How to Create a Fantastic Social Media Plan for Writers (or anyone!)
How to Create a Fantastic Social Media Plan for Writers (or anyone!)
I know, I know, you don’t like to plan. However, to reach a goal, you need to first set your goal. Common sense, yes, but few people focus on the finer points necessary to achieve their goals. Being vague will get you nowhere. Writers have the additional challenge of needing to reserve their creative juice and sharp brain time. Learning what you need to do will help you be comfortable with what needs to be done, from here you’ll be able to plan your social media to work in your schedule as well as be more efficient and successful.
Social media may appear from the outside to be random acts of tweeting and posts, but the smart people, and this will be you know what their goals are on the outset. For others, social media may be a half-hazard melange of noise, and if you look at the people who are making a name for themselves with social media, they have a plan and work hard to provide value in a steady of consistent manner.
To create your formula for success, first, consider the following:
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- Why do I want to use social media?
Examples: to sell books, to connect with readers, or start to build a name for yourself.
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- What do I want to accomplish?
Examples: gain followers, create a niche following for my books or build an author platform.
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- How long do you have to spend each day on social media?
Example: 15 minutes in the morning and evening, one hour total per day. You’ll need to commit to your social media every day once you get started. Two smaller chunks are better than one larger one so you can check on comments and activity.
(Why + what) x time = formula for your social media
The process of creating this formula should take some time and soul-searching with a realist edge on the outcome, especially with the amount of time that you have to spend on your social media. It can quickly turn into a time suck and waste precious time that could be spent on productive tasks, not to say that your social media will not be productive, but let’s just say that some people spend a bit too long watching kitten videos and being entertained on the internet. Your social media plan will not include time to waste time; you can do that later once you’ve completed your tasks. Mixing the two is a slippery slope like alcohol at an office party. It’s all fun and games until you realize that you haven’t accomplished anything.
Once you have boiled down your ideas into goals, it’s time to start thinking about how you can achieve them. Each different social platform offers a way to connect with others and share your ideas, but choosing the right one or ones to meet your goals is essential. These are brief introductions to the major social platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Pinterest. I picked these as the big five based on the number of users that they have, as well as how much traffic they refer to blogs and websites.
You’ll pick one social media platform to start with, so you won’t become overloaded with too many things to learn and balance at once.
Twitter is a fast, short conversation told in 140 characters called tweets. This is not the most personal network but used correctly; you can connect with people. Twitter takes a bit of time to learn the basics of mentions and hashtags, but it’s not overly complicated.
Reasons to use Twitter.
- It’s fast and fun.
- It’s becoming more mainstream with #hashtags being mentioned on television shows and sports events.
Additional reading: Easy Ways to Use Twitter
Reasons not to use Twitter
- It can be harder to connect with people.
- Limitations in the character count can be a challenge.
Facebook is a social network that most people are already using. Still, if you want to promote a book or product, you’ll need to start a Facebook page as it’s a violation of Facebook’s terms of service to sell from a personal profile. Sure, you follow people who do it, but if you want to be taken seriously, a page is a way to go, and if you’re building an author platform, you’ll need to properly follow the Terms of Service (TOS) for every platform you use. Why would you build a faulty foundation? Make wise choices from day one.
Reasons to use Facebook.
- You’re familiar with the platform, so it’s easy to get started.
- You may already know people there.
Additional reading: 10 Point Checklist for your Facebook Page
Reasons not to use Facebook
- You want to reach new people, not your friends and family.
- It’s hard to meet new people.
Linkedin is a professional network. This can be used to showcase your experience and build some street cred for yourself. Networking is easy here since it’s the main reason that people are there.
Reasons to use Linkedin.
- Reach executives and professionals.
- Updates are easy.
- Linkedin groups have focused conversations.
Reasons not to use Linkedin
- Hard to connect beyond the initial connections.
- Your focus isn’t on professional connections.
Pinterest is a “tool for collecting and organizing things that you love.” I wouldn’t recommend that this be your primary platform, but it’s a wonderful partner to any of the other main four social platforms that I’ve discussed.
Reasons to use Pinterest.
- You don’t have to create new content for Pinterest; you can add your blog content, add from other web sources, or repin existing content on your boards.
- Pinterest takes less time than the other high traffic referrers, Facebook, and Twitter but can bring awareness and traffic to your writing.
- Your Pinterest boards can show more of your personality, and that’s exactly what people want: a connection with you.
Additional reading: 12 Most Successful Ways for Writers to Win with Pinterest
Reasons not to use Pinterest
- Ummm….at a loss here. Maybe not enough time? But like jello, there’s always room for Pinterest.
