The No. 1 Component of an Effective Online Marketing and Promotion Strategy
By Jane Friedman | October 22, 2010 |
I’ve noticed a lot of authors and publishing professionals who are discounting the impact of online marketing and promotion. It usually goes something like this:
People don’t buy books because of Facebook / Twitter / [insert online community here].
Or: Blogging/social networking takes a lot of energy, has little impact, and robs you of time better spent on publishable writing that earns you hard cash.
Or: Your so-called friends and followers consist only of other people trying to sell YOU stuff.
I sense that many authors have become jaded after not seeing any monetary impact from their blogging or online networking. “Show me the evidence,” these people say, “that this effort actually amounts to sales.”
OR: Many of you have been on the receiving end of hard sells and shills—those annoying people who exploit every online connection they have in hopes of earning a buck.
I agree, those people ought to be spurned—especially because they are setting a bad example and turning people off to what is a miraculous development of our age: the ability to efficiently and dynamically organize and connect with like-minded people for very little (or no) expense.
Social networking isn’t a fad. It’s an expression of what we love to do, which is socialize, have conversations, and form meaningful relationships with new people.
Now, there are two reasons why I think some authors have found online marketing ineffective:
- They tried to make something happen without a strategy and a hub.
- They lacked the long-haul view, meaning they needed to see results too quickly, abandoned their efforts too quickly, and assumed failure.
What Action Do You Want People to Take?
Whatever it is you do online, consider what you want people to do or to think when you appear in their line of sight. When someone “sees” you online, I call that a single impression. Making an impression can mean the smallest of things, including:
- A Facebook status update
- A tweet
- A blog post
- A comment you leave on a blog or forum
- Whenever or wherever you leave a mark
If people are entertained, informed, or fascinated by something you’ve done online, they’ll be curious and want to know more about you. It is very important that you give them some place to go, or something to do.
This is why I recommend every writer have a website, even before they have a book deal or a specific project to promote. You want to have a hub ready—a place for people to find out more, or sign up, or become a follower.
Some writers use Facebook or Twitter as their hub, at least in the early stages—meaning the only action you want people to take might be following you or friending you. This is fine.
Eventually, you’ll need to up your game, and have them become a subscriber to your site/blog, or an e-newsletter. Or maybe you want them to download the first chapter of your book.
It really doesn’t matter what it is you want people to do, as long as you are thinking in terms of what specific action would help you in your career at a particular moment in time. What are your goals for the next 3 months or 6 months or 12 months?
The action you want people to take (as a result of some impression) will change over time. It may even change frequently. That’s OK.
But when it comes to online marketing and promotion, while not everything you do needs to be tied to audience development (that would get boring, tiresome, and unfun), you should have a “route” for people to follow. This route underpins your presence on each facet of your online life, and leads back to the hub (where an action can be taken).
Now, here’s the catch. The longer you’re online, the deeper and more effective you’ll be. The more impressions you’ll make over time, the more people will head to your hub. (You’ll also be getting more comfortable, more savvy, and more in tune with what you need to do. It will be second nature.)
All this happens naturally; you couldn’t stop it if you tried.
And that’s why it takes patience. It’s why quick and short online marketing campaigns (unless backed by a lot of corporate money and powerful connections) aren’t effective for individual authors. You have to be in it for the long haul. That’s how the payoff comes.
How do I know?
It’s happened to me. I’ve received job offers and wonderful opportunities (and increased opportunities for my employers) due to the long and deep tread of my online life.
So I can testify with certainty: It works. But not overnight.
Jane Friedman has more than 20 years in the publishing industry, with expertise in digital media and the future of authorship. She’s the co-founder and editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential industry newsletter for authors. You can find out more about her consulting services and online classes at her website, JaneFriedman.com.
I’ll not bore anyone with just how much an online presence has helped me, but everything Jane says here is absolutely true. And it definitely doesn’t happen overnight.
I couldn’t agree more!
Thanks for sharing, Jane :)
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Jane,
Blast this from the rooftops!
With any business it takes time. The only overnight increase in your bank account will come from a lottery ticket.
