You are an author and want to use the power of the Internet. There are numerous ways to market online. Regardless of the number of digital marketing plan components you implement, you should work to rise above the noise of the web and also present an unforgettable and clear message to draw in readers. Here is an overview of various digital marketing components. As you read through the list, remember the golden rule… it’s about building relationships, not hard marketing. With all social media… pushy “buy my book” messages are considered spam. Try simply be informative and entertaining. Respond personally, be kind, and build relationships. This is how you generate interest in your books.
A blog is a journal that authors use to connect with readers by sharing their experiences, expertise, insights, and advice. A blog supports the content of your book or you as an author. You can discuss topics related to your book, your writing process, things your readers are interested in, and more. Two popular platforms for blogs are Wordpress and Blogger.
This type of blogging is done using Twitter. An author sends brief 280-character messages (“tweets”) to followers. Tweets can be about your book, it’s characters, book events, and so forth.
This activity involves creating reciprocal links between your blog and other blogs. You comment on the blogs of others and direct your tribe of readers to blog content that might be of interest to them. This can be a blogging or microblogging activity.
It’s important that when people search for your content that you are near the top on the search engine rankings. SEO is achieved in many ways, but one way to improve your ranking is to add keywords to your content. That is, determine the words that people search on when looking for authors like you or books like yours. Then include those words in your blog titles, web page titles, headers of your webpage content and so forth. Also, put them in the meta tags for your content including tagging event photos, book images, etc. Meta tags are words embedded in special codes that are invisible to visitors but visible to search engines. Using keywords in your content and in your images and graphics on the site will help search engines can find you. A word of caution: don’t try to trick the search engines by dropping in a keyword 57 times on one page… they pick up on that and will actually lower your raking. Be authentic and create content that ties to those words so that when you title the page, paragraph, or posting… it makes sense and is authentic. Keywords
Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In can build your readership through direct interaction. These services offer profiles so you can describe who you are to potential members of your network. Be sure to include keywords (see above) in your profile description. These networks have a global reach and they allow you to share content with your audience that leads them back to your website or blog. Give them a taste of your work and readers will want more. You can also engage potential readers with polls and contests. This is called relationship marketing.
Ads on social media sites are easy and inexpensive to produce. They are also seen by millions and they target those interested in your content. Here are two sites to learn more about such advertising: Facebook’s business page or Twitter’s business page.
Some authors collect large e-mail lists. Direct e-mail marketing can help market these authors’ books. ConstantContact is a service you can explore to learn more about e-mail marketing.
I too am an unpublished author (looking to change that next year) and looking forward to my "retirement years" to devote energy marketing full time, in the meantime will do as best I can working 2 jobs. Any ideas on how to do this (other than inventing more hours), most appreciated
PS Thanks Molly, I really get a lot out of your articles.
I found this article helpful, it clarified the way I can use the internet to promote my writing...as I am an unpublished author I am reluctant to put my work out there just yet...