Why Social Media Isn't Helping You Sell More Books
EPISODE SIXTY FIVE
If you feel like you're constantly posting on social media but you aren't seeing any sales, you aren't alone in the struggle! There are some key changes you can make to begin to see a difference.
The outlet is not always the answer. (Simply being on TikTok isn't going to help you sell more books.)
Your content - what it is that you're posting - is the key.
You need a plan that is always leading them to the next step.
Repeat old posts for new followers and for those who may have missed them.
Links
TRANSCRIPT:
Jenn Hanson-dePaula: Hello, and welcome to the Book Marketing Simplified podcast. I'm Jenn Hanson-dePaula. If you ever feel like you're just constantly posting on social media, but you aren't seeing any results, you are not alone in the struggle. There are so many people that I hear from that are just complaining and feeling like they're just running around in circles, not knowing how to actually fix the situation. I wanted to share some key changes that can help you to begin to see a difference on social media.
The first thing is that the outlet is not always the answer. We get shiny object syndrome, and we think, oh, am I going to be missing out if I am not on a certain social media platform? Simply being on TikTok is not going to help you automatically sell more books. It's really focusing in on where your ideal readers are already hanging out and also seeing where you want to hang out. When you are on a social media outlet that you just dread and you don't want to be a part of that outlet and you don't enjoy the process, you're not going to spend time there.
To figure out where you want to be online and where your ideal readers are, I would suggest being on just one or two social media outlets at a time. Now you can spend some time observing and doing some research to see what authors are doing that are actually seeing results and seeing engagement, and looking at that and thinking how you can apply that to your own strategy. Remembering that the outlet is not going to automatically be the answer is going to change your mindset in where you're hanging out online, but it's also going to be honestly a relief because you do not have to be everywhere online in order to be seen.
You only need to be in a few key spots. Focusing on just one, maybe two social media outlets is going to be a big game changer. Going off of that first point, your second point is to focus on your content, what it is that you're actually posting. Why this is important is when we are just moving from outlet to outlet or trying to focus on viral sounds or to see what the latest, greatest thing is, we are going to run ourselves ragged.
We spend and actually waste so much time just trying to find the latest thing or what's going to give us the most views or the most likes, and that is not what is going to make sales. What is going to make sales is what it is you're actually posting about. When you focus on your content buckets, and we've talked about that a lot. It's three to five topics that you cycle through week after week. I really personally think that three content buckets is the sweet spot.
When you focus on these three key content buckets, you are going to not only hone in on your messaging, creating that repetition, which is really key to marketing, but it's going to help you to focus on just a few key topics. When you sit down in front of Netflix or on Hulu and you are just completely bombarded with shows and movies, many times you end up just going back to the same movies and you don't watch anything new. You're just overwhelmed with choices.
The same goes with our social media posts. When we are constantly thinking of what can I post next or we're just in this gray limbo area, it becomes overwhelming. We get frustrated. We don't know what to post, and it just ends up taking 10 times longer than what we really need it to be. Focusing in on just a few key content buckets is going to help alleviate the stress and it's going to make you known for something.
When you cycle through these topics week after week, you're going to get that repetition, which is really essential in your marketing, and you're going to be continuously reminding people to go click the link in your bio or to check out your website or to sign up for your newsletter. This is really what is going to help drive people exactly where you want them to go. Then the third thing is that you probably don't have a plan. You aren't leading your readers to the next step.
Many times I see authors just assume that readers should know what they need to do next or where you want them to go. We need to be intentional to make sure that we are sending them to specific places. These are called calls to action. There are three calls to action that I would encourage you to focus on. First is engagement. Asking people questions, getting them involved in a conversation is going to really help build that community, but it's also going to tell social media's algorithm that these people are interested in what you have to say and that you have a community going and you have conversations rolling, so they're going to show more of your posts to them in their feeds.
Then second, you want to be driving people to your website or to your sales page. This is going to be essential in helping to boost your sales because again, we don't want to assume that people will know exactly where we want them to go. Sending them to your website or to your sales page is going to be crucial in helping you grow your sales. Then the third call to action is your newsletter. You want to be prompting people to sign up for your newsletter and having a free incentive, like some free downloads, maybe a checklist, maybe some chapters that they can sample is going to entice people to actually take action to sign up for your newsletter.
Along with your content buckets, cycling through these three calls to action are going to be key in helping drive people exactly where you want them to go and to help you increase your sales. Then the fourth change, you've heard me pepper it in throughout this episode, is that you aren't repeating yourself. When you are repeating the same messages and the same types of content, you are becoming known for something.
You need to remember that not everyone who follows you is going to see every single post that you share. As you get new followers, these people are going to be new to what you're talking about. They haven't heard you talk about your books or other things that you are highlighting within your content. When you tie all of these together, the social media outlet that you're on, being where your ideal readers are hanging out and where you want to hang out online, and then your content, and then having a plan with calls to action, and then creating that repetition, it's all going to create a more cohesive and intentional plan to create conversations, but also to drive sales and to drive people exactly where you want them to go.
A social media plan does not need to be fancy or complicated or even take up the majority of your time. When you can have just some simple steps, and when you can have a strategic plan and be intentional, you're going to see much better results, and you are going to enjoy the process that much more. If you would like more guidance and structure and help along your book marketing, social media and newsletter journey as an author, I would love to invite you to join The Author Circle. It is our exclusive membership for authors, for non-fiction and for fiction writers.
Now we only open this up a few times a year, and at the time of this recording, it is open. If you are listening to this, and you go to our website and see that it's not open, be sure to sign up for the waitlist. We will notify you when doors are open again. Click the link in our show notes, or go to mixesmedia.com to learn more about The Author Circle and join us. We would love to have you there.