Some people think I'm on social media all the time because my presence is there 24/7, but my secret weapon is automation and scheduling, as well as tools that enable me to use social media without spending all my time on it. 

Let's face it. We all have a love/hate relationship with social. We love it for the connection with friends, influencers, updates, recommendations and ability to market to readers.

We hate it for the all-pervasive, addictive need to check whether people have liked our pics, read our updates, clicked on our ads, or just to see whether there's anything new going on.

Thankfully there are tools we can use and habits we can build that reduce the amount of time we spend on social media – but you can still use it for marketing.

An additional benefit is that scheduling can help you reach readers all over the world in multiple time zones, tweeting or sharing while you're asleep but others are awake! This was how I established my author platform when I lived in Australia, but still managed to attract readers from the US and UK even though I was the other side of the world.

Batching

The first step is behavioural change, using batching to set aside a specific block of time to do a task once a week or once a month, instead of every day.

So instead of checking your accounts five times a day and finding things to Tweet or Facebook about, you can spend an hour each week scheduling and organizing content for your social accounts. Then, you can check in with the accounts perhaps once a day to respond to messages or to mentions from readers and fans.

Batching and scheduling your social media posts means your accounts will be continually active, but you won’t have to be.

Scheduling Tools

[Update 31 March 2018 – there have been changes to Twitter's Terms of Service around scheduling. Here's MeetEdgar's post about it, but scheduling exactly the same content is now not allowed, so please check this before using any scheduling service for the media you are interested in.]

MeetEdgar

The Creative Penn's MeetEdgar queue. You can see the different categories used for the different types of posts.

MeetEdgar is the best tool around for scheduling content that you want to share more than once. If you have a series of blog posts on writing your latest book, or on book research, MeetEdgar is the perfect tool to share those posts and it is my #1 tool for sharing evergreen content.

Yes, it is a premium service, but if you want to focus on content marketing as I do, it frees up a lot of time and enables you to get traffic to your backlist content.

It works like this:

• You add the posts you want to share into your MeetEdgar library
• You choose how often you want Edgar to pick a post from that library to share
• You can also divide the posts into specific categories (blog posts, inspirational, questions, tips etc.) and you can create unique categories that fit you if you want to
• You tell Edgar how often you want to post each day (you choose specific times) and also which library categories you want him to pick from. For example, every Tuesday at 2pm a post goes out from your blog posts category. Wednesdays at 7am, you share from your tips category. It’s all customizable and changeable at any time.
• You can set Edgar up to share as many or as few times per day as you want
• The tool can be linked to your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts
• You decide where posts are shared. If you want them to go to all accounts or just one or two

I'm an affiliate of MeetEdgar as it is a fantastic tool that I use myself and highly recommend.

Buffer App

The Creative Penn's Buffer queue

When you have content that you only want to share once, Buffer App is a great tool. You can combine using this app with MeetEdgar – you don’t have to choose one or the other.

I use Buffer for one-time content, and Edgar for recurring, evergreen content.

Buffer is free to use with certain limited features. The free version will allow you to post up to 10 posts in advance (called your Queue). If you use the paid version, your queue has unlimited size and you can schedule as many posts as you like.

As mentioned in the intro, the idea is that you can batch the task of grabbing information and articles from the web and sharing them on social media. When you see a cool article or link that you want to share, you simply add that link and a headline to your Buffer App queue.

The article will go out according to the schedule that you’ve chosen ahead of time. You can choose to have several posts go out each day, or just one. It will link to your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, just like MeetEdgar.

(At the time of this writing, you need to use the paid option for Buffer to schedule your Instagram posts or you can use Hootsuite which has similar functionality.)

