If you are on multiple platforms you may easily see the same item shared numerous times. Remember that when you are posting news as it is being broadcast to people who already like, follow, or subscribe to your network. Our AM101 TIP is to cross-promote and team up but when you do so in Social Media networks - Be Aware Of The Volume of posts and email you generate.
Here's a great example of how a few authors having fun together can generate a rash of duplicate multiposting:
Spread the word, THE RESOLUTION TOUR – January 1 – 9, 2013, is off to a tremendous start. If any of these resolutions below sound familiar, you might want to check them out:
Maggie Jaimeson – Take a VacationPaty Jager – Volunteerism
Linda Mercury – Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life
Cassiel Knight – No More Procrastination
Susan Lute – Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your BlissJamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet
Share this:
All the above authors are in our networks. The Numbers are - 9 posts x 9 days = 81! We BOTH saw numerous daily notices regarding this resolution tour and have to point out that this is an example of Social Media OVERLOAD! But We Love Them All as authors and friends. We applaud their innovation and enthusiasm. We consider the Guest Posting on each other's blogs a good idea! Three additional promo's per day/per blog is an Oops!
Remember the audience who has Already Liked, Followed, Subscribed to you is seeing each promo you post. Your life may be about your books and how to promote them. Your readers have their own lives. Few aspire to be authors. Less than FEW become authors. Most of your readers will like reading your book and then move on with their lives. Be OKAY with that even when you are solving the mysteries of the universe .
Have a grand time writing and publishing your books. Make sure they are presented well. Make sure it is easy for readers to find and BUY your books. If your BUY links fail - everything else is a nice effort that does nothing.
To wrap up our Social Media month: Here's some predictions and information to review that can only be shared because blogging has made it possible:
Publishing Predictions for 2013 via Laura Howard (and Ten Authors!) as was recapped by The Passive Voice.
Seth Godin's 1/14/13 article: Understanding Idea Adoption Explains in another way why we at AM101 state that marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, and advise authors stop burning themselves our with release week promotions. Digital books do not have limited shelf life. Build sustainable marketing into your career instead of being a splash and dash promoter.
And check out WiseInk as they are fresh voices advising and supporting Indie Authors on their journey. We discovered them because their post: 12 Lessons We Learned Coaching Indie Authors in 2012 was referenced on another blog. Why would we promote this blog? Because the authors/creators at WiseInk are having FUN. At first glance we feel - hey, this is a fun site.
You bring up a point that has always baffled me. How much is important to keeping people interested versus how much is too much?
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I do one post to each media (blog, Twitter, FB) each day if I can. I try to talk about something other than my books--but they tie into them--each time. Here's the thing. I do think there are some cross-over followers on all three media. However, I know it is not the majority. How do I know, because I can look at who follows my blog, who has LIKED my FB page, and who is following my tweets. The cross-over is about 15%.
In addition, of the three media types, it is likely that the majority of any group will NOT see my post, tweet, blog on any one day. For example, when I look at my FB posts, out of 231 followers, the number of people who SEE my post ranges from 25-60. On Twitter the number of followers who see my post are whoever is online at the time I post (unless they purposely go looking for my posts whenever they login). As for who sees my blog, almost no one. My hits are in the 40-70 range, with the occasion over 100 when the topic speaks to more people.
So, how much is too much? Is cross-posting on all three places really getting the same people? I don't think so. I don't know the answer for sure because the stats I can get don't allow that level of analysis. One thing I do know, if someone posts the same thing on any one media (this happens a lot on twitter and Google+) three, four or five times a day, I simply ignore them or unfollow.
Maggie,
DeleteThanks for this! It's a point I'm sure baffles and frustrates many and here are some of my thoughts on this.
Your above tracking is sort of like determining ROI (Return On Investment). This type of analysis is done by corporations to determine a lot of things, including future advertising and product placement. Well, there's tons more to it than that but the point I want you to consider is - analysis of this nature is done quarterly and annually at corporate levels, involving many products and huge budgets.
For an author to do so daily, or even monthly, regarding sales and advertising of less than a dozen books may not be an effective use of your creative energy. I also don't want authors to get tripped up with concerns about SEO or MetaData or even QR codes unless that's your personal area of expertise and it's fun for you to do so. Know the above relate to tools in a digital world, and can always be applied to a good book, but none of the above generate sales. A great story will take on a life of its own regardless of the embedded data or analysis.
I totally agree that you are not hitting the same audience with a blog, FB post, and/or tweet. Your current and potential readers are probably not connected to you in every venue and you'd rather they aren't as you hope they have a life of their own and are not stalkers. You want readers to find and enjoy your books. You want to sell books because your books are good and readers say so to others!
Another way of analyzing your social media efforts is to consider your favorite authors and how much interaction you want/have with them on a daily basis.
Maybe our posts next month, on Pull Marketing, will be beneficial in helping you define your future social media strategies.
Nicey! Check linked websites of the authors and no wonder they got awesome rankings because of great promotional products and connections in the social network.
ReplyDeleteAmazing article I learn some new things at this time. Many thanks Google to get me the data. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!
ReplyDelete