This gives you a lot to think about. I’m recommending that you pick one foundation social media account from these:
- Facebook Page (not your personal profile)
Add Pinterest as your secondary social media site since it’s great for SEO and keeping your content organized and more visible.
Ultimately, there is a place for each of these social media networks in your author platform, but to get started to pick one and focus on it. Trying to do too much on social media can become a burden, and then it will become ineffective.
What questions do you have about creating your social media plan? Let me know in the comments below.
Next week I’ll be sharing information on how to use social media tools to get everything done. You can find the other articles in my Social Media for Writers series here.
Totally awesome! Thanks for sharing this very comprehensive post. It’s a gold mine!
Debi Stangeland Great! Thank you for telling me.
Are you building an author platform or writing a book?
Excellent! Thanks for sharing. I agree that this is concise, complete and comprehensive. A wonderful resourse.
E.P. Scott I’m glad you liked it. It’s hard to be concise when covering so much information, thanks!
PegFitzpatrick Debi Stangeland Both actually. I am working on a book that should be out in 2014 and I write a blog so I am building a platform for my readers and new audience. This information you wrote about is really helpful and I have already implemented some of it into my daily schedule. It really helps to keep me on track.
Debi Stangeland Very cool! I love to know that I’ve helped someone. I’m on week 4 of my series so I’ve got lots more information coming.
Do you find it a challenge to write your book and on your blog? Are they the same topic?
PegFitzpatrick E.P. Scott It will certainly come in handy as I move closer to publishing. I use some of these already, but I like your Pinterest…Google+ connection. I’m not on Pinterest yet but it’s intriguing. I also look forward to the rest of your series and I’ll have to look back, since you say this is week four.
PegFitzpatrick Debi Stangeland Ooo, I’m excited now. More coming? Woot! I am actually repurposing a year of posts in a series I did for 52 weeks. It will be more in depth in the book but even though the basic foundation is there it’s still a real challenge. I find that I have to keep my blog posts scheduled way in advance so that I know what I am doing for a couple of months out. Then when I want to work on the book I don’t have to be thinking about the blog. Having the calendar plug-in makes a huge difference.
Debi Stangeland I have my whole series mapped out as well, it makes a huge difference. You don’t have to think about what to write.
Good luck getting your book together, I have heard that it’s a challenge to pull together blog content into a book.
E.P. Scott Pinterest is great because it takes so much less time that everything else and it’s much quieter, you can pin when you have time and not worry about it.
Wow! Lots of great info to digest. I’ll be checking out all of the links within the post as well later today! I have found that creating a facebook page and a twitter account that links to that page instead of my personal profile has made a significant difference in the flow of traffic to my blog posts. Now I think if I can create a better schedule to get writing more often and more consistently it will pick up even more.
I am currently working on two different book launch teams and learning so much about marketing using Social Media…your posts are spot on with the importance of which media has the most influence!!
Blessings,
Gay Idle #CaptiveHeart
This made me giggle – “Reasons not to use Pinterest: Ummm….at a loss here. Maybe not enough time? But like jello, there’s always room for Pinterest.” Yes there is! 🙂
Excellent tips as always PegFitzpatrick. Figuring out your why and what and then where you’ll fit the time in is the key to coming back to each social platform day after day. When we dive in without a plan, that’s when the hit or miss strategy becomes a huge waste of time.
gayidle Hello Gay,
Facebook can bring a lot of traffic if you have a good page working.
Good luck working on your book launches. Just curious, are you using Pinterest for your book launches?
Rebekah Radice I was trying to be objective but couldn’t think of a reason except no more time left in the day. Can you think of any?
I’m really glad you liked it and love our social media strategy chats. 🙂
PegFitzpatrick gayidle Yes! We have been pinning to pinterest like crazy. I have personally created 21 pins between the two books. I use my own personal photos, tweak it with editing tools add quotes from the books and then pin it with a link to the book on Amazon. We are also just now beginning to blog about the books…although I personally don’t have mine written yet. Those get pinned as well. Here is a link to my pinterest board for one of the books…http://pinterest.com/gayidle/quotes-from-when-a-woman-finds-her-voice/
Hi Peg
Thanks again for all the work you share with us.
Denny
Excellent post Peg! Great information and easy to follow.
Thanks, Penny
When/ who should integrate Instagram in the social media mix?
Love this article Peg! I’ve been slacking on some areas of my social media (busy writing), but this article helps me prioritize where to be and why. Thanks!
Hi Peg! This is one of the best posts on how to use social networks that I’ve read to date. I had it up on my browser for a long time…planning to read it…and I’m so glad I did! I’m bookmarking it to share with all my aspiring authors who need to build author platform.
In fact, I’d love to include it in a course I’m running and another I’m building on how to build author platform and promote books. Can we talk about that possibility?
Thanks so much for writing this!