Finding Where Your Ideal Reader Is
EPISODE FOUR
Now that we know who your ideal reader is, Jenn and Marcus discuss how to figure out which social media outlets you need to spend your time on to connect with them.
Your readers aren't everywhere online, so you don't need to be either.
Do some research: find authors in your genre and see where they are online, what coverage they have gotten, etc.
Educate yourself on what demographic each social media outlet reaches.
Do not obsess about the number of "followers" you have.
See what outlet is leading the most traffic to your website.
Connect with other authors in your genre to build your community.
Links
“140+ Social Media Statistics that Matter to Marketers in 2020” by Hootsuite
“A 4-Step Guide To Tracking Social Media In Google Analytics” by Hootsuite
Transcript
JENN: Hi, I'm Jenn dePaula, and this is the Book Marketing Simplified podcast.
MARCUS: And I'm Marcus dePaula, and as always we start off by recapping what we talked about last time. In episode three we discussed the importance of knowing who your ideal reader is. And this time as promised we are going to talk about where they are online - so how can you figure out which social media platform you need to be spending time on. So where do we start?
JENN: Well I think that there's I thought that if I'm everywhere then I'll somehow be seen.
MARCUS: I hear that all the time: "I need to be on every single platform just in case somebody comes across me."
JENN: Yeah, and even though that "in case" might draw a person or two, it's not a good use of your time to be everywhere. You need to remember that your readers aren't everywhere online so you don't need to be. You just need to be in a few key spots that you know that your readers are, and you start connecting with them there.
MARCUS: And this gets back to that third point from episode one of picking one platform. We set our goal, we identified our ideal reader, and now it's picking that one platform.
JENN: Yes. Each social media outlet is different and authors feel like they're being spread too thin trying to be everywhere. So picking just one outlet that you can focus on and do really really well is a much better use of your time rather than spreading yourself too thin on all of the outlets.
MARCUS: It's better to expand your audience and grow by 200% in followers on one platform than it is to have a trickle of people engaging with you on the platform where your ideal reader actually isn't .
JENN: Absolutely .
MARCUS: So what are some ways that an author can figure out exactly where their readers are hanging out online?
JENN: Well one of the best ways especially if you are just brand new starting out and you have really no clue where to even start...
MARCUS: We've all got to start somewhere.
JENN: Yes. One of the best ways that you can get your feet wet is by doing some research. Look at other authors within your genre and just start seeing, where are they hanging out? Where are they spending most of their time on social media? Maybe doing a Google search and seeing what blog post interviews they've gotten what podcasts they've been featured on. It gives you a better idea of seeing where other authors are having some success and seeing how you might be able to apply that to your own marketing. So if you have no clue where to even start on social media look and see where other authors are seeing success.
MARCUS: That makes sense.
JENN: Then the second tip I would offer would be to educate yourself on what demographic each social media outlet reaches. For example Facebook, even though it's the biggest social media platform out there, the people that are using that the most now the skew a little older. If your ideal reader is maybe in their 50s or 60s, Facebook would be a prime place for you to go. More people feel comfortable on Facebook because that's just what they know. But just because you're comfortable there doesn't necessarily mean that's where your readers are.
MARCUS: Right. So if you write young adult fiction you're posting on Facebook...
JENN: You're probably not going to reach... You'll reach an older audience for sure.
MARCUS: So where can we find out what those demographics are and which platform we should be on based on age, gender, that sort of thing.
JENN: Well we'll have a link in the show notes that will give you all of that information and it will help you to really narrow down exactly where you should be hanging out.
MARCUS: 'Cause it changes all the time.
JENN: It really does. If there's one consistent thing about social media it's that it's inconsistent.
MARCUS: All right so check the show notes for that. What's the next thing that authors can do to find where their ideal reader's hanging out online?
JENN: One of the biggest mistakes I see authors make is that they see social media as the end game.
MARCUS: The destination.
JENN: The destination, and they don't think beyond that. And that is not the purpose of social media. The purpose of social media is to make connections. The most important thing that you want to do is to drive your social media connections to your website. Your website is your home on the internet. It's not social media. And so one of the best ways to find out which social media is working best for you is to look at your analytics. Take a look and see what social media is driving the most traffic to your website.
MARCUS: And it's usually listed in there as "sources."
JENN: Yes. We use a service called Link In Profile for Instagram that won't be listed under the social media that will be listed as...
MARCUS: A separate source.
JENN: A separate source. So it's not that Instagram isn't giving you traffic .It might be listed as a different source.
MARCUS: So when you're looking at those sources you need to make sure you're paying attention. "Okay That actually counts towards Instagram."
JENN: Yes absolutely. We can use us as an example. A couple of years ago - at that point I think we had the most followers on Twitter. But hardly anyone was going from Twitter to our website.
MARCUS: Interesting.
JENN: But then when I saw that Instagram and Pinterest were driving tons of traffic to our website, I thought "okay I am going to focus on Instagram and Pinterest." I find so many authors get so frustrated they spend so much time on Twitter or Facebook or even Instagram and they just aren't seeing the results that they're looking for. But to their surprise they might think, "Oh I am getting traffic from this other outlet!" So seeing where they're actually coming from, that shows you where you have the most engagement and where you have the most influence. So looking at what outlets are actually driving traffic to your website is very important.