Perseverance, determination, longevity, affirmations and goal setting are some of the pillars needed to achieve what you’re looking for.
Thanks Jane for a friendly reminder to keep going and allow time to add to your future.
I have found it easy to start building my presence on Facebook and Blogs, less regularly on Twitter, and though I have a website – that’s where I am most stumped. As I currently don’t have a finished project ready to promote, I don’t feel as if people have anything to come and visit. But my main goal was to have a skeleton ready, and do what I can for now – and then when I do have a project to promote, make it a more active tool.
I admit to being one of those who sometimes thinks that social media isn’t worth the effort. I worry about the number of my twitter followers (about 200) or my Facebook likers (about 100) and I think, where’s my ROI? I blog, I participate, and I worry. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not doing it because I think I must but I’d rather be doing something else. I do it because my office is little more than a closet off my bedroom and the only person I have for company is the Toy Story Rex doll I bought for an office-mate, and he’s only programmed with 10 phrases (none of which are, “you’re such an awesome writer!” or “I’d friend you if I had thumbs.”) I find the camaraderie of online writers very uplifting. I’d invite them all to my house for drinks if I had the room (or the money). But however pleasant the social side of it is, I find the business side (the looking at the numbers side) rather stressful. As I said, I worry.
Kristen Lamb recently blogged about basically what you’re saying: that it’s a slow and steady kind of deal (link: https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/slow-and-steady-wins-the-race/)
My publisher for years was pushing me to get onto Twitter and Facebook and start talking to people, but I wasn’t thrilled with what seemed to me to be random chatter. Many of my fellow authors have little to say but ‘here’s my book, go buy it’ which doesn’t do much for me. I did a lot of posting on sites like GoodReads.com. I have three blogs, the first at MySpace, which has most of my older comments. The next was on blogspot, but my wordpress blog started when I couldn’t paste a blog post onto my blogpost blog. I had the wordpress blog because my publisher had several blogs for various different imprints and I had to have an account in order to contribute to them. Just recently I had a strange, almost religious experience, where I suddenly understood blogging, almost like learning a different language. Since that time I’ve become much more proficient at this sort of communication. It also helps that my current favorite blogsite has easy to use statistics, which quickly became an addiction for me. I see a jump in the number of clickthroughs from my blog to my website, but I don’t know if they translate into sales or not. I do know that people who read my blogs are getting a sample of me and my writing style, as well as samples from my books.
Marc Vun Kannon
https://authorguy.wordpress.com
https://marcvunkannon.blogspot.com
Jane,
I really hope I didn’t inspire this (awesome) post. ;)
Look! I am networking! Hello, fellow writers!
This. Is. So. True.
A year ago when I made my own web page, I was immediately stumped as to what to blog about. My life? I’m an unknown author. 12 people on the planet care about my life. Writing? I care a lot about that, but again, I’m not as witty as many really, really good writers who blog about writing. My husband had one word to say: content.
And wow, a lot of content later, what a difference a year makes. Those stat counters are addictive . . .
Social media can be a powerful tool or a complete waste of time or anywhere in between. I tweet and blog most of all because I like it — and both have also brought me new followers who are interested in my book, which is great. But the need for a hub and a strategy, as Jane points out, is key.
There is nothing more obvious than someone only using social media to sell books. Oddly, even within Twitter’s 140-character limit, I feel like most people can smell desperation or sense sincerity. If you hate it, it’ll show. If you love it, same thing.
Thanks, Jane. I totally agree with your patient approach and seeing the bigger picture or long-term vision. Blogging has drawn more people to my website than previously landed there.
I’ve also gotten encouraging responses from fellow group members of Writers Digest Community online. Like LinkedIn, WD groups are free, active, and open to interesting discussions about all genres and aspects of writing.
Jane, you speak the truth. While I’ve been blogging since 2006, I’ve only had my website and Facebook for the last year. I’ve met so many interesting folks on Facebook that I can’t imagine not being a part of it.
