Books and eyeglasses might not seem like they have much in common, but when it comes to leveraging social media to make believers of your potential readers, there’s a lot authors can learn from what Warby Parker has done.
Warby Parker got their start back in 2010, when classmates at the University of Pennsylvania decided to tackle pervasive problems in the eyewear industry. Glasses were bought and sold the same way for decades, with expensive frames, long wait times, and the need to book appointments with an eye doctor well in advance. The process was clunky and costly, but it was familiar to anyone with a pair of glasses (or contact lenses), and even though Warby Parker’s revolutionary online approach to selling glasses solved many of the industry’s problems, the young company faced challenges in getting people to make the switch.
So, how does this relate to books?
Warby Parker needed to use innovative tactics and the power of social media to convince people to give their glasses a try, just like authors need to connect with their potential readers to convince them to pick up their books. The founders of Warby Parker knew that people tend to be creatures of habit, and change can be difficult. As a result, they focused their marketing efforts on tearing down the barriers keeping their potential customers from purchasing a pair of glasses. For instance, in order to overcome apprehensions about the quality of the frames and the look and fit of the glasses, Warby Parker launched a “Home Try-On Campaign” to allow customers to have the frames they liked delivered, enabling them to try on their frames risk-free before making a purchase. It’s an effective strategy that eliminates any apprehension about what customers are actually going to get for their money.
On the topic of connections, Warby Parker relied heavily on social media to get their message out. Not only did the fledgling company actively engage directly with customers across social platforms, it encouraged them to post their own reviews and reactions to Warby Parker products. Warby Parker understood that genuine reactions from people within a person’s social circles mean a lot more than a generic marketing message spouted from a corporate social media account. This approach leverages the social aspect of social media to create something akin to an amped-up version of word-of-mouth advertising.
There are two key lessons here for authors. First, any author looking to drive book sales is going to need to address the primary concerns that readers have. Just like Warby Parker used their home try-on campaign to get customers past their concerns over the fit and quality of their products, authors need to get readers past concerns over the quality of their stories and the time investment to read them. Social media provides an excellent opportunity to do just that, with free excerpts, previews, and links to other pieces you’ve written.
Warby Parker also used social media to provide trusted testimonials, attesting to the quality of their products. Again, authors can do the same. Interact with readers, encourage honest reviews, give them something to talk about. Organic discourse about your work is bound to garner interest. As was the case for Warby Perker, having people your readers trust discuss your book will be much more valuable than any self-promotion you can do.
Social media is organic, and can be extremely powerful when it leverages natural social interactions to spread a message. Marketing your book doesn’t need to be like yelling into a megaphone. It can be friendlier than that, and more often than not, that approach will be much more effective.
Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2016). Strategic social media : From marketing to social change. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
As a marketer, I appreciated the creativity of your blog in comparing Warby Parker’s marketing to book sales. I find relating one subject to another subject engages more groups than you would have initially. Your blog would be of interest to authors, people interested in glasses, and people interested in marketing. You could use hashtags along these lines, to gain a larger audience with your post.
I’m impressed that you were able to display your social icons on the sidebar on the right. You have a link to sign up for your newsletter and connect with your Instagram, X, and Facebook accounts. Also impressive is the bar at the top with Services, Fiction, Portfolio, Blog, Contact and About. This is similar to the Warby Parker blog at the top. I want to do something like this with my blog. I’m able to access various parts of the blog easily. I used the back arrow to get to the previous page, but there were not any issues with this.
I think the look of this blog is appealing to the eye. I like the use of color. I think the message is clear and concise. I like the creativity of relating it to book sales. It honestly helps me relate to the content more.
Warby Parker focuses on reducing apprehension due to their innovative home try-on campaign approach, with no obligation if they don’t work out for you. Also, their charity contributions surely mean a lot to the customer. Additionally, Warby Parker’s online presence is impressive.
This builds confidence in the product. They expanded over most marketing channels including Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, and their blog. Then they proceeded to engage with the customer and encourage customers to post their images and reviews. This creates transparency. Their active role in social media builds confidence and trust. Your strategy of relating Warby Parker’s social media marketing strategy to book sales places the Warby Parker Model, as an authority. Additionally, you mentioned reducing apprehension. Both fall under trust, which are part of the constituents of brand equity: awareness, loyalty, trust, image, quality, and association (Zahoor, 2017).
Warby Parker does well with their online presence from their blog (more visual resources and focus on charity work), their X account (more humor used) to their Facebook account (more humor used, pleasing visual marketing, feels like it is for a younger audience). They cater to specific users for each site. Their sites are visually appealing, which means a lot in the world of social media. The online presence is the face of an organization. Warby Parker understands this.
It is important to make a genuine connection with the customer. The use of humor, modern visual appeal, and engagement, as well as the charity work and try-at-home option, can create a meaningful connection. Due to this, Earby Parker will be able to “build and sustain emotional and social ties” (Coulter and Roggeven, 2012, Alawan, Rana, et al 2017).
References:
Alawan, A.A.,Rana, N.P., Dwivedi, Y.K., & Raed, A. (2017). Social media in marketing: a review and analysis of the existing literature. Telematics and informatics. 34, 1181-1182.
Coulter, K.S, Roggeveen, A., (2012). “Like it or not” Consumer responds to word-of-mouth communication in online social networks. Management research review. 35(9), 878-899.
Warby Parker. (2023). Warby Parker Blog. https://blog.warbyparker.com/
Zahoor, S.Z., & Qureshi, I.H., (2017) Social Media Marketing and Brand Equity: A Literature Review. The IUP Journal of Marketing Management, 16(1), 51-2.
Hi Nick
I must start by saying I really love the design and layout of your blog. It is very creative and gives me, as a viewer, a sense of your style and personality.
Social media is something that has been around for almost two centuries. Technology has advanced our ability to communicate with one another and Warby Parker chose to use that to their advantage. Where most companies in 2010 were still focusing their efforts on printed ads and commercials, they knew that there was a market that wasn’t being fully tapped into like it should. Social media has given brands all around the world visibility in areas that some normally wouldn’t have. So, Warby Parker capitalizing on that proved to be a wise choice.
I love how you were able to compare the techniques used in the Warby Parker campaign to techniques that could be applied in other industries, like literature. As an author, I am sure you see firsthand how easy it is to have books passed by for another one that is only in the spotlight because of a familiar face or random incident. Using Warby Parker’s idea of using social media for marketing purposes could prove to work to any business in any industry.
To adjust their campaign to benefit your industry, your idea to share more content that includes snippets of your book, interviews with the author, and other reels and photos that give viewers a better idea of what you have to offer would be beneficial to the success of your book. Most people only invest their time and money into something they know is going to resonate with their ideas and pique their interests. So, allowing them a peek into your world is an ideal way to earn their trust, and secure another purchase.
Thank you so much for sharing your insights!