4 Things You Can Do Today to Market Your writing on Social Media
Simple marketing tactics for writers to succeed on social media
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
There are so many ways to market yourself on social media that it can start to get very overwhelming, very fast.
The most important thing I’ve learned is to start small. Success on social media doesn’t come in a day.
If you use social media to market yourself as a writer (you should be!), here are 4 simple things you can do today to help your strategy.
Share your story
I used to have a hard time talking about myself. But I’m a writer, and I know it’s what I have to do so my readers can get to know me.
If you’re active on social media and you’re a writer, don’t just talk about your books, or post links to your latest article.
Share your story: How you got started with writing. When you knew you wanted to be a writer. The struggles you’ve faced in your journey to being a writer. The rejections. The acceptances.
Pick one of these and post about it today on at least one social platform.
After i do a post like this, I tend to receive more direct messages and emails than I do from my usual posts. People get to know me, learn about my writing journey, and it leads to readers asking questions about my work.
Humanize and add keywords to your bio
What else do you do besides write? Where are you from? What makes you unique? what makes you an authority on the topic you write about?
Of course, it should be clear from reading your bio that you’re a writer, and you should always include a call-to-action and a link for your readers. But don’t be afraid to give your bio a little personality.
I change mine up every few months, but here’s my current bio.
it shows what i write and what my goal is, what else i do (host poetry workshops and social media marketing), a call to action to read my books and a clickable link to my “more” page (more about this below!) which has links and resources that i want my audience to find.
you’ll also notice i use keywords in my name, because that is searchable on instagram! i include poetry and editor so that people searching for those keywords have a better chance of finding my account.
Screenshot provided by the author.
Create a landing page for all of your links
an example of my links page on my website
there’s only space for one link on most social platforms.
You need to use that space wisely, and luckily there’s a simple solution.
Create a landing page for all of your links on your website. This will give you one unique URL that you can use in your social media bios, but it will lead your readers to a list of links.
I use this link on my Instagram and Twitter, so people can click on it and find links to the places that I want them to go, like my books and services.
If you’re confused, here is what mine looks like.
If you don’t have a website (you definitely should), there are other options. Linktree is a free website that lets you create a URL to house all of your links.
However, there are a few downsides:
You can’t customize the branding/colors unless you pay for the pro version
You’re sending traffic to Linktree, rather than directly to your website
Instagram has been known to flag Linktree links as spam in the past (it happened to me in 2018!)
This is a good option while you’re working on building your website, but if you already have a website, go create your custom landing page!
Use highlights strategically
Highlights are a feature on Instagram that let you make your stories visible on your profile for as long as you want them there (rather than the standard 24 hour time frame).
Use the Highlights feature to humanize yourself, thank your readers, and more.
Create a new highlight by going to your profile and clicking “New”. Then, add a cover image, give it a name, and add as many of your past Instagram stories as you want.
A few examples of Highlights I use are:
“book love”: Anytime someone posts a picture of my books on their story, I add it to this collection. Not only does this make my readers feel appreciated, it’s also a way to show my work to people who visit my profile.
“the poetry club” is used to promote my membership club for poets and promote my upcoming workshops
“day in the life” is great for showcasing everything i’m working on such as my books and services
“book marketing” is for writers looking for the book marketing tips and articles i have to offer
another example of one that i have is “Happy”: I added this Highlight as a way to personalize my page and share what makes me happy. I post concert photos, a lot of dessert photos, and other miscellaneous things I do beside write.
There you have it! Four simple things you can start today that will help you market yourself as a writer on social media.
Which strategy are you going to implement first?
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