For most authors, learning how to market a book on social media is all part of our overall book marketing plan.
But it’s not always easy – different social platforms attract different types of readers.
If you’re a non-fiction author you’ve probably considered pushing more information to LinkedIn and building a profile there, but how to market a book on LinkedIn gets more complex.
So let’s dig into what you need to succeed by going over your branding.
Branding may not seem like something that will help you market a book, but trust me when I say that it will.
And before you jump headlong into this social media site, or any for that matter, it’s good to know what you stand for and how you want to show up in the world.
Everything is your brand, and by everything, I mean E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
Every font you use, your author picture (more on that in a minute) – so be aware that the profile you build for yourself also falls under that brand umbrella. Having a clear brand isn’t just smart, it’s also a great book marketing tool and will drive your ideas for how to market a book on specific platforms.
A Professional Headshot Matters
It kind of goes without saying that you should have a professional headshot taken.
Yet here I am saying it anyway, why?
Because despite knowing this, people still slap any old picture up there – or worse, no picture.
It’s straight out of “how to market a book 101” to have a good picture. A good profile picture can increase page engagement nine times, and profile views jump, too. On average you’ll see 21 times more profile views than if you had nothing as your picture.
When it comes to your picture, it’s also important to know your audience. If you’re writing about finance, for example, maybe a more serious picture is called for. But if you’re writing a book about fun in the workplace, maybe something a little less serious and posed will suit your market.
As I mentioned earlier on, remember that it’s your brand – and staying on point with your brand – regardless of what that brand is, will be important.
Find a picture that fits the image you want to project. Everything sends a message, so what message is your profile picture sending your potential readers? Is it helping, or fighting with how to market a book successfully?
A Captivating Headline Can Make or Break Your First Impression
There’s a spot at the top, under your name where LinkedIn puts your job titles, but unless it’s something super unique (like: I’m an Astronaut!) this is really a missed book marketing opportunity.
Why not use it to create a captivating headline about how you can help your customer?
Or the tagline of your book, the subtitle for instance.
Using your LinkedIn real estate in a smart way is key for both optimizing your page and getting more traffic to your profile. When it comes to figuring out how to market a book – every piece of your profile matters, nothing is a throw away.
Make Your Summary Count
Who are you?
No, I’m not asking this age old question to trip you up. But in the interest of smart book marketing, I have to ask because your LinkedIn summary wants to know. And when it comes to deciding how to market a book on this platform specifically: details like your page summary matter.
I’m going to use an analogy every author will understand: Make your summary as captivating as a book description.
You’ve pulled folks in with your great headshot and captivating headline, now you want them to dig deeper, yes?
You’ll need something that encapsulates you, remembering that your summary should tell the visitor why this matters to them. Nothing on this page is about you. Yes, I know it’s the about you summary, but remember this should matter to your readers.
Endorse People You Know and Play the Game
Sometimes the best book marketing is promoting others, and while it may seem like this doesn’t do a lot for you personally, trust me it does.
First off, it’s a great way to network with people you know or have worked with.
But also, that personal recommendation shows up on their LinkedIn profile page which, when it comes creating more opportunities for how to market a book, is a fun way to capture more attention.
Your endorsement of this person is out there for anyone landing on their page to see.
Using endorsements to help push out some love to folks you’re already familiar with is a real win-win for everyone.
Upload Video to Really Show Your Range
By now, we all know that when we’re designing a plan for how to market a book – video is a definite winner.
Recently LinkedIn allowed videos to be uploaded directly to their site. But why should you take the extra step (and time) to upload a video to LinkedIn, rather than just putting a link to the video on YouTube?
Because LinkedIn wants to keep users on their site, and video that’s uploaded directly to LinkedIn will get more push – whereas a video link to an external site will get suppressed by the algorithms.
Video, whether it’s you talking, video from a speaking event, or a short book trailer is a great book marketing tool.
If you’ve got one, or several, be sure to upload them to LinkedIn!
How to Market a Book by Posting Great Content
Content that is interesting and helpful to your potential reader can help to drive a lot of traffic to your LinkedIn page – because traffic and exposure can equal book sales.
But what kind of content should you post and how often? Let’s investigate!
You can set up your blog so it automatically cross posts content to LinkedIn and it’s great to do this. If you take this route though, remember to monitor it – because you don’t want to post and ditch.
That’s always bad book marketing, candidly.
Monitor the posts, respond to any comments, thank people for shares. If you post anything other than your blog, quotes, or articles you’ve found that are relevant to your market, that’s great, too.
You don’t have to post a lot, in fact (and especially on LinkedIn) less is more. Post thoughtful, relevant content to help drive your book marketing, and your page engagement.
Join LinkedIn Groups to Build Your Name Recognition
This is one really fun part about LinkedIn, the groups – and if you’ve got a passion for something, I can almost guarantee there’s a group for it.
You can also start a group, if you’ve got that kind of time. But if not, doing a quick search will unearth lots of groups you can participate in.
If you aren’t sure which ones to join, sign up for a few and monitor conversations there to see what folks are talking about. Then keep the ones you like, and unsubscribe from ones you don’t.
There are even author groups on how to market a book, if you’re inclined to learn more from those in your same position!
LinkedIn, if used correctly, can be a great way to market a book – market yourself, and gain more visibility for everything you’re trying to do!
I’d love to know if you’re using LinkedIn and what you’ve discovered works for you – or what I maybe didn’t cover in this piece. Post your ideas and suggestions in the comments!
And see you over there, find me and we’ll connect!
Resources and Free Downloads
5 Ways to (Still) Sell More Books in 2020
The Top 12 Questions I’m Asked About How to Market a Book
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