Bite the Social Bullet
It’s time to bite the social bullet!
Okay, many are going to cringe at this blog. Trust me. I get it. Here’s the thing. You need social media to help promote your writing and network. I manage social media in my marketing business, but rarely use it personally, unless it’s Pinterest. I heart Pinterest, but that’s another topic! Many agents and publishers/industry, won’t entertain you as an author if you don’t have some sort of social following. Yep, sad but true. This is the age we live in, and the reality is that publishers don’t spend as much on marketing campaigns for book releases and their authors anymore. Much of it falls on the shoulders of the writer.
Having your own following is your personalized marketing platform. You don’t have to be on every, bloody, platform out there. Pick what you are comfortable with, especially if you already have some personal accounts built out. TikTok is BIG for books (Heard of BookTok?), but it’s not available to those who don’t already have it downloaded. (For now.) It’s important to build a business page and not a personal page. You will have tools on Meta you won’t get with just a personal page, including advertising! It’s also a good idea to separate your writing pursuits from your personal page and interactions. Those Followers can carry over to your business page, but your interactions and content will be more on the professional side.
Commit to posting once or twice a week. If you can do more – great! If you can’t post regularly there isn’t much point to having social. Followers and users checking you and your work, want to learn and see your latest. How frustrating is it when you go to a page to learn more about a business or person and the newest post is from months or even a few years back? Your page is an opportunity to be in control of your market messaging and your brand image. Take advantage of it! Balance the fun with sales. Too much salesy posting is a turn off and doesn’t mean much to your Followers. Give them a reason to keep reading your posts, commenting and sharing you and your writing.
If you struggle with content, Google for ideas. There all sorts of great content ideas floating around out there. Use those ideas to personalize your own spin on a topic. Repost sparingly. Repost if you have a super unique perspective and reasoning behind the share. Sharing is caring, but remember that this is your feed and your opportunity to showcase what you’ve got.
Video, graphics and visuals are always a social post must. These are what grab a user’s attention amid the litany of posts in their feed. We are bombarded by content and users will pursue the content that has the most meaning to them. Need royalty-free images? Pixabay, Pexels and Canva all have free options for users and are great content resources you can tap into.
Happy posting!
