Marketing on Social Media

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine\

There are many social media networks. It seems each day someone is announcing a new social media.

The question becomes which ones to use. Which ones will work best for you? Which ones can you achieve your sales goals?

Trust me, there is no way to use all of them and do service to your marketing efforts.

There are two schools of thought in marketing and it actually depends on the business industry you are in as to what will work best. So, it is with marketing and selling our books. You can use either the shotgun approach or the rifle approach. And sometimes you can use both. The secret is finding which one works best for you.

Shotgun Approach-a method where marketers try to appeal to a wide market of potential customers; thus targeting as many people as possible. (I call that method throwing pasta up against the wall and seeing what sticks.)In other words-mass marketing.

Rifle Approach- targeting a clearly defined audience with defined promotional strategies.  This involves targeting your audience.

We must reach as many readers as possible and cultivate them into our readers. What does this mean in terms of marketing? It means we will have to invest time and energy into marketing our books and ourselves. Social Media is only one avenue to use.  Let me repeat that––social media is only one avenue to use in marketing our books. You cannot rely just on that venue alone. You have to use other methods also.

The old adage to have a friend you have to be a friend is true in social media. Take some time (not all morning) to like and comment on other users’ posts; always respond to comments left on your posts.

So, how many social media networks should you choose? I would suggest no more than two or three. More than this will spread you too thin. With two or three you can be active and participate and people will get to know you and you them. 

Don’t spend all your time talking about you and your book, selling. People do not like this. Talk about interesting things. Asking questions of them can pull them into the discussion, which is what you want. If you are an historical fiction writer, talk about interesting things in that era–the people, places and events. If you write cookbooks talk about the different foods you choose and why. Again, ask questions. Make them interesting so they will want to respond.

By being smart and scheduling our time and choosing which medias to use we will increase our followers which will become friends and have an interest in what we do, if we have an interest in what they do.

Social Media is nothing more than building relationships. Remember, people do business with people they like.