Social media is the answer to every self-publishing author’s marketing prayer. It’s a very powerful tool to establish your online presence. It’s not only free but it lets you reach most of your target readers in just a click.
But as they say, “With great power comes great responsibility”. So, you need to manage social media marketing effectively, or else it might mean the death of your book. Do you need some help? Why don’t you check out the relevant tips below?
Look For your Audience.
Don’t wait for you readers to come to you. Instead, you should be the one looking for them. Just identify their specific demographics and other determining factors to find where they usually stay online. Or, you can also check your competitors and observe where they usually hang out in the internet. This will give you an idea of what sites to visit too.
Once you find your niche, join the community and try to blend in with the crowd. If you think they are everywhere, then create an online presence wherever they may be. And if you can’t find a specific online corner, just create a profile on top online networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Be Sociable Without Being Annoying.
Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Would you like it if others market their books ALL THE TIME? Of course not, you will find it annoying and you might even block that person’s posts from your news feed.
Hence, you should familiarize the 80-20 rule of social media marketing. This means that 80% of the time, you should post relevant content that your target audience will find helpful. Instead of posting updates about your book every minute of the day, why don’t you give tips or insights on various relevant issues in the self-publishing industry or the world in general? Or, better yet, you can respond to comments and questions on your page and other forums.
Use the Power of Pictures.
Remember that, “a picture paints a thousand words”. Therefore, share images and videos to catch the attention of your readers and increase traffic in your profile. There is a reason why Facebook and Pinterest are the reigning king and queen respectively in driving a large traffic from social media referrals, according to Shareaholic’s latest report . Using these numbers, what can you do?
Use images to share whatever you want to say. Create entertaining and original visual content. Encourage your followers and target readers to create and share images for you. And most importantly, put in captions and descriptions that are rich in keywords to encourage people to check your other sites.
Say Hello to #hashtag!
There are hash tags everywhere! People have been obsessed with it that every time they post something, they always use a #hashtag. So, why don’t you join in the fun and use it to establish a stronger online presence?
Just look for a certain keyword for your book and use it effectively. But remember some basic ideas on using hash tags. Don’t string too many words in one hash tag and don’t put too many hash tags in a single post. More importantly, only use a hash tag relevant to the topic. If you want to know more hash tag etiquettes, then read The Beginner’s Guide to the Hashtag.
Using social media in your marketing campaign can be a blessing or a curse. If you know what to do, you can create a huge following of target readers who will buy and read your book. But if you’re not careful on what you do, then be prepared to be hidden from people’s newsfeed or worse, be banned from different sites completely, just because you’re annoying. You wouldn’t want to be that person, right?