MARCUS: So you mentioned that even though we had more followers on Twitter, that actually didn't result in clicks to the website. That's another big mistake that we hear all the time. We actually have to fight clients on - not ignoring the numbers of followers, but keeping it in perspective and context that it's not just about the number of followers you have, right?
JENN: Yes. We know that a big number is a source of pride.
MARCUS: Yeah. It's an ego thing.
JENN: It is. But that is not going to give you the results that you want when you come to sell your book. If you have 30,000 followers on Twitter but they're not doing anything...
MARCUS: Right you sell 400 books...
JENN: Yeah - even less! It's not the number of followers that is important. We get so fixated on that number and we hold so tightly to that number, when if it's not giving you results - I don't want to say it's a waste of time, but it's just not a good use of your time.
MARCUS: And it tends to become the motivating factor. When you start to focus on that number it starts to drive what you're doing and it comes through in your posts. Then your posts are becoming about trying to just grow that number as opposed to making that connection with people who you want to share your story with.
JENN: Absolutely and I get asked the question a lot: "What is the number of followers I should have before I start promoting my book?" People don't like when I say this but it doesn't matter. What you need is traffic to your website and the engagement and the comments and the likes. You can have 300 followers and get incredible engagement even though 300 followers might seem small to some people, if you're getting that engagement, that's a huge thing. But if you have a million followers and no one is commenting or sharing or liking your posts or going to your website, it just doesn't work.
MARCUS: Yeah. All right so don't get sucked into the ego feed of just focusing on how many followers you have - the number.
JENN: Absolutely. Yes.
MARCUS: So what else can I do?
JENN: Well the last thing that I would suggest is, even though you want to connect with readers who will actually buy your book, another really great thing that you can do is to connect with other authors within your genre. And it's not just to grow your audience, but it's to make those connections with your fellow writers.
MARCUS: This is something that I hear people maybe misunderstand, but I also see marketing experts online encourage people to do this thing that I consider gross. And it's basically trying to use these people that already have a big audience and trying to wedge your way in there to get some attention from their audience. And that to me is kind of gross especially if your motivation is just to grab followers.
JENN: Absolutely And that is not what I'm saying for sure. But I agree. There's some rather slimy ideas out there. I love the author community I think that they are such encouragers and they love to support their fellow writers.
MARCUS: Yes.
JENN: When you can connect with two or three other authors, you're developing a friendship. It's not a rivalry by any means. You can do so many fun things. You can do a Facebook live conversation between the two of you. You can help promote their book and they can help promote your book. You can guest post on each other's blog. You can share what each other posts. There's so many great ways that you can not only benefit within your marketing - it's not just that. But it's connecting with your fellow authors to create friendships.
MARCUS: Again it's paying attention to what is actually motivating you, what's driving you. If it's just trying to boost those numbers like we talked about, then that's gross. But if you're actually trying to make new connections on a human level...
JENN: And it's not so much about connecting with like J K Rowling or you know...
MARCUS: Finding the most popular author you can.
JENN: No. Go look at Amazon and see what other new authors are out there that have a new book, and start connecting with other authors on social media. When you can have that connection of a fellow author, you feel this comradery. You feel like you have someone by your side that understands what you're doing, and you can ask for advice and they can ask advice of you. And it's something that you can kind of walk through this together. So don't look for fellow authors who have like huge numbers. That's not the point.
MARCUS: They're probably not going to pay attention to you anyway, because they see right through that manipulation.
JENN: Yes because I get people asking me, "can you just give me a shout out on social media?" I'm like, "No, that's not what I do. And I don't know you and I don't know your..."
MARCUS: "Can I write a blog post for you?"
JENN: Yes. And so it's something where you want to have genuine connections. So finding other authors that you feel kind of connected to and that you respond to their social media posts and that you respond to their writing, is a really great thing.
MARCUS: Okay so just to recap, we're trying to maximize the amount of time you spend online to make sure you're in the right place where your ideal reader is. And we're doing that by researching to find other authors in my genre to see where their best interactions are happening, where people are engaging with them. It's educating yourself on the demographics, which we'll have links to that information in the show notes. It's making sure that you're not just pursuing the ego trip of the large numbers of followers. That you're seeking engagements rather than fame. It's taking a look at your existing website traffic and seeing where your current traffic is coming from on social media. And if you don't have any traffic to your website yet then that's something else you need to be working on. So then to be thinking ahead and so you can use that information.
JENN: And because it changes.
MARCUS: Yes. Absolutely.
JENN: Making sure that you keep an eye on that and you check back on it every few months.
MARCUS: Yeah. And then the final thing was to actually make a genuine, authentic, human connection with other authors. Not just trying to pursue the famous people to tap into their large following, but to actually grow your community.
All right so what is the make it happen moment for this episode?
JENN: So the make it happen moment for it this episode is to go to BookMarketingSimplified.com/4, and we will have links to various websites where you can find information on the demographics for each social media outlet.
MARCUS: All right. And we'll try our best to update them cause it changes.
JENN: But if anything, if you just go to Google and search "social media demographics" for the year 2020 or 2021 - whenever you're listening to this - and you can see updated information as well.
MARCUS: Exactly. And as always we would love to hear from you, so feel free to leave your questions and experiences in the comments section for the episode below the show notes, and also reach out to us on social media.
JENN: Yes we'd love to hear from you. So we will talk to you soon.
MARCUS: Thanks for listening.