3 Ways to Make the Most of Facebook

Most authors today are well aware of the fact that it’s almost a must to have a Facebook presence. But what most authors don’t know is exactly how to measure their performance on Facebook.

In other words, how do you know that the time you’re putting in to social networking is actually promoting your book? Or leading to book sales? The truth is, the majority of authors don’t. Which is why so many of them continue to make the same mistakes over and over again on social networking sites. If there’s no way to know whether or not your efforts are successful, how could you ever determine whether or not it’s worth your time? Or how to improve what you’re doing?

Instead of just looking at how many friends/followers you have on Facebook, use these tools to determine the success of your efforts:

1. Traffic to your website. If you don’t have Google Analytics set up for your site yet, do so ASAP! It’s free, and it’s an incredible way to keep track of what’s working on your site. In the section called “Traffic Sources,” you can determine exactly where the traffic to your site is coming from. That includes Facebook. If you’re not getting much traffic from Facebook, then consider tweaking your social networking efforts.

2. Engagement. Have you been using Facebook Insights? Much like Google Analytics, it’s a great (and again, free) way to factually determine the success of your Facebook campaign. It will show you how many likes and comments your posts are generating, which is super important: the posts with the most engagement will appear higher in the feeds of fans and friends.

3. Shares. This refers more to the content on your website and how you can try and increase the number of people sharing your information with friends via Facebook. First, make sure to include a “share” button throughout your website: it’s especially important when it comes to blog posts. Then, follow how many people are actually sharing each of your posts. If one happens to take off, then try to replicate it in terms of subject matter and tone in future posts.

Facebook recently came out with a list of the most shared stories of 2011. See what you can cull from the list and try to follow the lead of other writers who have had their stories go viral. Some of the ones from this list that I recommend you take a look at include Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps, Stop Coddling the Super-Rich, and Why You’re Not Married. You don’t need a journalism degree to write a story that goes super-viral.

You just need a good idea, some opinions, and a little bit of wit.

Happy Facebooking!