Social Media can feel like a monster. Here’s how to slay it.
by Chris Syme
When it comes to book marketing, there is no bigger potential time waster than social media. There are approximately 210 social media sites listed on Wikipedia (global numbers). Of those 210, there are about ten that you can probably name and of those ten there are three to five that authors feel they have to be active on.
The most recent global Pew Internet data reported that 79% of adults online use Facebook. Instagram commands 32% of online adults. Pinterest is at 31%, LinkedIn is used by 29%, and 24% use Twitter. Facebook boasts the highest percentage of regular monthly users and the best demographic spread of age, gender, and location.
Do you really need a presence on every social media channel?
You can tame the social media beast by choosing one primary channel to engage your readers and sell your books. In order to find that primary channel, you’ll need to find the best mix of these five markers.
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Find the best fit for your reader/audience demographics
You have to do some audience research and find out which channels target your readers. Look at age and gender for starters.
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Look for the channel with the best overall global numbers.
The answer to this is currently Facebook. Nobody else comes close to their numbers across all ages. But remember, this is just one factor of five, albeit a powerful one.
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Look for the channel with the best commerce tools or opportunities to buy a product without having to leave the platform.
Again, the answer to this one currently is Facebook. No other platform offers the variety of applications for converting leads, including buying your book, signing up for your email list, and other opt-in actions, without ever leaving the page.
The Facebook advantage: there is always an opportunity to buy or sign up present on your page. You don’t have to be constantly posting “buy my book” or “please sign up for my email list.” Also, when new readers find you in Facebook searches, they can buy a book or sign up for your email list right on your Facebook page if they are ready to buy. No need to redirect them to outside links. Fewer clicks, less attrition.
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Look for the channel that is a good match for your genre.
The difference between this measure and number one is that every channel that matches your demographic might not be a good match for your genre. For instance, if you’re a fiction writer, LinkedIn may fit your reader demographic by age and gender, but in reality it’s a worthless channel for fiction authors. It may be a primary channel for some nonfiction writers but it is definitely an outpost for fiction.
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Look for the channel with the best ability to help new readers find you and then convert them to a sale.
According to research by AOL Platforms/Converto, it is YouTube first, Facebook second. Since YouTube can be a challenge for authors who are not video savvy to sell their books, Facebook again becomes the go-to. The important takeaway from the research: Facebook has the best chance of introducing new readers to your books and the best chance of closing the sale overall. The next best channel is Pinterest with Twitter bringing up the rear of the top channels. Each channel wields influence; some just more than others.
Outpost Social Media Channels
After you’ve chosen a primary channel for engagement, you can also set up outpost channels where you have a bio or a presence, but you don’t engage there. They are basically for search and redirect. You may want to choose a couple channels where you feel fans might be looking for you and then just set up a profile that redirect people to where you are engaging. People aren’t turned off by this. If they’re looking for you, they’ll be glad to go where you are.
Outposts should include the following options–the more of these available the better the redirect potential.
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A bio picture (smiling head and shoulders) that is the same everywhere online.
Visual branding needs to be consistent. That way people will always recognize you right away. Eyes gravitate to the smiling profile.
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Current bio information
That includes live links to your primary channel, your latest book, your website, or your email sign-up. I encourage people to change their bio links as their promotions change. There is no rule that says your bio actually has to be a bio. It could be a book launch announcement or an invite to a current giveaway. But your default when you are not running a campaign should be to direct people to your primary social media channel of engagement.
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A welcome message such as a pinned post (if available).
Or a mini blog post that has a link to your current campaign or a redirect invite to connect on another channel. Make it human, make it friendly. Change it when you have a book launch or other short-term campaign running. I recommend the campaigns on your outpost channels reflect whatever short-term campaign is running on your website or Facebook page.
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A cover photo (if applicable)
A good cover image can function as a billboard that emphasizes your current campaign or redirects to your primary channel. I recommend using a call to action or an arrow drawing attention to your holding message in your bio or pinned post as an easy way for people to find the message.
Outpost channels should primarily be used for redirect to where you are engaging but you can also change out the holding messages and images when you launch a book. Then, after 30 days, change them back to the regular redirect messages. I like to use outposts to mirror whatever major campaigns I run throughout the year. But most of the time they are just directing people back to my Facebook page.
Yes, you can tame the social media beast.
But you’ll also have to tame your FOMO (fear of missing out). If you decide to use just one primary channel for engagement, the pressure to be everywhere could get overwhelming. Keep calm and say no to FOMO.
If you’re interested in learning how to set up your Facebook page so it engages fans and sells more books, I invite you to take a look at my new online course, How To Set Up A Facebook Page That Sells More Books. See what authors have to say about the new course.
by Chris Syme (@CKSyme) November 5, 2017
What about you, scriveners? Do you feel you’re doing battle with a beast when it comes to social media? What do you find is your primary social media channel? Do you feel driven by the old FOMO?
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Thanks, Chris.
I’m surprised at Instagram’s popularity. They don’t allow linked URLs, which is the main reason I haven’t signed up. Facebook is #1 for me.
Agree Kathy–Instagram is an outpost for me.
I’m that one in five person who isn’t on Facebook. Just never felt drawn to it and know many who’ve been burned by Facebook issues. I wonder if you can set up a redirect on Facebook?
I have a good presence on Twitter although that sometimes is nothing but retweets.
I still like blogging as my social media platform though.
Not sure I know what you mean by redirect Alex.
I’m with you – don’t have a Facebook, don’t want one. I prefer Twitter, because it’s less of a time suck due to the 140 character limit.