It works like this:

• Link the app to your social media accounts
• Set up your BufferApp schedule for the number of times per day you’d like to share posts
• BufferApp will even suggest times of day that work based on your geographic location
• When you see an article or post online that you’d like to share, copy the link address from the browser
• Paste this link into the “What do you want to share?” box in BufferApp
• Very often, the original post will have images assigned to it, so you can choose to share one of those with the link and headline (remember that images catch the eye more than just plain text)

Feedly and Buffer App

Another great tool to be familiar with is Feedly.com. Often we have a list of favorite websites or sites that our useful to our target audience in our head, or better yet, bookmarked in a web browser.

A better way to collect all the sites you often post about is to use Feedly. Feedly is an RSS and blog reader which shows you only the sites you’re interested in, so that you can scan quickly and decide which individual articles to post. This saves you the time of going from site to site each day looking for posts to share.

It works like this:

• Sign up at Feedly.com (it’s free)
• Once you’re signed up you’ll be shown a search box
• Add the website address of a site you regularly share articles from
• When Feedly finds the site click Follow
• Feedly will ask you to place this site in a category – it will suggest some names but you can custom create your own
• On the left side of the page you will see your list of sites under their category name
• Click on a site name and you’ll see a list of recent posts
• Click on the article name and you’ll be taken to that post
• You can then share or use one of the other tools mentioned here to schedule the post

Scheduling in Facebook

Facebook's popup scheduling tool

You may not be aware that Facebook allows you to schedule posts in advance. This is a great feature that, once again, helps us to batch the task of filling our Facebook queue, so we don’t have to take time every day to post.

It works like this:

• When you’re on your Author page, create a post just as if you were going to share it immediately
• Then, instead of clicking on the ‘Publish’ button, click on the arrow to the right of that
• You’ll see 3 options: Schedule, Back date, and Save as Draft
• Choose Schedule
• A box will pop up where you can choose the date and time you want the post to go live
• You can do this for as many posts as you like, which ensures your Facebook page always has something fresh on it

TweetDeck

For organizing your Twitter feed and coping with the firehose amount of information on Twitter, you can’t beat TweetDeck. Best of all, it’s free to use.

It works like this:

• TweetDeck is based on organizing the information that’s important to you in columns.
• You get to choose what content your columns hold and how many you have
• Once you’ve created an account using your Twitter log in credentials, you can begin setting up TweetDeck in a way that works for you.
• You’ll probably have one column dedicated to your own profile, so that you can see the tweets you’ve sent. I also have columns for the lists I have created with people I want to pay attention to.
• Then you can have columns dedicated to certain keywords or hashtags. These will only show you tweets related to those words, particularly useful if you attend an event and want to see what's going on
• You might have one column that only shows when your twitter handle is mentioned by someone else (called ‘Mentions’)
• To add new columns, click on the + on the left side of the page
• You’ll see a pop-up box that will allow you to choose what type of column you want to create

Working with an Assistant on Social Media

So far we’ve focused on the tools you can use to organize and schedule social media posts. If you work with an assistant, they can help you with scheduling which frees even more time.

For example, I use Feedly to capture and organize articles I think my audience of writers and authors would be interested in. I then save the links for the articles I want to share into Evernote with one click from the Feedly app on my iPhone.

Here's an example of the posts I've shared with my VA via Evernote. She'll schedule these in Buffer

I share that Evernote folder with my assistant and she loads those article into Buffer. This way, my Buffer queue is always full, but the amount of work I have to do to curate the information is at a minimum.

My assistant also helps by adding my posts and articles from The Creative Penn to Meet Edgar. She goes into Edgar at the beginning of each month and adds all the posts and articles from my site from the previous month to the Edgar library. These are then automatically shared by Edgar, based on the schedule I’ve set up.

It’s not necessary, or even practical, to have an assistant do ALL your social media posts for you. But getting help with 80% of your shares takes a large part of the work off your plate if you have some budget for this type of content marketing.

You might want to continue to post personal things – images from research you’re doing or posts from conferences – yourself.

