Now we've discussed who your audience is and how to reach them online, we need to talk about content.
Your social media posts will show your fans who you are and give them an insight into your life. This is why you need to be careful with what you post - your brand is important!
Here are 5 ways to use social media as an author:
1. Post updates on your writing
Readers love to see the 'behind the scenes' of their favourite books. Posting pictures of your writing space or inspiration will strengthen the relationship between you and your audience.
You can also share updates and gain momentum for your books by posting things like:
Teasers
Samples
Events
Release dates
And all other book news!
2. Share user-generated content
User-generated content is such a great resource because you don't have to do any of the work.
If your fans are posting reviews, photos of your book, or even fanart, you should share it on your page! They'll love that you acknowledged their content and it will encourage other fans to do the same.
You can even create challenges, giveaways and competitions to encourage fans to post about your books. For example, readers can post their fanart on Instagram, and the one with the most likes wins a free signed copy of your book.
3. Livestream with your audience
Answering your audience's questions is a great way to maintain your loyal fanbase. A live Q&A session on social media can reach readers worldwide and let them interact with you. They might have burning questions about your book, your characters, or just want to get to know you better!
But, you can also use lives to ask your audience questions and get their opinions! Ask who their favourite character in your series is. Or, what they'd love to see most in your next book. You can use this feedback to better your writing.
Most social media platforms have options to do live videos, so pick the one your audience interacts most with. Post several times to let them know about the live before it happens - you don't want no one to watch it!
4. Post and interact in groups
There are hundreds of Facebook groups you can use to promote your book and meet potential fans. Just search for your genre and see what you can find! If groups allow promotions, it's a great start to finding readers.
Many author groups allow you to ask questions to other writers, and even find authors to collaborate with. You can follow authors who write for your audience and promote each other's work to help with marketing.
You can even start your own group to interact with beta readers, fans, or your ARC team.
5. Run campaigns
This is the most important feature of social media marketing, but you have to keep consistent engagement too for it to work well. Running campaigns, for example for a new release, is the best way to alert people to your book and get them ready to buy it.
You can build a campaign by carefully planning out a range of posts to promote your book. But it's worth consulting a book marketing expert to help you plan and execute a campaign, especially if you're a new author!
Now we've talked about aspects of marketing your book, it's time to get it ready for publication! Come back next week to discuss the different types of editors and their roles in making your book perfect. If you need help with creating content for your author pages, contact me to discuss my author VA services.