Read on Twitter
As someone who has worked in publishing in a variety of capacities (big 5, indie publisher, freelance), I have had to guide a lot of newbie authors on the best way to engage social media to promote their book. Here's what I've told them. [THREAD]
Starting a social media presence from scratch is HARD. All platforms are glutted with smart, witty people, and readers are very guarded about how they spend their limited time. With a wealth of entertainment options, getting people to choose YOU is harder every day.
The average consumer requires 10-15 points-of-contact (seeing a product) and 3 endorsements (seeing someone other than the product owner say something positive) before they decide to purchase an item. These metrics are only going to go up, BTW! A few years ago it was 7-10 POCs.
Think about the last few books you bought. Did you read one review and run out and buy it? Maybe! I have certainly done that! Sometimes I see one review or blurb and I know the book is for me.
But more often, I see a book mentioned on Twitter, then I get served a Facebook ad, then I read a review in PW, then it's in a LitHub listicle, then someone I follow on Goodreads adds it to their shelf, then my friend mentions it in passing before I finally check it out.
If I have done my job as a marketer well, readers will be muttering "Jeez, alright already!" as they buy the book (preferably from their fave indie bookstore!) because it has hit a point where they feel it's inescapable.
If an author truly wants to engage in social media on their own and has the bandwidth to do so, I always encourage it! Just so long as they don't sacrifice carefully thinking about what they are tweeting and how it may come across in the rush to get content and followers.
I personally refuse to use tweet schedulers for the corporate Twitters I have run. I am 100% okay with losing out on weekend engagement if it means not having some scheduled promotional tweet go out when some horrific tragedy is unfolding.
Twitter, more than Facebook/Insta, is very much a quickly-moving global conversation, and you have to be willing to constantly read the room before you engage. The damage you can do to your career with a careless tweet far outweighs the potential benefit of any individual tweet.
If an author does not have a strong desire to do their own social media, that's okay! Because it's easy to engage with social media as a whole by approaching bookstagrammers, reviewers, indie booksellers, librarians, etc who will promote a book on their own established networks.
"Social media" is more than just the author's platform - it has to be! I have seen plenty of platform-driven books tank because of over-reliance on that method of promotion. The people who will follow free content on social media aren't always the same people who will buy books.
Getting a diverse range of points-of-contact is key in getting a critical mass of awareness needed to drive sales conversion. If your personal time to promote your book is limited, banging your head against the wall of building your own following may not be the best use of time.
Personal social media can be a great tool for engaging with readers, but it's one of many available tools. If it isn't in your comfort zone, it's okay focus on other ways to drive awareness.
Also: I have worked with indie authors who were disappointed their Facebook/Amazon ads didn't generate direct sales. Most don't, especially if that's ALL you're doing. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads work well in conjunction with other strategies, but only form 1-2 points-of-contact each
If you're running a well-targeted PPC campaign, you should have a good % of people clicking through to your landing/product page, but if it's only the first or second time they're hearing about your book, the conversion rates (actually purchasing the product) will be low.
