Inaccurate beliefs are holding back the ability of certain writers to be able to improve their book sales.
It has been broadly accepted among indie authors that social media marketing is among the most affordable and effective channels that they can use to be able to reach their readers and promote their latest (and previous) books, but the problem is that there is false information circulating that is reducing the results that many among this community are seeing.
Advertising over social media can reach consumers over desktop and mobile platforms, but only when done correctly.
At the core of this problem is that the majority of authors do not have any experience in the advertising world and even among those who do, social media marketing is something that is quite new. While it is not the same as posting vacation photos to friends, it is also not the same thing as selling over other channels, including over mobile devices. There is a certain strategy involved that must flow perfectly naturally. This is not actually all that difficult to do unless there are barriers in the way. Unfortunately, those barriers are very common and they typically exist in the form of a belief in common social network myths.
The following are some of the most common social media marketing myths that are holding indie authors back.
The observations of the authors of the young adult book series, Perspective, Amanda Giasson and Julie B. Campbell, have revealed the following top myths holding indie authors back from achieving their true book sales potential:
- The more followers you have, the more famous you will be – social media following and fame are not the same thing. After all, we’ve all seen ads from services on Twitter that are selling follows by the thousands. The key to getting the most out of your following is to work on growing the number of people who are genuinely interested and interacting with your posts. The most famous people on social media aren’t usually the ones with the highest following. Those numbers can be a guide, but they’re not everything.
- There is a single successful social media marketing strategy – yes, there are methods that work for certain people, but there is no one method that works for everyone. Indeed, there are some tips that should not be ignored, but social media allows indie authors to be themselves and connect with their community and their readers. A personal approach that is continually honed based on what followers actually want, is best.
- More followers means more book sales – this myth is one that may be hurting indie authors the most. Social media marketing can help writers to gain exposure for their books, but that is based on boosting engagement and has nothing to do with the number of followers. An author with 200 followers among whom half are highly loyal will do far better than one with 25,000 followers who have the author’s posts muted.
Avoiding those myths and paying attention to engagement trends among followers in order to continue to provide posts that are appealing and that promote interaction can be a helpful lesson for indie authors to learn. This understanding, say Giasson and Campbell, can make all the difference in turning book sales around (or generating them in the first place) over this channel.
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