EXPLOIT TWITTER'S BOOST !
It's amazing what a little bluebird that "tweets" can do for your marketing efforts! While there's millions of Twitter users, some have tried and couldn't figure it out and eventually threw their hands up altogether. Many have little clue what Twitter can do and keep it at arm's length. That's a mistake if you're looking for ways to increase exposure and improve the marketing of your book!
It's important to buck the resistance and learn how to use Twitter. One of the roadblocks to potential users is that each message post is restricted to only 140 characters or less. Many people are used to creating long messages with Facebook or email. Some are frustrated when trying to reduce their post to abbreviations and hashtags (key words preceded by the "#" symbol) of which they have little understanding or confidence. To them, it's like a new language altogether.
The trick is to judiciously tap into the same common, "keywords" often used by millions of tweeters as hashtags to portray their message. Strategic choice of such hashtags is essential! To be effective, maximize the selection of keywords by using hashtags that best match your message's goals and are the more popular choices used by tweeters.
The transformation of many good writers during their switch from scripting interesting, verbose messages with email or Facebook to the cryptic messages most effective on Twitter can be difficult and frustrating.
It doesn't have to be that hard if you train yourself to simplify messages to common keywords.
Instead of writing something like this as you might with email and Facebook:
Hello, fellow authors. Explore my exciting website where you can find writing and marketing tips to help readers discover your books: http://www.andyskrzynski.com/tips-for-authors.html
Craft your tweet more like the following to stay within Twitter's 140 character limit:
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/tips-for-authors.html <== Here's great #writing tips & #marketingtips for #authors to #promote #books to more #readers
Note: I've included the website link up-front in the shorter tweet. While I've included the "whole" web link above, Twitter will automatically shorten it to help you fit more #hashtags in your word-limited post.
Learn to include web links to your website, Facebook page, Amazon page, or other key locations that provide your target audience with the most pertinent information about your book. Don't use two or three web links or you won't have any room for important hashtags.
To hone my hashtag selection, I love the website http://hashtagify.me/ which provides a wonderful means to quickly find the relative "popularity" of hashtags. It's a great website to help select tags that provide a better chance to effectively promote your message to more tweeters.
Below, I've provided a Nov. 27, 2016 snapshot from searches on hashtagify.me of the "Popularity" for many writing, author, and marketing groups typically of interest to many indie authors.
Note: add the "#" symbol before each location listed below when using the hashtagify "Search #tag:" feature. The number to the left of each hashtag location is the Nov. 27th "popularity" of tags listed below. The higher the number, the better, of course. While the popularity number may vary a little bit daily, the relative position doesn't change that much. If Amazon is in the 80s on Friday, it's most likely going to remain in the 80s on Saturday.
85.8 free
82.7 Amazon
82.1 Deals
76.5 romance
76.0 blog
75.9 sale
75.8 books
74.7 promo
72.0 humor
69.4 mystery
68.2 author
66.8 ComingSoon
60.5 Top10
59.6 publishing
50.4 bookmarketing
41.9 HotTitles
40.3 booksale
40.3 fivestar
36.8 BookBub
31.7 ReadersGazette
15.7 bookgorilla
11.0 ereadernewstoday
09.9 FussyLibrarian
This is a small sampling of the 250+ hashtags I select from every day in my marketing exploits. It is not intended to promote these or slight the numerous other similar tags. For example, I've included Amazon, BookBub, and a few other book promoters, but there are many other great book promoters you and others may have used. Just go to hashtagify.me, enter "#" in front of your favorite choice in the search window, and find it's "popularity" toward the top of the results. Explore the website features to find other valuable tools to help your marketing efforts.
Caution: Don't overuse the same exact hashtags more than a couple of times spread over a day, or you may be flagged as a spammer and "blocked" from some hashtags. You don't want to abuse using highly popular tags and risk being restricted from their valuable availability to you in the future!
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the uses of other social media choices. For now, I encourage you to look at "50 Twitter Hashtags" or the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.
It's important to buck the resistance and learn how to use Twitter. One of the roadblocks to potential users is that each message post is restricted to only 140 characters or less. Many people are used to creating long messages with Facebook or email. Some are frustrated when trying to reduce their post to abbreviations and hashtags (key words preceded by the "#" symbol) of which they have little understanding or confidence. To them, it's like a new language altogether.
The trick is to judiciously tap into the same common, "keywords" often used by millions of tweeters as hashtags to portray their message. Strategic choice of such hashtags is essential! To be effective, maximize the selection of keywords by using hashtags that best match your message's goals and are the more popular choices used by tweeters.
The transformation of many good writers during their switch from scripting interesting, verbose messages with email or Facebook to the cryptic messages most effective on Twitter can be difficult and frustrating.
It doesn't have to be that hard if you train yourself to simplify messages to common keywords.
Instead of writing something like this as you might with email and Facebook:
Hello, fellow authors. Explore my exciting website where you can find writing and marketing tips to help readers discover your books: http://www.andyskrzynski.com/tips-for-authors.html
Craft your tweet more like the following to stay within Twitter's 140 character limit:
http://www.andyskrzynski.com/tips-for-authors.html <== Here's great #writing tips & #marketingtips for #authors to #promote #books to more #readers
Note: I've included the website link up-front in the shorter tweet. While I've included the "whole" web link above, Twitter will automatically shorten it to help you fit more #hashtags in your word-limited post.
Learn to include web links to your website, Facebook page, Amazon page, or other key locations that provide your target audience with the most pertinent information about your book. Don't use two or three web links or you won't have any room for important hashtags.
To hone my hashtag selection, I love the website http://hashtagify.me/ which provides a wonderful means to quickly find the relative "popularity" of hashtags. It's a great website to help select tags that provide a better chance to effectively promote your message to more tweeters.
Below, I've provided a Nov. 27, 2016 snapshot from searches on hashtagify.me of the "Popularity" for many writing, author, and marketing groups typically of interest to many indie authors.
Note: add the "#" symbol before each location listed below when using the hashtagify "Search #tag:" feature. The number to the left of each hashtag location is the Nov. 27th "popularity" of tags listed below. The higher the number, the better, of course. While the popularity number may vary a little bit daily, the relative position doesn't change that much. If Amazon is in the 80s on Friday, it's most likely going to remain in the 80s on Saturday.
85.8 free
82.7 Amazon
82.1 Deals
76.5 romance
76.0 blog
75.9 sale
75.8 books
74.7 promo
72.0 humor
69.4 mystery
68.2 author
66.8 ComingSoon
60.5 Top10
59.6 publishing
50.4 bookmarketing
41.9 HotTitles
40.3 booksale
40.3 fivestar
36.8 BookBub
31.7 ReadersGazette
15.7 bookgorilla
11.0 ereadernewstoday
09.9 FussyLibrarian
This is a small sampling of the 250+ hashtags I select from every day in my marketing exploits. It is not intended to promote these or slight the numerous other similar tags. For example, I've included Amazon, BookBub, and a few other book promoters, but there are many other great book promoters you and others may have used. Just go to hashtagify.me, enter "#" in front of your favorite choice in the search window, and find it's "popularity" toward the top of the results. Explore the website features to find other valuable tools to help your marketing efforts.
Caution: Don't overuse the same exact hashtags more than a couple of times spread over a day, or you may be flagged as a spammer and "blocked" from some hashtags. You don't want to abuse using highly popular tags and risk being restricted from their valuable availability to you in the future!
In the weeks ahead, I will expand on the uses of other social media choices. For now, I encourage you to look at "50 Twitter Hashtags" or the other "Marketing Suggestions" provided within my book series' website.