Using Social Media to Expand Your Readership
More people of all ages are using social media now than ever before. Not only are most Americans on social media, most people check social media at least once a day.
As more social media platforms enter the market, people increasingly rely on social media for all parts of their lives. One area that social media has boosted is marketing, especially for the publishing industry. Communities have formed online to support off-line reading habits.
When marketing your book, you can use social media to you advantage. There are many advantages to using social media, but be careful not to misuse it for promotion. This article will provide a brief overview of how to use social media to promote your book.
Overview of Platforms
There are seemingly countless social media platforms or websites, with more likely on the way. Each platform has its benefits for promotion to its specific audience. No two social media websites are the same and each focuses on some combination or text, pictures, and video. Many websites have evolved since they were founded to incorporate elements from others, causing crossover in the type of content.
The most popular social media platforms in the United States are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Reddit, Snapchat, X (formerly known as Twitter), Threads, Bluesky, and Truth Social.
Text-Based Social Media
All social media includes some text, but some are more text-centric than others. Some platforms heavily featuring text-based content are Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit, X, Threads, Bluesky, and Truth Social. These are best at curating meaningful and wide-reaching discussions to friends and strangers alike. You can also send direct messages to users on any platform.
On Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky, and Truth Social, people can write anything to share with their social network. WhatsApp is primarily known as a messaging service, but people can also use it to share with large groups. Reddit is an online forum in which people can ask questions and discuss any topic.
Image- and Video-Based Social Media
Much social media includes some visual content; it is the prominence of images or videos that varies. The visuality of social media has become more prominent in recent years.
Facebook and Instagram were one of the first social media platforms designed to share photos with your community. Snapchat is an app where people can send photos or videos to one another that disappear after a limited time. TikTok is a video-based platform where users scroll through a feed full of short videos. On TikTok, there are large communities of people who share their love of reading, forming a community known as BookTok. On other platforms, users can typically post or share photos or videos with their network.
Personal vs. Professional Accounts
There are two types of social media accounts: personal and professional. Personal accounts for for individual people to share with their network. Professional or business accounts are a person or organizations account to support their professional endeavors.
As a person living in the modern world, you likely already have a social media account. During your book’s marketing, you can use your personal account to promote your book. This can reach those you know in your personal life. You can use a separate professional account to build a community of followers. As such, your professional account can form a “fan club” for your readers.
Promotion and Word of Mouth
The content you post on any social media platform is up to you. Most authors find it useful to post any promotional material to introduce your book to the public. This can include video trailers, art work or illustrations, or any promotion you do for the book.
At Cloverly Publishing, we help kickstart your social media marketing by posting about your book upon release. This helps at the most integral part of a book release: launch. We can even create a video teaser to announce your book’s release.
With this material on social media, others will learn about your book who might not otherwise see it. When people read your book, they can share it with others to spread word of mouth. Your audience has no limit when you promote your book on social media.
While promoting your book on social media, you can even join groups focused on writing or including fellow authors. This further builds your literary community and introduces new people to your writing.
