Wednesday, September 21, 2016

The Social Media Strategy For Authors


There are many ways to engage the media, from writing op-eds to newspapers to seeking interviews on local radio programs or national television shows.  There are even more approaches one can take when it comes to social media.  Your strategy will likely depend on factors that include your:

      1.       Goals
      2.      Skills
      3.      Desire
      4.      Time/Money
      5.      Success

Let’s review each of these and then look at suggested activities for you.

1. Goals
Determine what you are hoping to accomplish from the social media attention that you are seeking. Are you looking to get your connection numbers up? Are you looking to sell more books?  Do you hope to get more people to your website or to sign up for something?  Are you looking to project a certain brand or persona?  Are you looking to start a movement?

2. Skills
How proficient are you at using a variety of platforms, such as You Tube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, blogging or podcasting?  How tech-savvy are you?  Do you know how to use a device or service to your advantage?

3. Desire
Are you interested in using social media – or do you loathe it?

4. Time/Money
How much time can you dedicate daily or weekly to marketing yourself via social media?  What kind of budget do you have to pay influencers, advertise, buy followers, do SEO tricks, or get someone to be your social media surrogate?

5. Success
How successful have you been thus far?  What would need to change to get you to perform better with social media?

Obviously there are some limiting factors here.  If you hated social media – or lack the necessary skills – you need to come to the realization that you are at a fork in the road; either you forever turn your back on social media or you pay someone to do it for you.  If you lack the time or money to dedicate to social media, just move on and don’t look back.

Okay, once you’ve passed through the filter to figure out if you’ll do social media, now you need to figure out what you’ll do so that your writing career gets elevated as a result.

Why do people use social media – aside from ego or because they’ve been told to do so?  

Here are some of the reasons:

1.      You can dictate, to a degree, how people perceive you.

2.      It’s your chance to get your voice heard.

3.      The media could see your postings and discover you.

4.      It can lead to book sales – and book deals.

5.      It could generate more clicks to your website, which in turn sells your services, products, seminars, and wares.

6.      It allows you to build a fan base for future applications.

What kind of strategy should one employ online?

1.      The name of the game is connections.  How many followers do you have?  Get more!

2.      How deep is your engagement?  Do follows lead to clicks?  Do clicks lead to sales?  Analyze your history and find ways to get more follow-through on the stuff you share. Post with a purpose!

3.      Flood the online world with positive content that inescapably leads others to a conclusion that you are a likeable person and an expert in a clearly defined area.

So what could a writer do to get the online world on his or her side?

Think of a medium that you want to focus on.  Is it with video>? Is it the audio of a podcast?  Is it the words of a blog?  Is it through photos and images?  Of course you can be involved in all of the above or find ways to combine several or all of them, but you should look to excel in one area.  Make it your focus and mission.

Next, think about how much time will be spent creating content vs. sharing content vs. soliciting connections vs. maintaining existing connections via engagement.

Then, look to see which kind of action leads to your goals.  It may be nice to get 70 likes to a post but if it only yields a book sale, who cares?

Where will you spend your time?

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked In
  • Vine
  • Periscope
  • You Tube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Your blog, podcast, video channel
  • Other blogs, podcasts, video channels
  • Creating content vs. searching vs. consuming information.

Will you re-tweet, re-blog, and re-post?  Will you ask others to do the same?  Will you guest-post or invite others to do so?

I know, you just want to write books, get paid, get fame, help others, and enjoy the creative process.  But today’s writer will spend time and money on social media in order to make the rest happen. 

Good Luck!

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. 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 2016 ©.


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