At Convert Culture, we provide a range of strategic services tailored for publishers to fully harness the power of social intelligence. Our expertise helps publishing teams unlock valuable audience insights to drive campaigns, enhance engagement, and boost book sales.
Genista Tate-Alexander, Bloomsbury Head of Marketing
“Caroline has conducted brilliant market research for some of our top authors, which has really cut to the heart of how to reach the best audiences for our books.”
Laura Willis, Marketing & Communications Director, Quadrille (Penguin Random House)
“Caroline’s approach to audience research is incredibly innovative; she doesn’t just analyse data—she brings it to life in ways that are both insightful and actionable for the team.”
About Us
Founded in 2023, Convert Culture empowers publishing teams and book brands to connect deeply with their audiences through innovative audience research and strategy development. We specialise in social intelligence—analysing social media and online data—to uncover audience behaviours and preferences, driving creative campaigns that resonate and grow.
Founder Caroline Butler (former Head of Marketing & Insight at Ebury PRH) brings deep publishing expertise and a pioneering approach to social intelligence. In 2024, Caroline became the first publishing sector representative on the Social Intelligence Lab’s prestigious Insider 50 list, recognised alongside leaders from brands like Ogilvy and Mattel. We were also recently nominated for Futurebook’s Start Up of the Year award.
Convert Culture has shaped the communication strategies behind some of 2024’s most successful book campaigns. We collaborate closely with publishing teams, leveraging audience insights and trends to guide both campaign creativity and broader business strategy.
Services We Offer to Publishers
1. Data-Driven Audience Research and Strategic Campaign Planning
We use advanced social intelligence to conduct in-depth audience research, working closely with editorial and communications teams to develop effective, data-driven campaigns that drive growth. Our work often focuses on "stretch" audiences—lapsed or remote readers just beyond known advocate communities—but we also analyse avid reading communities and core book-buying audiences to provide a comprehensive view. These insights help craft impactful marketing campaigns that contribute to bestsellers.
2. Social Intelligence and Data Analysis
Our methodologies involve leveraging social and digital platform data to provide actionable insights. This includes experimenting with new tools and custom analytic approaches, diving deep into raw data, and applying in-depth statistical analysis. We provide detailed audience segmentation that includes attributes such as reading habits, attitudes, lifestyle behaviours, hobbies, TV preferences, and engagement with other brands—at global, national, or local levels. A typical dataset includes up to 6,000 lines of data, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of audience characteristics.
3. Trend & Foresight Analysis
We help publishers understand emerging patterns within specific genres and the audiences around these trends, which is crucial for commissioning and supporting communications activities. We use diverse datasets, including platforms like Pinterest or TikTok, to identify long-term trends that influence book buying and readership behaviour. Using this kind of data is especially helpful for looking ahead to new and emerging trends not necessarily easy to find in industry data. Our trend insights help publishers anticipate market shifts, identify untapped opportunities, and position their books more effectively.
4. Workshops and Masterclasses
We offer tailored workshops and masterclasses designed to help publishing teams enhance their skills in digital advertising and data-driven marketing. Recent sessions with teams at Profile, Granta Books, and Thames & Hudson have been instrumental in developing cohesive strategies for campaign planning and advertising. Additionally, these workshops provided the opportunity for one-on-one consultations, allowing teams to create bespoke advertising solutions that align with their specific publishing styles and training needs.
5. Campaign Support
We provide campaign support for publishers, stepping in to support the final campaign execution or supporting an element of the campaign for a busy team. We have earned numerous BMS awards, both as a consultancy and in-house at Penguin. You can find out more about our experience here.
Our Mission
Our mission is to help publishers understand and connect with their audiences at a deeper level. By applying advanced social intelligence techniques, we bridge the gap between data and creativity, helping publishers create campaigns and strategies that are both data-driven and creatively impactful. We work collaboratively with publishing teams to ensure they are equipped to navigate and adapt to an ever-evolving consumer landscape.