Seasonal Trends
Visibility Vs Authority
Link Acquisition
Content Performance
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Updated Aug 2024
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Turn the pages of our Booksellers Marketing Report, and you will find which brands have the most inspiring marketing strategy. We look at various metrics, such as visibility, brand reach, page speed and social score. You’ll also discover where your brand sits in the stack, which of your competitors have done well this year, and with which metrics, so you can see what you can do to take your digital marketing to the next level.
Our Salience Search Index is an annual report looking at the online performance of over 60 industries. In this edition, we have collected everything you need to know about the book industry. We’ve pursued all the leading brands, from booksellers to book publishers, to find out who’s doing well and why.
Download the Salience Booksellers Industry Report today to get the full low-down on your competition and keywords to target, or read on for some sneak peeks.
Who are the winners in the bookseller industry?
In the last 12 months, the bookseller industry has seen an overall visibility growth of 6%! This is reflected in the top 5, four of which have seen decent growth this year.
Waterstones and WHSmith have kept the two top spots, for the second year running. both with traffic score declines YoY.
Despite a drop in visibility, The Works has managed to stay in third place. But it's Penguin Random House that has got our attention, also holding their position 5 this year with an impressive 20% growth over last years 77% in their traffic score..
If you'd like to see where your brand finished in our visibility league table, use the contact form to get your full copy of the Booksellers Industry Report.
Which booksellers are the ones to watch?
With the overall market showing visibility growth this year, you can expect to see some brands smashing the visibility growth. And you'd be right to do so! Here are the top five booksellers who have grown the most in 2024:
1. penguin.co.uk (+20%)
2. books4people.co.uk (+120%)
3. harpercollins.co.uk (+101%)
4. scholastic.co.uk (+89%)
5. bloomsbury.com (+84%)
Which brands have seen the biggest visibility losses?
Even though the market has grown overall, there are still those brands that have seen their visibility drop over the last year. But not to worry! With a little attention to detail, these brands could turn these losses around.
Here are the bookseller brands that have lost the most visibility this year:
1. waterstones.com (-30%)
2. whsmith.co.uk (-24%)
3. theworks.co.uk (-21%)
4. abebooks.co.uk (-23%)
5. thriftbooks.com (-53%)
Which booksellers are the most trusted?
With Google placing so much importance on E-E-A-T, trust is an essential part of any marketing campaign. Having reviews is a great way to gain trust and show that you are a reliable brand.
It may come as a surprise that none of the brands in the top 5 for visibility top the trust charts. The first of these we see is ThriftBooks, which ranks in our Trust League Table at position 1, thanks to an average of 4.7 from over 1.8m reviews.
Although ensuring good reviews is completely out of the marketing team's control, having a strategy can help. Could you talk to other departments to find customer pain points and address them? Simply encouraging reviews can help build that trust.
What keywords have the best opportunity within the bookseller market?
Finding gaps in the market and trending topics can help you to focus your marketing strategy. Optimising for these keywords can help smaller brands make significant gains with their visibility, catching high-volume keywords that will dramatically improve visibility.
Within our Bookseller Industry Report, we've identified pages of keywords that have high search volume but low competition, perfect for you to target to improve your online presence. "best fiction books 2024" and "best non fiction books 2024" are the top two to go for, with monthly search volumes of 2,000 and 1,500, respectively.
How much does the Salience Bookseller report cost?
All of our Salience Search Index reports are free, including the Bookseller Market report. Bursting with insights from across the industry, simply fill in the form at the top of the page to see all the bookseller's industry's market data.
Why can't I see my brand in the Booksellers Market report?
Unfortunately, we simply can't include every bookseller and publisher within our report. So we only analyse brands that meet our threshold. But you can still see where your brand sits within the market. Reach out to us and we can create a personalised report featuring your brand.
If you have any questions on our Booksellers Market report contact us today and we'll be happy to help.