And in fact, doing the occasional post yourself is a great way to add variety to the things you’re sharing. It will add personality and depth to your social media shares. If you check my Twitter stream @thecreativepenn, it can be quite easy to see what is scheduled content and when I am personally replying to things or sharing personal pictures.

Social Media and Book Marketing

An example of an image used to promote the recent release of The Healthy Writer

We discussed Meet Edgar, above, and here’s another great way that tool can support you.

When you’ve got a new book coming out, you’ll likely want to have regular posts and mentions about it, especially in the first few days or weeks after publication.

You can create images and promotional posts, and then schedule those using Meet Edgar. I use www.Canva.com for my image sizing as they have templates for all the social media sites.

In this way, while you’re focused on the myriad other details involved in a book launch, you’ll know the word is still getting out there in a regular drip feed that you’ve set up in advance.

#Don’tForgetTheHashtags

For your Twitter and Instagram posts, it’s important to remember to use relevant hashtags.

A hashtag, if you’re not familiar, is a keyword relevant to your post that is also used as a search term. So if someone on Twitter or Instagram is looking for information on writing or indie publishing, they can type those words into the search box and Twitter will show them posts that have used those hashtags (#writing #amwriting #indieauthors #publishing).

In this way, new followers can find your posts when they’re looking for information on a specific subject.

There are a few ways to find the hashtags that will work best for you and your subject:

• Do a search yourself for terms you think others might use. For example, if you write and post on social media about science fiction, search for terms related to that (#sciencefiction #space #spaceopera etc.) to see what other authors are using.
• Use a tool like SproutSocial.com or Hashtagify.me to do searches for hashtags and learn about their popularity, relevance and also related hashtags you might not have thought of.
• Follow others in your genre or industry and watch the hashtags they use.

(Note: With the January 2018 changes to the Facebook algorithms, Pages (i.e., the page for your business) are going to be downplayed even further, meaning your business page is going to have less reach moving forward. This makes hashtags less important on Facebook than on Twitter and Instagram.)

Images

As the social media space becomes even more crowded and we all feel inundated with information, images become even more important to your social media posts.

You might be familiar with this branded image I use on all posts and pages at The Creative Penn

Most bloggers know this, thankfully, and will feature images with their posts. When you share those posts, be sure to use one of the images on offer. (For example, when you use Buffer to schedule a post, it will show you which images are available to share and you can choose one or more.)

When you are creating your own blog posts, it is important to have an image that goes along with the post when it’s shared by others. You can use Canva to create these sharing images.

If you set up a template in Canva, branded with your site colours, you can use the same template each time, just swapping out the title text and the eye-catching image within the sharing image. I use BigStockPhoto to buy images for my social media sharing, but there are many options available, like iStockPhoto and Shutterstock.

Interesting images catch readers’ eyes as they scroll through their social media feed. Make sure your sharing images are eye-catching and have fun with visual ways you can get eyeballs on your posts.

Do you use any of these tools to support your social media strategy? Are there others you recommend? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

I've been a Twitter power user since 2009. It's my favorite social media platform, and to be honest, it's how this introvert manages a social life 🙂 

But many authors make mistakes with their social media marketing. In today's article, Dan Blank gives some tips on how to use social media effectively to help you find readers. 

The most common mistake I see people make in social media is to use it as a publicity channel.

Quite frankly, many writers see social media as their lone marketing channel. Having grown up in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, they treat it as one would a television commercial: they buy “air time” and repeat their advertising message as often as possible.

I have seen this many times, you look at an author's book proposal, and the marketing plan consists of vague mentions of engaging in social media, starting a newsletter, and well, lots of hoping. Because in reality, they have no idea who their intended audience is, how to reach them, and what engages them.

Instead: let's turn that vague hope into a clear plan of action.

I want you to consider using social media as a research tool that leads you to your readers.

Let's go through it step-by-step.

In my new book, Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience, I outline a way to visualize doing so:

1. Create a gateway that leads people to your writing, and the ways it inspires and entertains readers.
2. Open up that gateway up to your ideal audience by learning about them in practical ways.
3. Lead your ideal readers through your gateway in a way that is human, meaningful, and full of joy.

