Many
authors are anti-social about social media, but they know it can’t be ignored
forever. Even if they don’t participate, they’ll need to hire someone to be
their surrogate and build up an online presence for them.
Here’s
a quick look at what you should consider when it comes to undertaking a social media
campaign:
1.
Choose a
platform -- or several—to get the word out. You won’t have time to do
everything, even if you feel ambitious.
·
You
must have a Web site
·
You
must be on Twitter
·
You
should have a blog
·
You
should be on Facebook
·
LinkedIn
is more for professional networking
·
Google+
lags behind Facebook and LinkedIn
·
Think
about creating podcasts
·
Think
about holding webinars or teleseminars
·
YouTube
could be huge for you, depending on your topic
·
Pinterest --
good if you have visuals
·
Instagram --
good if you have visuals
2.
Determine your
keywords- the buzzwords surrounding your area of expertise. If you write
about dieting, your keywords could include the following (singular/plural;/different
tenses):
Diet
weight exercise self-help fitness
Health weight loss snacks resolution
shape
Food weight gain medical gym body
Eating pounds doctor muscles sexy
Hungry work out biking running walking
Hungry work out biking running walking
You
will use these keywords throughout all of your tweets, blog posts,
Facebookings, Website copy and all public communications.
3.
Think of the
broad topics you can see yourself writing about for your blog or Facebook page. For instance,
as a diet book author maybe you’ll discuss:
·
Joining
a gym (pros-cons)
·
Benefits
of weight loss
·
How
to lose weight
·
Self-control
·
Looking
better
·
Feeling
better
·
Defeating
the challenges to weight control
· Avoiding diseases
due to obesity
I’m
sure the list goes on. You’ll also write about what’s in the news, such as:
·
Overweight
celebrities
·
Government
studies on weight/diet/health
·
New
surveys/polls/stats on health
·
Reaction
to new diets
·
Content
that relates to holidays (Thanksgiving), New Year’s Day, or other special dates.
Think
about creating an editorial calendar. Determine if you’ll blog twice a week,
three times, or daily. Think about a comfortable length (300-500 words or
700-1000 is standard). Look to see where you can pull content from, including
guides, books, a news story, government records, etc.
4.
Determine how
much time you can devote to your social media. Be consistent.
Make a time budget -- for each day, each week. If you need help, ask others to supply
content, such as a guest post on a related topic.
5.
Decide on your
voice or persona—how do you want to come off to your fans and followers? Will your
social media postings be serious or funny? Will they share ideas- or opinions-
or facts and statistics? Will you give steps and top 10 lists -- or will you tell
stories? Will you analyze what you see, share how you feel, or merely report
what you learn? Or all of the above?
There’s
a lot you need to know to perfect your social media platform, but if you
address even half of what I just wrote you’ll be in a good position three
months from now to grow, expand, and build on your success.
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Brian Feinblum’s
views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of
his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow
him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when
discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©
2013
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