Mary Gay Shipley of That Bookstore in Blytheville, in Blytheville, Arkansas; and Donna Uray of White Birch Books in North Conway, New Hampshire. Booksellers attending the workshop will also have an opportunity to ask questions and share insights with colleagues. The panel discussion is open to all booksellers who have registered for the day.

After the marketing panel, from 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., there will be a "Bright Prospects Business Panel," which will examine the future role of small business in the economy. At the panel, business writer Tom Ehrenfeld will join Spector and Hall. All three will answer questions from Connie Brod, C-SPAN moderator and executive producer of BookTV, and from attending booksellers.
Click here for more information on BEA. To register, call (800) 840-5614.