Are you trying to create top of mind awareness with your readers? You probably have a long list of what you need to do. But do you know what NOT to do? Here are four things you want to avoid.
Don’t be a salesperson. If all you do is sell with your marketing outreach — you’ll turn readers off. I’ve seen authors only send out emails or social posts that say “buy my book” over and over and again. This is a sure fire way to turn people off.
Instead of constantly selling, use your interactions to be transparent and real. Readers want to KNOW and ENGAGE with their favorite authors. Consider sharing your love of writing. For instance, if you’re a historical fiction author — share what drove you to pick the era you cover. Tell readers what you find fascinating about it. The more you share insights transparently — the more readers will be able to identify and relate to you.
Now I’m not saying you should never sell but there is balance that you need to achieve. For example, for every seven communications you send out — consider promoting the sale of your book(s) one-two different times.
You don’t want to sound just like your competitors. You want to stand out from other authors that write in the same genre. Determine what is unique and different about what you write and share that with your readers.
If you have a blog, consider writing a post about what makes you unique. Or take a character in your book and write a brief blog post from the character’s perspective e.g. Ten Unknown Facts about Lord Barrington.
Study your “competitors” by following them socially and visiting their website. Decide what you do better or differently and make that part of your message.
You will attract readers when you give them information not found in your books. Doing this also provides an opportunity to connect with readers on a deeper level as they relate to and interact with what you’re sharing.
Don’t hide behind your writing. In other words, don’t become so focused on writing and producing books that you drop the ball when it come to marketing your brand and creating top of mind awareness.
I know you didn’t become an author to spend time marketing and building your brand. But let me ask you this… if you don’t do it — who will?
Of course, once you build up a loyal following of readers — they will join you and become a brand evangelist for everything you write.
So how do you build up that loyal fan base? The way to build your brand and connect with readers is to be everywhere that your readers are likely to be found. Build top of mind awareness!
Whenever your readers turn around they need to bump into you. You can do this by following other authors of a similar genre and commenting on their posts. Their fans will begin to wonder who you are and want to check you out.
Or maybe you can write a guest blog post on that same author’s blog. Or offer to give away their books to your fans if they’ll do the same in return.
The key to getting the right attention is to be consistent in whatever you do. You can’t be a one-hit wonder. Don’t send out one tweet or email and call it a day. You have to strategically and thoughtfully plan out what and how you’ll achieve your goals of connecting with your readers.
Finally, don’t avoid participating socially.
We live in a social society. You can connect with people from around the globe — for free — by actively participating in the conversations on social media.
Sadly, I’ve worked with many authors who avoid social media like the plague. They don’t understand it and don’t want to learn how to use it. This is a sure fire way to become obsolete in today’s social world.
To compete nowadays, you MUST have a web presence including social marketing sites. But it doesn’t stop there — you must actively work the website and social sites to get anything out of them.
Be consistent. Don’t just dip your toe in the water. Dive into the deep end and get wet.
Without ever leaving your workspace you can network with a wide variety of people. You can make excellent contacts and create wonderful relationships. It is really just about participating.
I recently had a situation where I was working for a company and helping them to enhance their web presence and social networking. I created a blog, and LinkedIn and Facebook pages. Within just a few weeks, I was driving massive traffic between all of these different pages and generating interest in what I had to offer.
Simply because I participated. I joined LinkedIn groups and actually participated in the conversations. I posted polls and made many new contacts. Within one week I became one of the top contributors in one of the groups that had over 2,200 members. In another, the editor of a magazine liked one of my posts and wanted to do an article on me.
So what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves and execute your game plan to ensure you create top of mind awareness for your author brand.
Register for the upcoming webinar on Wednesday, January 25, “Get Sticky: Create Top of Mind Awareness with Readers.”
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