Sometimes when I see how few comments a post I’ve published with particular fondness receives I feel discouraged. Then I review the number of hits my humble little site got on that same day and know that I am making inroads somewhere. Figuring out the where is the hard part.
I will tell you a short-story: As a writer hoping to land an agent, I followed Marlene Stringer, who tweeted a blog contest by one of her authors, Alex Bledsoe. I won two ARCs and have become a fan, going on to purchase copies of Alex’s novels for myself and for the library where I work. So blogging and running contests works.
I also started my online plan several years ago so I would have the opportunity to run my blog and experiment with posts to see what connected with readers and what didn’t. Ditto with the website.
Now that I have an agent and am on submission, I feel confident enough to start my own author blog while remaining connected to my first blog.
Oh, and I follow Jane Friedman everywhere she goes, because when it comes to online marketing and social networking, her advice has always been dead-on. Thanks, Jane!
I couldn’t agree more, Jane, thanks.
I want to underscore the importance of having a strategy. As a new online business entrepreneur in the literary world (and as a writer who will be building an author site soon, too) it was critical for me to develop a business strategy for an online presence in just the same way I’d build it for a new storefront business. I spent months researching my target market and where they spent time online and developed a marketing plan based on the results of that research (and as one piece of a more comprehensive business plan).
This may seem anathema to creative writers who simply want to write but it’s important if you want to sell books that you also think like an entrepreneur, or find someone else who can help you think that way.
And I agree with @Sarah Woodbury . . . those stats ARE addictive, and what a blast to see them climb.
Thanks, Jane, for your good work!
I completely agree. My social networking has supported my writing in all kinds of ways, from making connections to people who help me with research, to discovering new markets, to increasing traffic to my online short story publications and much, much more. And, like all tools, it’s up to the user to use wisely.
I’m just now starting blogging for some of my projects, as I feel my college is more important than trying to push myself to full time writer status right now. That said, my current blog is for a side project that I do just to keep up on my hobby while having little to no time. It’s fun, but it is definitely a waiting game! Love the post.
Great post, Jane! I too feel that there is confusion and frustration over how to use and what to expect from social media.
My approach has been to be authentic, consistent and to try and add value. I try not to be overly promotional, although I think people have some tolerance for occasionally tooting your own horn.
Social media is great; but it’s not a magic bullet. You are absolutely right that there needs to be some patience and a long-term strategy.
I’ve quite recently set up a blog and put myself on Twitter, and have reconfirmed just how much more patience I could learn from this. I find myself looking at a post from one day ago and wondering why I have not yet received a hundred comments or even page hits. It’s like you suddenly expect the Whole Wide Internet to redirect to YOUR site, right now, no questions asked…
Definitely on board with this. I have heard a lot of grumbling about the work and lack of pay off with blogging, but the fact of the matter is, if you work it, it works. A friend of mine has garndered 400 bloggers to blast the internet on the day her book becomes available to pre-order–but she couldn’t have done it without posting interesting content regularly, AND checking out the blogs of her followers and commenting regularly to develop the LOYALTY.–but you can imagine–400 blogs, and all THEIR followers… is broad reach.
“Social networking isn’t a fad. It’s an expression of what we love to do, which is socialize, have conversations, and form meaningful relationships with new people.”
Thanks for saying that, Jane. I was having a conversation recently on another blog about this very subject. The more we put into it, the more we will get out of it, but ultimately we (should) do it because we love it. And nobody said it would be easy. :)
Great blog post. I’m new to the blogging scene and am learning a lot about how to post interesting content, as well as utilize facebook and twitter. Thanks for some sound advice!
Wow! Thanks Jane. You have outlined exactly the kind of approach I have been taking.
In the last year, there has been a progression of knowledge and connections for me with my writing.It seems that things are coming together (not sure if some people realize this!) but I think you are so write about taking these various steps.
This was so helpful and encouraging!
Since social media has an instanteous aspect to it, it’s easy to understand why people expect instantaneous results. But that’s now how ANY kind of marketing works — radio and TV and newspaper ads require several repetitions before customers typically respond, and even then the actual percentage is usually fairly low.
