The ONE Rule That Determines Whether An Author Will Succeed Or Fail On Social Media

I logged onto Twitter (X) to do my daily interaction with followers, but was hit by an avalanche of Tweets trumpeting “Available NOW! Buy my book!” which was even MORE maddening.

It struck me right then that the majority of authors think social media should be used to ‘run advertisements’ the same way retailers do on radio stations.  But by doing so they run the risk of being ‘switched off’.  i.e. Unfollowed.

Think about it. Imagine a radio station that ran continuous advertisements without any interesting music, talk-back, news or discussion. Would you listen to it?

Here’s the crucial thing to understand:

If you constantly advertise instead of being interesting, book buyers will tune out.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the almost irresistible temptation to constantly push your books because it seems to make sense. After all, we’re surrounded by advertisements on TV, on websites, in magazines, and on radio.

This is ‘interruption’ advertising, and it does work on TV and radio, but only because people are already tuned in to that station. And why did people tune in to begin with? Because the station has interesting, entertaining content, not just advertisements.

So is there any point in using social media if you can’t relentlessly “push” your books?

Absolutely. Let me explain…

How To Promote on Social Media – Without Constantly Shouting “BUY MY BOOK!”

I’ve discovered the most effective way to get attention is to create interest and engagement first, and then promote your product once you gained a measure of trust.

Engage, engage, engage… ask.

1. ENGAGE

• Stop just broadcasting, and interact with people on social media.
• Ask and answer questions.
• Leave replies to other people’s posts.
• Share information about the interesting world around your books.
• Create social posts with links to blog posts you’ve written that customers would find useful and entertaining. These posts should be written to gain their interest, and mention your book later in the content, once their attention is captured and trust is built.
• Engage people with brief ‘small talk’. Nothing grand is needed – even just a few words builds familiarity.

2. ASK

Once you’ve gained a little trust with engagement posts, then by all means pitch your book in a ‘selling’ Tweet.  I use a ratio of 7 ‘engagement’ post to 1 ‘selling’ post.

Fantastically successful (and ultra-hyper) entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk sums it up perfectly in the title of his social media marketing book…

“Jab, Jab, Jab, RIGHT HOOK”

This graphically illustrates the importance of ‘softening up the market’ first before asking people to buy from you.

“Don’t try to close me on the first move … In fact don’t try to close anyone on the first move.” @GaryVee

To put it even MORE simply, ‘Engage first, sell second’ is the secret sauce.

There’s no question that engaging followers in conversation on Twitter and Facebook is extremely valuable for authors because it produces a number of important results:

• You become liked as a trusted source of intriguing information.
• It sets you apart as a real person in whom they can become genuinely interested.
• They’ll become part of your fan group – your ‘inside team’.
• They’ll share your Tweets, Facebook posts and blog posts with their own reading communities.
• They’ll want to spread the word about you and your books.
• They’ll become your buyers.

The bottom line: Start applying the #1 social media rule: “Put The Social In Your Media“.

Do you realize how powerful this is?  Twitter works WAY better as ‘talk-back’ radio station, not as a broadcast advertising media.

You will be one of the rare few who engages and grows relationships, while everyone else is shouting about their books non-stop.

You’ll stand out like a welcome lighthouse in a raging storm and attract all the attention.

Social media is named that way because it is best used socially. So strike a balance between engagement and promotion, and you’re well on the way to gaining the vital interest and trust you need to ignite your book sales.

P.S. If I can find the Zuckerberg broadcast again I’ll let you know what he had to say.  🙂

Do you ‘put the social in your media’? It’s not an easy gig, but it’s truly worth it for selling far more books. What do you think?  Please leave a comment – I read them all.