4 of My Favorite Tips for Twitter and More

Here are 4 of my favorite social media tips. Perhaps you could plan to implement one each week next month.

  1. Use Twitter’s 280 characters creatively. Now that Twitter has doubled their character limit from 140 to 280 authors have room to get more creative. Something I’ve done is to write a tweet related to a book’s topic, perhaps including a link to an outside source. Then after a space, write a short tweet mentioning that, say, Chapter 10 of my book addresses that topic.
    • As an example, one client has a self-help book with a chapter on how creativity is therapeutic. She links to an article at Huffington Post titled, Is Creativity Therapeutic and Can Art Make Us Happier. Then tweets, Chapter 6 of my book has a section on this very topic, Creativity is Therapeutic and Clears the Mind, and links to her book page on her website.
  2. Tag People. Use the @ symbol to tag people on Twitter. You can also tag people on Facebook and LinkedIn. Do this when you mention that person in your post. Perhaps you are sharing a blog post that includes a quote from that person. Tagging is a great way to let them know you’ve mentioned them and they may share what you’ve posted. On Facebook you can tag business pages if you’re mentioning them in your post.
  3. Use Twitter Lists. I’ve created and use several lists. One is a list of others who, like Ausoma, tweet about social media for nonfiction authors. I use that to find something relevant to retweet every day. Other lists are of literary agents, editors, and publishers.
  4. Use Analytics and Insights. As with any marketing, you want to see what’s working, what’s not, and where you can improve. Use the analytics and insights provided by Twitter, Facebook, and even LinkedIn to see what posts are getting the most likes, shares, comments, etc. and which ones aren’t getting any engagement. Then you can see what types of posts to keep creating and which ones aren’t effective.

3 Keys to Successfully Using Social Media for Book Promotion

  1. Social media marketing needs to be viewed as a long-term investment. Nonfiction authors successfully using social media to market their books realize that it is an investment and they are in it for the long haul. They realize they need to continually market their book if they want to keep selling copies of it.
  2. Social means engagement. Get to know your audience. Find out what they want and need. Converse with them. Offer valuable information. Then they will be more likely to choose to purchase your book.
  3. Review your social media marketing profiles and book marketing efforts at least once a year and update as needed. Mix it up. Do something different. Be Social. Get Noticed.

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