Are You Making One of These 3 Book Marketing Mistakes?

I’m going to say something that might shock you: marketing doesn’t have to be so difficult. 

You don’t need a college degree or years of experience to successfully market your book. In fact, you’ve been marketing yourself and your book when you didn’t even know it! Any time you reply to a comment on social media, you like a post, or share a picture - guess what? You’re marketing! 

You’ve heard me say this before: marketing is simply connecting with people who are interested in the same things you are. Connecting with the right people online can actually be an enjoyable (dare I say, fun?) experience. 

But there are also some common mistakes that I see happening online that are easy to make. If you find yourself making one of these mistakes, don’t worry. They are easy to fix and I’m going to show you what you can do instead. 

So let’s jump in. 

Being a Salesperson on Social Media 

Marketing and selling are two completely different things. The purpose of social media is to connect with people - not to sell to them right away. I heard Donald Miller say if you connect with someone on social media and then immediately ask them to buy something, you’re essentially walking up to a stranger and asking them to marry you.

Social media is the first step in a relationship building process that you need to take your readers through. This is where you connect, have conversations, and build trust with your audience. Yes, you can let them know that you have a book available, but you need to show readers the value that you and your book bring to them first before asking them to buy it. 

Try this instead: Focus on connection. Think about topics, interests, and hobbies that you share with your ideal reader. Use those topics as a way to create posts and content that create conversations and connection points between you and your readers. You can learn more in this episode of the Book Marketing Simplified podcast.

Which leads us to our second point…

Not Having a Content Plan

Content is the driving force of your social media engagement and marketing. Connect is anything that you share with your readers: blog posts, podcast episodes, social media posts, newsletters, and so on - it’s all content. And when you just “wing it” and don’t have a plan in place, you will feel overwhelmed, and what you share won’t be as effective. 

Content also plays a key roll in driving people from social media to your website. You don’t want your audience to live on social media because you don’t own your social media account connections - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter do! Your content gives readers a reason to go to your website - your home on the internet that you DO own. 

Try this instead: Create content buckets. This will work for social media, planning your blog posts, and so much more. I have a blog tutorial that will walk you though exactly how to do this. Click to learn how!

So having a content plan to drive people to your website leads us to the next mistake…

Not Having a Newsletter 

Many authors look at newsletters as an optional tool, but I strongly disagree. Having a newsletter is ESSENTIAL in your success as an author and in marketing your books. 

I’ve heard so many authors say that they think newsletters are spammy and that they themselves are annoyed by newsletters. True, some newsletters can be classified as that - because they aren’t providing information that their subscribers actually care about! Or worse - they didn’t get expressed permission to email you.

When you create genuine connections on social media, drive readers to your website through your content, and then give them a good reason to sign up for your newsletter, you are attracting people who WANT to hear more from you.

Your newsletter subscribers are an attentive audience. They want more from you. Anyone can “like” you on social media, but they aren’t necessarily as attentive. Newsletter subscribers are your core fanbase - they are interested and ready to buy! This is where you make your sale. 

Try this instead: Check out MailChimp’s tutorials on how to set up a newsletter. We prefer MailChimp because it’s free for the first 2,000 subscribers and it’s really easy to use. Next, check out our blog post on how to get people to sign up for your newsletter list with an incentive and what you should include in your newsletters.

As you can see, these three steps are the simplified funnel to your book marketing: 

Connect with readers on social media, drive them to your website using relatable content, and then give them a good reason to sign up for your newsletter. 

It’s a straight forward process that helps you connect with the people you want to connect with and see better (and bigger) results. 

I share even more details and tips in our new free download the Book Marketing Blueprint - click to grab your copy!