Unless you tweet over 36,000 times in ten months, like a certain elected official I won’t mention. That not only sucks his time, it sucks the time of the billion or so people who read them.
Thanks Chris. I’m with Alex & for the same reason: it just never appealed to me but I enjoy twitter where I hear from readers.
I’m sighing with relief that Facebook is still relevant. Thank you for this post, Chris! Five years ago, I found Twitter terrific for selling books. I have 4000 followers, but now I find it’s too noisy. Hard to get heard. On Facebook, one is able to interact on a more personal level with readers (my experience.)
Interesting how things change. I know a lot of introverts like Twitter because it isn’t chatty and you don’t have to really engage there. But it’s numbers for selling anything are pathetic at the moment. And if sales aren’t that important to you, but you just like to connect with readers, that’s fine too!
Thanks, Chris and Anne. I always learn something from each of you, or relearn the things I’ve forgotten.
You are welcome dear!
I agree with Melodie Campbell. I’m so happy that FB is still at the top of the social media “best for authors” pile. I hate Twitter – too noisy and too much; but I love the interaction you get on FB. This is a great post. I learned a lot.
Glad you liked it Patricia. You just can’t beat their numbers and their features.
Thanks for the stats, Chris. Quite illuminating! While I agree that an author does not need to be present on multitudes of platforms, and we need to watch the time spent on various Social Media venues, I have to say that my experience has been a bit different. I have lots of readers on Facebook, yet another set of readers who are primarily on Twitter. So I use both venues equally, but differently. I woudn’t want to cut one out for the other. Also, I get lots of readers of my blog from Pinterest, and any readers who are on my website/blog always see my books as well. But I do limit my Social Media to 4 venues, and primarily use Facebook and Twitter for getting my books out to readers.
Sounds good.
Like others here, I’ve adopted Twitter but have avoided Facebook due to various issues with their corporate approach, ethics, etc.
Twitter is mainly fed automatically from my blog with the occasional retweet. My main platform is my blog & web site.
But articles like this do make me wonder. I’ve also missed family photo-sharing and other things by avoiding Facebook. And some sites engage their articles using Facebook comments and similar.
I hear you. There is always a conundrum to face in marketing because there is no magic pill. I just like to roll with the numbers David.
Hi, Chris. Thanks for the great post. I don’t understand what you mean by an outpost. Would you please give an example of what one would be? Also, in your course will there be an avenue for questions in addition to the set videos?
An outpost is a channel where you have a profile but do not engage. You change out your cover photos according to launches and other promos you run, but you redirect people to a location where you do engage. It is strictly a discovery strategy. Many authors use Twitter as an outpost–they don’t tweet but they have a pinned tweet and change out their profile information & cover photo when they launch a book or have an email list building campaign.
Thanks, Chris. The answer didn’t show for me either. I stopped back repeatedly, but today it is here.
Did you get my answer Alicia? It doesn’t show up for me.
It’s showing up fine for me. Is it still not there for you, Chris? I love your “outpost” concept, by the way. It’s allowed me to let go of some social media and have more time for writing.
Admittedly, I do not understand Twitter. I seldom get any clicks from Twitter to my website. Facebook is also a mystery. I have an author’s page, but it’s hit and miss on what gets clicks. I have an author’s page. But once I think I’ve hit on a blog post that will draw people, it pales with other posts that I don’t think will interest people. (Insert giant sigh…) I’m simply lost in the sea of “social” media that can seem anything but “social.”
Don’t lose heart. Social media is becoming harder to decipher. I still believe your best bet is to have an author page on Facebook with the shop template set up to sell your books and an email sign up embedded along with regular posts that interest your fans. Your engagement rate will be probably around 2% or maybe up to 40% if you hit that content sweet spot with your fans. It’s still good to have a page even just for discovery and if you have your books for sale there, people will have an opportunity to buy a book or sign up for your email when they search your name on Facebook. It takes some work to make Facebook work, and it’s the best social media channel right now. Nothing will be easy anymore. There is simple too much noise out there. Just hang in there and keep plugging away. We are all in the same boat, literally. Just don’t let it overtake your writing. And…as we’ve seen above, Facebook isn’t everybody’s thing. But it is your reader’s thing so you just have to decide if you want to reach them there or not. It’s going to get harder before it gets easier, but perseverance is the key. Good luck!
Thanks Chris & Anne — as always, great information.
Thanks for a good article, Chris and Anne. It comes at a good time, as I had a picture book released last month (Dragonella), and I’ve been getting the word out. Your advice made me very happy I’m so active on Facebook! 🙂 Have a great day.
Meh, can’t be convinced to go anywhere near Facebook, but I use Twitter. I haven’t been on Twitter for too long, so remains to see if it will be helpful. I feel like it’s a great brand builder though, just to get your name out there. It has major potential if you’re clever enough (I’m rarely clever enough), some well written answers to hashtag games could potentially expose a ton of people to your brand with minimal work. I’ve gotten a very small amount of hits on my blog so far as well (fifteen or so as I recall), but not really enough to be too hopeful.
I think the best thing though is to establish any social media accounts well enough that you can take breaks from them when needed. Last time I needed a break I was pleased to find that my blog was well established enough that one small post a week kept it going just enough (with decreased traffic). Twitter is also super easy to keep up with.
Meno<3
Nice article Thanks Chris & Anne — as always, great information.
Good post, Anne. Thanks for sharing. 🙂 — Suzanne
Such a helpful post. Thank you ????.