Ok, I get it. The very thought of social media gives you the twitches. How do you promote yourself and your work when you really just want to curl up in a ball and re-watch Pride & Prejudice?
If social media is too much work, will ruin your anonymity, or is just plain a pain in the you-know-what, you could skip it and do whatever works for you as you promote your latest book. It may not be necessary for you to be on every single SM platform, anyway. But if you want to learn everything you can about how to market more effectively on social media, then keep reading. I have a treat for you.
Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Emily Ricci, the president of Gloriam Marketing. She currently works as the assistant director of Digital Communications at a Catholic college. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Theology. Her unique skill set of marketing, writing, and church work made her realize that Catholics need a faith-based approach to marketing. So Emily started her own company, with the goal to help people promote and market their work in this ever-changing online realm known as social media or SM.
5 Tips for Newbies
Emily has five excellent tips for newbies:
- Start as a user first. You will never understand a platform as a marketer that you don’t use personally. Take five minutes every day just exploring the platform you are interested in joining to promote your book and simply consume content. See what others are looking for, and which types of content seem to do well.
- Think about your intended audience and find the platform that best speaks to that audience. If your target audience is men, Pinterest is not the right platform for you. If you are targeting young adults, then you want to be on Instagram. Think also about who your buying target audience is; children do not usually buy children’s books, their parents and grandparents do!
- Don’t create a social media account because you feel like you have to. There are many different forms of marketing. Social media is just one of them. If you don’t have the time or content to post at least 3-4 times per week, social media is not the right marketing platform for you.
- Create a professional account for your work. Posting from your personal social media profile is effective for marketing to family and friends, but you can’t be discovered by the public this way. Take the leap and make a page or business account to display your writing!
- Don’t be afraid of social media. If you’re a writer, you can rock it. SM is all about producing content, especially written content, and you’ve already got that gift!
5 Tips for Mavens
If you already have a presence on social media, Emily recommends:
- Check your analytics at least once a week. Without checking your analytics, you don’t really know the success of your posts. SM is about much more than just likes and comments! In fact, as an author, the most important metric to look at is how many people are clicking on the link to your book.
- Don’t talk exclusively about your book. You should only post a direct link to it maybe once or twice per week. All of your other posts should talk about things related to the topic of your book, or about writing. If you write about being a Catholic mom, then the rest of your posts should be about motherhood, the Faith, etc. It will help build your case for why your book is important without becoming too sales-y.
- Stay consistent in posting. It’s difficult to find the time when you’re doing so much marketing, but consistency is key. Aim for one post per day if you can!
- Engage with other authors and share their books as well. Sharing is caring in the Catholic writing world!
- Stay on top of SM trends. SM changes every single day. Join Facebook groups, follow social media experts, and stay in the loop on what is trending in SM marketing.
Post, Post, Posthaste
I asked Emily to name the number one mistake that new Catholic authors make online, and she said, “Not posting enough! To have a successful social media presence, no matter the platform, you need to post at least 2-3 times per week, at the very minimum. Ideally, you’re posting once per day, but even I can’t do that all the time. Do what you can, but strive for consistency.”
Connect the Dots
She also recommends following social media marketers, and joining Facebook groups meant for Catholic marketers and business owners! We can all help each other out, even in the ever-changing world of SM. Following people, asking to guest post on websites similar to yours, showing interest in others’ work – these are all ways to connect with potential customers.
Reach for the Stars
Gloriam Marketing offers a variety of services, such as press releases, web design, social media consulting, digital advertising, and much more. Services begin at a very reasonable rate of $50 for the first hour, and $30 for every additional hour. Follow Emily on SM to read more from Gloriam, including her latest guide at https://www.gloriammarketing.com/catholic-social-media-training.
And visit https://www.perpetuallightpublishing.com/ for more articles like this. We are striving to form a network of Catholic writers, artists, bloggers, book reviewers, speakers, and other creatives who support one another. It is all, as the motto of Gloriam Marketing says, “for the greater glory of God.”
Eight Hobbits 