Regardless of your profession, marketing is like a chess game. You need to know the right strategies to become a winner.
In today’s market, the King and Queen are most assuredly Social Media, but the mere mention of it sends chills down most entrepreneurs’ backs. As an author, I can safely say that many of us (writers) entered the literary world thinking, “if we write it, they will come.”
Ah, nope. Doesn’t happen that way. In today’s literary world, even if you are linked with one of the big five publishing houses, you are expected to do a lot of your own marketing – and that includes social media.
First, we need to understand how to find the RIGHT social media for our products, whether that is a book, a new dress line, a landscaping business… EVERYONE needs to market. With dozens (and I’m sure I will miss some) social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, where do you begin?
Start with demographics: What age group or social economic group would be most interested in your product? As an example, as a writer of women’s fiction, primarily with mother-daughter themes, my target audience is women of child bearing age or older (like Grandma’s). Although there is most definitely some within my bracket that would frequent other social media sites, the vast majority would fit into the Facebook, Pinterest, and a growing number on Instagram groups. The odds of large numbers of my target market using Snapchat, Twitter or Tumbler is much smaller. So I’ll stick with where I can reach the most of my audience.
Second, as discussed in my past blog post, Branding. Wouldn’t it be great to have a recognizable brand like the McDonald arches? We may never compete with the McDonald arches or the Nike check mark, but we can, become recognized in our own circle – for me – the literary circle. My goal is when someone thinks “mother-daughter stories”, they will think of Joanne Simon Tailele. How does that happen? Truthfully, very slowly. Use every opportunity you can to promote your brand – no- I did not say your product. No one is going to invest in your product until they’ve bought into your brand – that you are the go-to person for that subject.
Last, consistency. Whichever social marketing tool you decide works best for you, stick with it. Post often. Keep it short and entertaining. The place for longer posts are on blogs, such as this one. Social media is the fast lane. Don’t give up. Your followers will come, and your product will have its chance to shine.
Now it’s your turn. What business are you in and how do you use social media to promote it? What avenue works best for you and why? Leave a comment here and you’ll be automatically entered to win an e-book of your choice of mine. You can find them on my website; joannetailele.com Now, go out there and jump into the social media pool.
Writing Under Fire 