Today's post will focus squarely on aspects of the second and third steps. Let's dig in:

Find Comps to Understand the Marketplace

Authors may be familiar with the term “comps” or “comparable books” — identifying books similar to yours. These are typically used in book proposals to illustrate to an agent and publisher how your book fits into what readers already want, and how it also offers something unique.

Whether you are pursuing traditional or self-publishing, comps provide a useful tool to understand the reality of how people find and experience books like yours, and how word of marketing works for your specific genre or topic.

What I find is that identifying comps stumps many writers. The truth is:

• Their comps tend to be too aspirational. they choose books they hope will have an impact as these other books did. They choose successful books instead of choosing books that resonate with readers in the same ways.

• They are confronted with the fact that they simply don't know the market for their books. They don't read within their genre or topic, and their framing for it tends to be within landmark books from decades ago. In realizing this, authors can be overwhelmed and confused, and the result is often they justify that their work transcends the current marketplace. Therefore: they can skip doing any research into it.

In order to find your comps, I encourage you to use a system across retailers and social networks.

What you are hoping to find is a list of 5-10 comparable books which have been published within the past few years. Ideally, you want these comps to have at least 30 reviews on Amazon. While they can include huge hits, take notice when you find a comp that doesn't. For instance: everyone can point to the elephant in the room in a genre, but it takes a deeper understanding of the market to notice a sleeper hit.

Work through this system:

1. Amazon: to find a starting point for comps. Dig into the categories you publish within. Find a handful of books you feel may be comps and vet them to see if they hit the mark. Then notice the other books that Amazon recommends you check out. One by one, do the same for each book you find until you have a solid group of 5-10 possible comps. Now, dig into reader reviews for these books. Read every single one of them. Take notes of phrases you see mentioned again and again.
2. Goodreads: You can repeat the process for Amazon on Goodreads. They may suggest different books for you to check out and add to your list, and the reader reviews may be unique as well.
3. Google: Now Google these authors. Do they have a website? If so, use those to lead you to their social media profiles. If those aren't obvious, do some searches on the author's name with the social network name next to it. For instance: “Dan Blank Twitter.” Or, “Dan Blank Facebook.” Take note of what social networks they are active on, and if they have worked to develop an audience.
4. Twitter: This is often the most “public” of social networks for many authors. Even if they personally spend more time on Facebook, they may view Twitter as their primary social network as an author.
5. Facebook: is a mixed bag for authors, because it mashes together their personal connections with their public persona as an author. Some authors have been able to embrace this and develop their voice on this platform, be it a personal profile or an author page.
6. Instagram: What I love about Instagram for this type of research is that often it is the most personal of the social networks. An author who uses Instagram is nearly required to be sharing original photos, and you tend to get a sense of who they really are, and what they are passionate about.

Of course, you could add other sites and social media to this listing, depending on the genre or topic, and individual author. My overall point is to connect research you do on a retailer's website to social media research.

Now, let's use this to learn more about the marketplace surrounding your books, and your ideal readers.

Observe the Social Circle of Your Comps

Do you remember the days before the internet? Back in the 1990s or earlier, if you wanted to engage in an arts scene, you may hang around a cafe, event space, gallery, or performance venue. Perhaps you would walk in and observe who knows who, you would note who seemed to be a “player” in the scene, and you might even look for ways in to conversations and to be a part of in-group.

(If you are like me, you failed miserably in this, but still.)

Today, the same social constructs apply, but you have the ability to do these same things from wherever you are, via your computer or phone, with the help of social media.

When you find your comp authors and seek them out on social media, observe the social circles: actually see the names, faces, and habits of your ideal readers. On the social networks mentioned above (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc), note:

• Where they show up — what channels. Where are they active? How active are they? What do they share? Does it resonate with their audience? Do they have followers?

