Social Platforms: The Pros and Cons

Social media is a key point in marketing your book…if you are good at it. It doesn’t have to be complex just something to get your name out there and connect with your fans and readers.

Below is going to be a list of a few different social media platforms and some pros and cons about each one for marketing purposes.

Facebook Pros

* Easy to use and boost posts

* Wide reach

* Easy to interact with groups of potential audiences

* Easy to track events and invite people to your events

* No post length limit

Facebook Cons

* Hard to keep track of who is seeing your posts

* Several competing groups

* Hard to separate personal and professional pages

* Some posts can be lost in the many posts generated by others

LinkedIn Pros

* Perfect for authors with business books

* A great place to network professionally

LinkedIn Cons

* Not great for fiction authors

* Still a growing platform not the biggest audience reach

Twitter Pros

* Super easy to use

* Twitter chats are a great connection tool

* Hosting a giveaway is very easy

* Great way to engage an endorser or pitch to a blogger

Twitter Cons

* Character limits can be challenging

* Hard to get a tweet noticed with all the other tweets out there

* Again, limited audience reach

There are several other platforms that can be used it just depends on what you like and what works best for you. If you are uncomfortable on a platform it will show in your posts and interactions so be comfortable with what you are on. Also, don’t over stretch yourself by trying to be on too many platforms at once if you are not able to keep them straight and give them the attention they need. It is better to be confident and great at one platform than struggling to stay up to date on many. You may be able to reach more people but if you are not putting in the effort it shows and can do more harm than good.

Finally, whatever platform(s) that you are on try to make the connections two way. Comment on posts share things from others. Create interactions that connect you with your target audience in a stronger and more meaningful way.