Social media writer’s block is a real thing. You have no problem hammering away at an 80,000-word novel, but when it comes to one tweet per day, forget about it! You end up posting about what you had for dinner, and nobody seems to be listening . . . or following.
In today’s world, content is king. Businesses know one of the most important pieces of their brand communication is their content strategy. Without one, how are people going to find out about you or your book? Successful authors are not just people who write well—they’re people who think of their writing career as a business. Like any successful business, authors need a content strategy, even for social media.
Fans of your social media profiles eagerly expect new content, so what should you post? How much content from your book should you share? How much related news? Is it okay to share purely personal updates? Can you share the same content across all of the different social media platforms?
A good analogy is that of a social gathering. Think of Facebook as a family reunion, Twitter as a cocktail party, and LinkedIn as a business meeting. The rules of social courtesy in each case are similar, but each setting differs in the level of intimacy and amount of information revealed. However, across all platforms (and in real life), know that it’s impolite to enter a room only talking about yourself and asking people to buy your book.
Social media can have a bad reputation for being full of narcissistic, “look at me” messages—which ends up making it seem acceptable or appropriate for you to model your own behavior on that stereotype. In general, you should avoid talking only about yourself, but if someone has made the commitment to follow you on social media, they are most likely a fan of yours, which allows you to talk about and promote your books 1/3 of the time. Your fans really want to know if you’ve won an award, if an article or story has been published about you or your book, or if they can read a portion of your next book in progress. You can also share quotes from your book or ask your followers discussion questions as if you’re hosting a book club. Your true fans like to find out how a particular character was inspired or if you’ve spent a lot of time in the place you’ve written about. Sharing these details helps them connect with your book and your brand.
Write about your personal life. (Which does not necessarily include your “private” life.) Do you do yoga or like to garden or is World of Warcraft your guilty pleasure? The more personal you get, the more intimate your appeal. The most potential for connection happens when you share intimate details. It’s more rewarding to allow people to see you as a whole person.
For every two self-promotional posts you write, you should write five posts that are not about yourself or your books. They can, however, concern your platform, other authors’ books that are similar to yours, a local bookstore or library that has helped launch your career, current events, etc. You can and should use anything that will attract readers to your social media page and help build your overall author brand, but don’t post things that aren’t in line with who you are as an author and a public presence.
The great thing about your daily social media goals is you don’t have to be 100% original—and you shouldn’t be! You should spend a few minutes each day sharing things you find interesting, and you think your readers would enjoy. For example, if you write mysteries, then maybe it’s a fascinating article about an unsolved mystery. Post what interests you, obsesses you, delights you, upsets you. Some authors recommend choosing two or three topics or areas that they’ll focus on when using social media to help create a focused author brand or identity.
Cross-promoting similar writers is a great way to build community and it makes you a resource for seeking other authors your fans might enjoy. Making your social media platform a trusted resource builds word-of-mouth traffic. Your readers should see you as an authority figure in your genre, and you should see yourself as one too. Once a week recommend things your readers would enjoy. Think outside the book by not just recommending books! Recommend movies, websites, conferences—anything that would interest your readers.
For example, if you share a book you loved, chances are your readers will love it too, and many may comment on your post and recommended other books like it. Once you have that social engagement, your post becomes visible to even more people and they may share it with their friends, and so on and so forth as social media tends to go. You may even get new followers, which means more direct marketing opportunities for you in the future.
By far, the most successful use of social media involves focusing outward, not inward. To be interesting, you have to be interested in others and demonstrate curiosity about the world. If all your posts focus on your book, or on yourself, you’re missing the point of what builds an audience and makes social media marketing a successful tool. You should be focusing on your readers or the interest areas or themes related to your book.
It’s possible to cross post, for example between Twitter and Facebook, but people know when you’ve automatically posted tweets to a Facebook account. They won’t resonate because Facebook encourages longer, more personal sharing. Twitter uses hashtags (#) and profile (@) symbols, and they just look weird on Facebook.
There are a lot of ways to be lazy with your social media marketing, and recycled posts, while economical, are one of them. Your message on each network should change—people who regularly use Twitter are a different audience from people who use Facebook, so your message needs to be altered. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t promote the same link on each platform, but take an extra few seconds to tailor the message so that your fans in each place will see its relevance.
Social media is a fun way to communicate with friends and fans, and is a true conversation, whether about books and movies or about business and writing. Instead of stressing about the best way to use social media, use the social media rule of thirds to provide a scaffold for your content. The variety and balance of material will create a well-rounded virtual version of yourself.
This chapter was compiled from the following posts on the IngramSpark blog:
3 Things to Avoid When Social Media Marketing for Your Book by Jane Friedman, Co-founder of The Hot Sheet
How to Follow the Social Media Rule of Thirds by Carla King, Founder of Author Friendly
How to Develop a Content Strategy for Authors by Scott La Counte, CEO of BuzzTrace
8 Social Media Goals for Authors by Scott La Counte
7 Social Media Tips for Authors by Scott La Counte
Using Social Media to Drive Book Sales by IngramSpark