The beauty of social media is that you can connect with people and enjoy interacting with them–people you might not stumble across in your daily life–all while you’re working at your computer anyway.
I’m more likely to buy the book of someone I enjoy chatting and laughing with via Twitter or my blog than someone who has a high-powered media blitz. It’s nice to feel like more than just a stat or sales figure.
Absolutely agree! I set out with SunnyRoomStudio to meet other writers basically; to connect with kindred spirits, more generally. Being a writer, in the past, meant isolation to a point, so I truly enjoy having a community of friends and supporters and lovely people who share similar interests.
I also live in Dakota — small town — and having moved back here from big cities (Indianapolis and St. Louis), I truly value the gifts of connection, communication, and camaraderie that can be found via online social / professional hubs.
Plus, I get to learn from pros in the business, people like Jane Friedman, for instance, and others with great ideas. I, in fact, talk about the value of these connections on my blog in a post called Peace at Dawn: I even name names!
So, stop by, say hello … SunnyRoomStudio is a hub specifically for kindred spirits, a creative, sunny space to reflect, to find inspiration, to share talents and skills. A place to “get away” for a few minutes without leaving your desk.
Loved this, from above: Social networking isn’t a fad. It’s an expression of what we love to do, which is socialize, have conversations, and form meaningful relationships with new people.
Thanks, Jane, excellent work here! –Daisy @ http://www.daisyhickman.com
Spot on, Jane!
I really think it’s about connecting genuinely and understanding that good things can come out of those connections organically and with time. It’s like networking in real life. I’d never go up to a stranger I met at a party and say: “do this for me.” But I would ask a stranger whom I met a long time ago at a party and who turned into a friend through lunches, emails, phone calls and ask: “Can you help?”
Hey, would everyone also leave their Twitter or Facebook IDs on posts like this? It would be fabulous to connect and give Jane’s advice a try! Here’s me: https://www.twitter.com/history_geek
Very well “said.” I’ve been on the fence for some time and recently went whole-hog. As an old advertising pro, the arguments to clients were the same: “it’s a slow build; it takes time; you have to give people a reason to respond.”
I have been on Twitter for a few months now and have loved it from the beginning. As a long time freelancer used to working alone, I was delighted to make connections with fascinating people from all over the world.
Numerous tweets were also inspirations for blog posts. My biggest problem with it is that I’ve come across such interesting stuff to read, I’ve sometimes had to cut myself off from it to get some work done. In every way Twitter has enlarged my world by buckets.
I agree. It takes a while to build up a following and you have to work hard hard hard at it.
Which came first, the website or the blog? I realize the website would contain a link to the blog, but don’t you need to have a few blogposts first? Where? Or should I get up a website and add a blog to it later, when I’ve figured out what my “content” will be? I’ve visited websites with eager anticipation, only to find a few words about the person’s origins or interests, and those were put up months ago. It’s a dead end. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel that way on mine. But until I figure out blog content and where to put it, is there any point in bothering with the website? I’ve read all the comments for months and still haven’t been able to pin down either path.
Great post. Patience is an industry-wide challenge. I’ve been hearing the social media/website/marketing lecture for years. I finally started implementing it about four months ago and I’m already getting results. Thanks for continuing to gently beat us over the head. It’s working.
Oh. I would also suggest using HARO. It’s a good way to get exposure and offer expertise/opinions to reporters looking for story ideas/quotes/personal experience.
Marc — I’m currently writing a blog post that addresses your concerns about “random chatter.” The basic theme is that you may need to look outside of your industry to find people who network well online. In your case, you don’t have to look too far; journalists and writers of non-fiction tend to have more enthusiasm for online business networking than writers of fiction.
You may also be interested in this article I wrote called “The Significance of Small Talk.” https://bit.ly/b4w8ih
Eugenia — The very successful blogger Chris Guillebeau suggests having dozens of blog posts “ready to roll” before officially launching your blog, so that if you are confronted with a busy week, or even a busy month, you will have material.
Of course, this advice doesn’t help you if you’re not sure you even WANT to have a blog.
