Social
Media Survey
This
is not a survey, in the strict sense of the word. It is rather my
observations over a two week period of using social media as a means
of free advertising.
A
lot of people want to sell their books and services using social
media. Surprisingly, by the response I had to my survey, only a few were interested in discovering whether
this medium is a viable means by which to promote their products.
As
the author of 3 published books, 1 about to be published and a
further book nearing completion, I am naturally interested in finding
the best possible method of promotion, in the most cost effective
way.
There
are a number of books being circulated at the moment, expounding the
benefits of using social media as a productive method of advertising.
It
is my opinion that they are wrong.
Why?
I'll
explain. I took 3 social media sites.
Twitter.
Google +. Face-book.
The
bench mark I used to determine their viability was visit numbers to
my website and book sales.
I
will take the least first.
Google
+.
I
added a large number of people to my 'circles' before I started my
survey. I posted my 2 blogs and my 3 published books, together with
my website, on google +.
The
response was negligible compared to the effort needed.
Twitter.
On
my twitter account I have 493, and rising followers, and I follow 797,
not vast in the scheme of things but enough for the purposes of my
survey.
Again
the traffic created from this site was extremely low. Most of the
those tweeting were doing exactly the same as me. Trying to sell
their products and services, using the free exposure.
Face-Book.
Using
the advice described in the 'how to promote' yourself on Face-Book,
books, I joined 56 Face-Book groups and posted, my website, blogs and
books, in all the groups. I also posted the same, to my long
suffering FB friends.
A
great deal of my time and effort was needed in doing this.
FB,
is, in my opinion, an incredibly good idea to bring people together
who have common interests. It's both enjoyable to use, at times
challenging, always fun and slightly addictive.
It
is not however, a commercially viable FREE advertising tool.
The
very nature of FB is to connect people with common interests and it
does this very well. You just have to look at the 'people you may
know' section and they will be connected to either your work or
hobbies.
If
you are an author then the chances are your 'friends' are too. If
they are not authors, then they are probably, editors, cover artists,
bloggers or book publishers.
If
you post a picture of a fluffy bunny kissing a cute kitten, with a
puerile message attached, it will most likely be shared. Post your
book cover, and it most likely won't be shared as often.
Of
the 56 groups I joined and posted my website and my 3 books to, I
had many likes, and the odd comment – but here's the thing. The
likes and comments were from my existing friends and none from group
members I did not know.
There
is another downside to joining and posting to multiple groups –
posting fatigue.
At
any one time when I now sign in to my FB page, I can have as many as
60 + notifications.
Why
so many?
Simple,
because one posting in all the groups will show up in multiples on my
notifications.
I
have sat on FB and watched my notifications rising at an alarming
rate by a single person trying to utilise this free advertising
medium. I have got to the point where, I now don't bother to click
and see what it is they are promoting.
Now
that I have finished my short survey, I intend to un-friend the worst
offenders.
I
am sure, I am not the only one who feels this way.
I
have sold books through FB, but in the main to my friends. I can't
give exact details of the number of books sold, until I get my
quarterly statement from my publisher, but I can reasonably deduce
from my ratings that the efforts I exerted have not pushed my ratings
up by any significant amount.
My
website has remained steady in the visits it receives. That said, the
number of visits from Face-Book has slightly increased but not by
huge numbers.
I
expect, like me, you have noticed an increase in the paid ads
appearing on FB. The thing that makes these paid ads more
interesting, than the constant flow of 'here's my latest novel' ads,
is, they are diverse with lots of different types of businesses,
clubs and people.
Joining
clubs and trying to sell to friends who are also trying to sell to
you, is like, as we English say, Coals to Newcastle. Why would you
sell coal to a coal miner?
I
don't doubt that my efforts will, if not now, but in the future,
bring in the odd extra sale or two of my books. However, the time
spent promoting by this free method, does not justify the amount of
sales likely to be generated.
Book
bloggers, on-line magazines, getting an agent and or pushing your
publisher for more promotion, is much more likely to help you succeed
in achieving well-known writer status. That said, I have connected with some wonderful bloggers and on-magazines through social media.
Net-working
is an important part of becoming a name - but thinking you can get
away with it for free, is in my opinion, a misnomer. I would have
been much better off spending my time writing than the hours I spent,
joining, posting and trawling through social media.
Face-Book
groups are wonderful, if you use them for what they were originally
intended – a way to get to know and make friends with people who
are interested in the same things, for sharing information and
exchanging useful tips etc. They are not a book shop in which to sell
your wares. Any group that is only interested in being used as a
promotional outlet for book sales is pointless and if the promoting
is overdone, downright irritating.
Sharing
photos about our lives, loves and interests is what social media is
all about. It's not wrong to post your up-and-coming new novel on
your FB page, that's what social networking is for. After-all, this
blog is posted on FB.
It's
great to hear that an author is doing well in the ratings. I love to
read on FB good news from fellow authors, and I'll hold their FB
hand's when they hit a low.
The
question I wanted answered was - Can you really get noticed by tens
of thousands of potential book buyers by posting in FB groups?
In
theory – yes, you can.
In
practise – it is a doubtful and an unrealistic expectation to
assume you will have substantially increased book sales by this
method.
The
above is purely my own findings and my own opinion.
Thanks
for reading this post.
Josephine
Sanchez-Vanner
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