It’s a common complaint I get from authors today: “How am I supposed to find the time to invest in all these social networking sites?” I can’t say I have a great answer for that.
But one thing I can do is advise authors as to which social networking sites may be most effective for them. Just like every author website is different, every author should have a marketing campaign to drive traffic to their site — one that’s customized to their audience.
I just read an article yesterday in Internet and Marketing Report which says that more and more people are separating their social media lives into professional (LinkedIn) and personal (Facebook).
With that in mind, here’s a good way to know whether your time and effort should be dedicated to Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter…
You Should Spend Time on Facebook If Your Book (or Books) …
- Appeals to readers under 40
- Would be appropriate for a book club
- Seems to spark controversy/conversation
- Is one that you think could go viral (i.e. people want to share it with all their friends)
You Should Spend Time on LinkedIn If Your Book (or Books) …
- Has some kind of connection to business or finance
- Is a self-help book that could provide career guidance for people
- Would be relevant to people you may have worked with in the past
- Is specific to one industry or field of work
You Should Spend Time on Twitter If Your Book (or Books) …
- Is specifically for teens, tweens, or young adults
- Has a subject matter or theme that you can continue to update people on
This is not to say that you should only use one of these three social networking tools. Especially Twitter — which can be useful in conjunction with either Facebook or LinkedIn.
But, hopefully, by figuring out where your target audience is spending their time (and what they’re doing on those sites), you can put your social networking efforts to good use and sell the most copies of your book possible.