• Who do they pay attention to? As you scroll through their posts, are there others that they mention?

• Who do they follow on Twitter or other social networks? This is a good way to find others in your genre or field.
• Who mentions them? Do a Twitter search on the author's Twitter handle to see who mentions them, and in what context.

• Who else does the social network suggests you follow? Just as Amazon recommends books, sometimes a social network will recommend other people to follow.

• Who follows them? Look at the names, faces, bios, and click through to some of their profiles to see what they share.

Use what you find to better understand your comps, your ideal audience, and to continuing mapping out the marketplace you would like to be a part of.

Instead of focusing on “influencer marketing,” where you are one of thousands of people vying for the attention of a celebrity author, focus on how this research helps you better understand readers and what engages them.

Don’t think of how you can target these people to pitch them with your book. Again, going back to the cafe in the 1990's metaphor… consider how this allows you to sit down next to the “in” crowd and slowly become a part of the conversation.

Use the Least Crowded Channels to Make Connections

In 2007, if you were an author on Twitter, that simple fact may immediately forge a connection between you and any other author on Twitter. No longer. If you want to truly reach others authors, colleagues, and readers, simply “liking” their page, following them, or signing up for their newsletter is only the first step in the process, not the last.

Consider: what is the least crowded channel by which you can reach those who can help you better understand your ideal audience? Perhaps this is an author who you want to ask questions to. Or a bookseller, teacher, or librarian. Or a reviewer, podcaster, or blogger. Or even reaching out directly to readers.

Some things to consider trying:

• Direct emails: send a thank you email to other authors and those you hope to connect with. Ask simple questions of advice. Show them that their work has affected you in a positive way.

• Video replies: increasingly, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook and other networks are allowing you to reply to people via video. I realize that 99% of you will cringe at this idea, but I ask you to consider how powerful it is to see someone's eyes and voice as they react to something you shared.

• Show up in person: I know an author who is designing their book cover and was stuck between two options. Not only did he involve his readers in the process, he also printed out the two book covers, drove to his local Barnes & Noble, and asked two employees there which they would choose. It turns out, they loved being asked, were excited to learn about his book, and had strong opinions about which cover they would choose. This is is a least crowded channel because you could never email Barnes & Noble corporate and get an answer. Yet anyone local to a bookstore has this resource at their disposal.

• For events: If you do a talk at a bookstore, library, or conference, instead of spending your time talking to the organizer or reviewing your notes, seek out other speakers and spend one-on-one time with the attendees. Ask questions about why they are here, ask about what books they love and why. Then, when you get on stage: mention these people.

• Be extraordinarily generous: this is a least crowded channel because it is so rare. Especially if you seek the attention of someone who is prominent in your field, don't just be mildly generous, be ludicrously generous. Don't just give away a copy of their book, launch an entire campaign around their book. Make it so generous that these people couldn't possibly ignore you. One example from outside the book space is this video that Sarah Dieitschy did a year ago. She crafted a well-made video about super popular vlogger Casey Neistat. He loved it so much that he featured it on his own channel, and Sarah jumped from 4,000 subscribers to 40,000 subscribers in a single day. Now, a year later, she has more than 150,000 subscribers.

In an age where everyone seems to be overwhelmed with social media and media in general, find a way to make a meaningful connection in the least crowded channel.

The strategies above to use social media to find readers have worked again and again for authors I work with.

What else would you add to the list? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Dan Blank is the author of Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience. He is also the founder of WeGrowMedia, where he helps writers and creative professionals share their stories and grow their audience. He has worked with hundreds of individuals and amazing organizations who support creative people, such as Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, Sesame Workshop, Workman Publishing, J. Walter Thompson, Abrams Books, Writers House, The Kenyon Review, Writer's Digest, Library Journal, and many others.

You can find Dan on:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DanBlank
Facebook: http://facebook.com/WeGrowMedia
Instagram: http://instagram.com/DanBlank