Making Social Media Your Friend

I'm not a huge fan of social media, however, I do know how powerful it has become, especially in terms of marketing.

I was reluctant to jump on the Facebook bandwagon when it began. In its initial stages, it was purely intended to help connect university students and wasn't dependent on advertising to operate. It grew over time, gathering users from around the globe, and it was always going to be free, thanks to companies using social media to spread their message quickly and easily. Twitter, meanwhile, wasn't regarded as being an efficient tool for communication, but as its user-base grew, so did the awareness of corporations as to just how vital it was to harness this utility without abusing it. Now the public can end an advertising campaign within the space of hours if they deem it too offensive.

So it's imperative you learn how to best use these platforms. I did find joining Facebook writers' groups helped me gain more likes for my author page, which can help with your standing to a degree. It is difficult to know how many of your followers are genuinely responding to your posts, so having others share and like your posts is also important. You can keep track of your metrics better if you create a page for your books as opposed to relying on a standard profile, and you can also boost posts by running a page. Your page will also include a built-in link for your shopfront and a space for reviews. Liking publisher pages and getting follows from high profile companies or personalities on Twitter can also help.

Making connections with other authors, or even artists in other fields, can go a long way to getting you some much-needed publicity for absolutely nothing. I have been lucky to meet a few authors who were generous with their shares and retweets, as well as reviews.

I also highly recommend setting up a Goodreads author page. They're also branching out in the advertising space, and certain independent books have gained incredible traction by way of readers sharing and recommending certain authors. There's also a very active society of readers and writers under the one roof, and you can post blogs, consolidate reviews and add your books if they've not already been added by Amazon. They also offer programs for giveaways, and you can set up small advertising fee to give your book a boost on their main page.

Be careful you're not overwhelming your followers with constant posts. Try to keep a presence going without bombarding everyone. It's the best tool for reaching your audience directly, and answering questions. If you follow some well-known authors and artists to see how they interact with their followers, you can learn a lot of dos and don'ts from how their followers respond. Even a small, strong following can help with retweets and likes. And once you have fans, they'll want your work however they can get it, so you can also look into platforms like Patreon to generate sales and interest. These are all free or low-cost options for when you're starting out advertising with social media.