Welcome to Market Monday… this isn’t about shopping, but about marketing you as an author.
This terrific article on Mashable talks about Facebook marketing mistakes. It’s a worthy read in and of itself, so I highly recommend checking it out. But I thought I’d also make a few points to help authors and writers see how this information best relates to THEM and their brands. Every author is a small business owner, your writing name is your brand and should be protected and treated as any small business. (Questions on Brand? See these posts.)
So are you avoiding these mistakes in your Facebook marketing?
1. Not Filling Out the page completely
The article talks about businesses adding their phone numbers and such things (but you’re not putting address info on there, right?). What you SHOULD do is make sure there is a link to your website address, so anyone interested can be sure to find out more about you. Facebook is for being social, but you hope they will want to know more about you.
2. Using an illegal Cover Photo
This doesn’t just mean X-rated. 😉 This means choosing your image to abide by Facebook’s cover photo guidelines (see more about this on my design website). The cover photo is NOT the place for your website URL, or calls to action such as “Buy this book now.” This is also not the place to put up any picture you find on Google images. You need to select an image you have rights to use in promotional ways or purchase royalty-free photos. This can be done fairly cheaply at places like 123rf.com, dreamstime.com or istockphoto.com. Remember that your Facebook is there to promote YOU, not just one book — so focus on the emotional impact of your brand, not your book.
In my opinion, this also goes with your avatar. A nice, smiling picture of you will go a lot farther to connect with people than a static partial image of your book cover. Especially if you release multiple books. YOU are your brand. Not your books – they are simply products your brand offers.
3. Breaking Contest Guidelines
Facebook has made it so all contests must be run through a 3rd party app. It means that those impromptu “answer this question and be entered to win” posts are against the rules. (I know, I know…) As the article mentions, Wildfire is a good choice. Remember as tempting as it is to wonder “They’ll never see it and they’ll never know….” — is it worth having your page suspended or even removed?
4. Overposting
What is “too much” depends on the person — so make your own determination. Consider a brand you recently liked who now appears in your feed. How many posts per day would you deem too much? When would you get so weary of seeing them dominate your feed that you hide them or delete them altogether? Once a day is most often enough — though there is obviously times when you can make an exception. And remember that quality of your posts is still king — your content should NOT be all sales oriented. According to Kristin Lamb’s book, Are you there blog, it’s me, writer, content ratios should be 1/3 personal, 1/3 service-oriented (reposting for others, commenting on their posts, etc) and 1/3 promo. that’s right — one third. NO more. That is the #1 way to have people tune out.
5. Focusing Too Much On Likes
Likes on your posts are great. It’s a good start to engagement with your audience. But it’s only one indication of awareness. You want to watch comments, shares and other areas of engagement with your audience as well to judge how well your content is being received. Also watch when people interact with you more. As the Mashable article says, “Buddy Media research has found that engagement rates for Facebook posts are 18% higher on Thursday and Fridays.” Test that for yourself and see if that is when you get the most interaction with your audience. Remember that Facebook can be fun and social, but your Facebook fan page is about business. So work smarter, not harder.
6. Too Much Text
Images on Facebook receive A LOT more engagement than plain text. That isn’t to say that every post you make has to have a picture in it, but the more you share, the better attention your commentary will receive. It’s also one aspect that greatly differs Facebook from Twitter. And that brings up another point from the Mashable article — cross posting between Twitter and Facebook. I know it’s easy. I know it seems like a great idea, so you can reach more people. But what about the people who follow both? WHY should they? It’s a guaranteed way to get someone to start tuning out to you in both places if you duplicate content.
And if you’re like me, and I see a person posting on Facebook with that little “from Twitter” tag, I tend not to respond as much— because I know they aren’t hanging out on my half of the lunch room. Social media is about being present and being a person. Anything you do that distances you from your audience goes against the intention.
7. Posting Boring or Off-Brand Content
Authors and writers have a little bit of leeway here, far more than companies do. Going “off-brand” is a little tougher for a business because it can muddy the waters. But it depends on your brand. If your brand is “quirky”, you can post quirky stuff. As an author, YOU are your brand. Therefore, what matters to you, what you find interesting, funny or worth sharing IS a part of your brand. And just remember that. What you post IS a part of your brand. That includes any topic that could be polarizing, such as politics, religion or more. You might feel very passionate about your beliefs, but unless those are an integral part of your writing, half of your audience likely doesn’t believe what you believe. Choose your battles.
8. Ignoring Insights
Insights? What are those? I’m guessing that’s what you’re thinking about now. Insights are the metrics measuring tool that Facebook offers for fan pages. You’ll find it on your page and it’s definitely worth spending time to check out every so often. Measure the trends of what you’re doing so you know if it’s working. To begin with, even the basic snapshot of insights you see automatically will give you some information–you can see if your message is getting more or less attention. Start with that, and when you feel more comfortable, delve into the friends, the friends of friends and the reach. Start small though, and pay attention first.
9. Being Vanilla
Now if your target audience is my six year old son, he’d think you were the best thing in the world for being vanilla. That’s his favorite everything. But most people like a little variety, and that includes in the types of post you offer. Don’t continually post about the same things every day — especially writing or book related. Your brand is YOU, remember? So if you only post about your writing process or your book, how engaging are you showing your brand to be? Do you have a sense of humor? Do you know useless trivia? Do you hate to cook? (Raises hand. I do.) Whatever makes YOU you is what you should share — because you are the person your audience needs to connect with and learn to trust.
Consider this, if I make it clear that I hate to cook (and I do) — then what happens when I post a recipe on my page and I claim it’s really simple and really good? Chances are someone will probably believe it — because if I am posting it, I must believe it. It becomes a part of my brand, and a part of the trust I establish with someone. (And damn, now I have to go look for an easy, good recipe…)
10. Not Making the Most out of Facebook Ad’s Options
Not everyone can afford to buy ads. But if you do plan to use it as part of your marketing campaign, use it wisely. If you’re a relatively unknown name, using ads to gain likes for your name may not prove as useful as waiting until your book is out and capitalizing on what you write. It’s worth testing and being flexible with your ad content to see what works best for you.
Facebook is a terrific tool for authors– and it’s never too early to start building your page. Just keep the mistakes above in mind when you do.