Nowadays successful websites are built on blogging platforms, or have fully integrated blogs. Your readers don’t have to see a blank “blog page”; don’t even add it to the navigation bar until you’re ready for it. But you definitely should have a “home on the web.”
Excellent article! Could not agree more.
Got to tell somebody!
I am reading HERE COMES EVERYBODY by Clay Shirky which succinctly explains the whole social networking phenomen, why and how it works. Invaluable. Just had to share. Thanks.
This is great advice. I think it’s especially important to establish an online presence through blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., before any kind of book deal, if possible. You will be able to naturally and organically gravitate toward like-minded people without any motives outside of friendship. It will all help with networking down the road, but take the pressure off at the beginning and enjoy the connections as they happen.
[…] Friedman on Writer Unboxed The No. 1 Component of an Effective Online Marketing and Promotion Strategy “I recommend every writer have a website, even before they have a book deal or a specific […]
I was actually thinking of blogging about this very topic myself. You made some great points. Good post!
I think you have to work at two levels. Enjoy the networking for it’s own sake, and write blog posts, comments etc. that are helpful, funny or heartfelt — as much as you can manage, without killing yourself trying to be overly witty and fantastic. And at the same time, keep in mind the larger goal.
Lately I’ve been keeping track of how often I comment/tweet/facebook. To my surprise, it’s a lot less than it feels like. I think I often read without commenting.
I think the unusual stories of an author’s overnight success can sometimes overshadow solid advice like this blog post. Thanks for the reminder. We need the encouragement to press on.
I agree with Tara. With Social Media I think you need to be authentic. Don’t fake interest in Blogging or Tweeting or Facebook…because your posts will reflect that. Be genuine. Be passionate about your niche…and be prepared to give before you receive…then one day you will wake up and realise that you are having a good time, you are learning lots and you are in touch with people all over the world…that is Social Media in action.
Thank you for this information. I’m new to the realm of growing readership. I find articles like this to be very helpful!
I hope you’re having a great day!
Sammantha
Facebook works! The universe is vast and the opportunity to converse with people on all types of subjects is mind-numbing. I cannot imagine my life as an author without Facebook.
I have a blog, but I had been stumped as far as subjects. My title, DON’T BLINK, was the shortened version of my first novel, DON’T BLINK WHEN GOD CALLS. I have written only twice under that title because I found it quite confining. Thus, I am going to change the title to reflect who I am at this stage of my life and to write about lifestyle subjects that most anyone can relate to. I firmly believe in social marketing and its value to aspiring writers. Do It!
I’m the first to assert that it’s great storytelling that sells fiction. It’s my religion.
But I do agree with Jane: Promotion of any kind (online or off) is a long-term proposition. Promo through social networking has a unique dynamic too, so it pays to understand it. Jane knows.
Excellent post, Jane! And great feedback as well.
I started a Twitter account two months ago and a blog a month ago to start connecting with people in the writing arena. I haven’t started writing my book yet but I find this medium to be an fantastic community of people connecting and sharing – the wisdom of aspiring and published authors highlighting the importance of building one’s platform before we even start to write (and yes, social media is key!), and so much more.
Without taking action in this area, I would have missed out on discovering a world full of passionate, committed and supportive writers. I believe when the time comes to launch my book that my online community will also be partners in celebrating our collective success.
I agree with Maureen. The blogs I enjoy visiting the most are the ones with a specific niche and lots of information. Of course, contests and interviews are fun, too. I love connecting with people from everywhere. I started my blog in February and finally have over 100 followers. I started with Twitter in June and already have over 150 followers there. I’m certainly in this for the long haul, and hope that I continue to offer good content to all the folks that find me. Thanks for the reassurance that blogging works. And thanks for the inspiration to keep at because it’s so slow.
I really needed this encouragement. Thanks!
[…] takes too much time or isn’t worth it, you might want to take a look at this recent article The No. 1 Component of an Effective Online Marketing and Promotion Strategy by former Writers Digest publisher Jane […]
Jane,
Thanks for your great advice! And you were a WD publisher–Wow! I’m impressed.