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How to Promote a Book on Social Media: 10 Tips for Individual Authors
Updated: Oct 21, 2022
Photo by Hookle
If you’ve invested your heart and soul into a book, it might break your heart if you promote and get zero hits. It’s all too easy for authors to focus so intently on their writing that they fail to put enough energy into social media promotion.
It’s all too easy for authors to focus so intently on their writing that they fail to put enough energy into social media promotion
You may be wondering, But I’m a writer, why do I need to be on social media? Is social media for authors? Or How to promote my book? Here’s the short of it: if no one knows about your book, no one will buy it! With the constant stimulation of the online landscape, you need to be highlighting your work where people spend the most time: on the internet. Let’s get into 10 ways authors can use social media to promote their books!
Shortcuts
1. Pick Platforms That Serve Your Audience
Instagram for visuals, fantasy
Twitter/Facebook for older audiences
Linkedin for professional connections.
When it comes to social media, every platform has a different user demographic. It might seem useful to plaster your work everywhere that’s visible, but it’s more effective to target your audience.
Instagram and TikTok are much more likely to reach younger generations and those that function visually, while Facebook and Twitter will reach older demographics and those that like text-based content. Pick platforms that serve your intentions and you’re well on your way to successfully promoting your book online!
2. Vary Your Content From Platform to Platform
Photo by Follows.com
As aforementioned, images often gain traction on platforms like Instagram, while writing tends to get more hits on Facebook or Twitter. Vary your contet from platform to platform, so your audience gets what they want out of your account!
3. Treat Your Readers as Actual People
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
When you remember that your readers are actual people on the other side of the screen, it becomes easier to tailor your content to their needs. Consider their level of education and how this might affect what vocabulary you use. Think about their interests: what are you offering that might serve them? Whatever their current circumstances, considering these circumstances will ensure your content is tailored to them.
4. Expand Your Target Audience (It’s Bigger Than You Think!)
Say you wrote a book about a woman working through a complex relationship with her daughter. Your target audience obviously includes mothers and daughters, but it could also include parents, siblings, family supports, family therapists and so much more. It’s important that you consider how far your target audience can expand, as long as you’re not marketing to everyone, because let’s be honest, nobody’s book is for everyone! Post on socials for the people you want to read your book, and they’ll find you.
5. Follow Accounts You *Actually* Want to Follow
While follow-for-follow is a strategy a lot of folks use, the followers you gain are only relevant if they fall within your target audience or also promote to a similar target audience. By following accounts you actually want to follow, you begin building a community of readers, writers, advertisers and other social media users who will engage with, share and purchase your content.
6. Use Hashtags to Gain Traction
Photo by Louse Murchie on Instagram
Hashtags are a highly effective way to grab the attention of users that might not be following you, but may want to if they get exposed to your content! Instagram allows users to follow specific hashtags, which means that all posts with that tag will show up on their feed regardless of if they follow you or not. What a way to gain traction on such large platforms!
7. Make Recommendations
When you recommend books, podcasts and other creative content you enjoy, your viewers will begin to see you as “an authority figure in your genre.” This also allows for the cultivation of connections between you and other like-minded folks, including similar authors, webinar hosts that highlight topics like yours and provide expansive content for your readers, which helps them get to know you as a person, not just an author!
8. Share in a Personal Way
Talking about your books is good, but talking only about your books gets boring quickly.
Talking about your books is good, but talking only about your books gets boring quickly.
Keep your followers engaged by sharing personal anecdotes, updates on your work, tagging collaborators and showing your clientele that you’re more than a writer!
9. Use Social Media Planning Apps
Photo by Hookle
Marketing on multiple social media platforms can get overwhelming pretty quickly, so we suggest using a platform like Hookle or Later to plan, schedule, and publish your posts.
Hookle is a social media management app targeted for entrepreneurs and small business owners, making publishing content exponentially easier! Later is similar, and both platforms have the capacity to publish posts for you, saving you time, energy and allowing you to further develop your strategy.
10. Reshare Content & Express Gratitude
Making your content shareable is only the first step to building a mutually supportive community. It’s equally, if not more, important to reshare content that resonates with you and/or your work. This helps those you follow feel seen, heard and appreciated. One of our writers is an activist, and consistently reposts causes, events and fundraisers that are important to their community.
Gratitude is a fantastic tool for marketing; connecting emotionally with your readers is the key to their hearts
We all want our content shared, but you can go the extra mile and thank the creator for their work in a message or post! Gratitude is a fantastic tool for marketing; connecting emotionally with your readers is the key to their hearts (and their wallets)!
Photo by Joe Tracy
Conclusion
When you as an author commit to social media marketing, you not only expand your audience and pool of potential customers, but you build a community centered around your content. Whether you’re posting stories with book recommendations or sharing the story of how you came to write your memoir in a remote cabin in the mountains, your readers will be more likely to engage if you emotionally connect with them.
Share content that means something to you, and your readers, keeping in mind that your content should be relevant to potential customers and followers as well. We’d love to know what strategies you tried and how they worked for you. Happy posting!
Download Hookle now and try it out to promote your book on social media efficiently.
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