Since I first started thinking about coaching, I’ve talked to hundreds of authors: video calls, DMs, and in the comments of my TikTok videos. Without a doubt, one of the most common struggles is social media. Here are five of the biggest reasons why you might feel like social media is such an uphill battle:
You feel lost or intimidated
Feeling lost or intimidated by social media can freeze any small business owner in their tracks. It can be hard to know which platforms are right for you, what to post to attract your ideal readers, and how to beat the dreaded algorithm.
If you’re feeling lost, it means you need to learn. Commit to one social media platform and set aside some time to learn about it – there are hundreds of resources only a Google search away.
You haven’t seen results in the past
It’s easy to want to give up when you’ve been putting in consistent effort without getting any traction. If your efforts aren’t paying off, it’s time to change your strategy. You might be on the wrong platform for your genre, or your posts might not be resonating with your target audience.
If there are other similar authors with an engaged following on the same platform, compare the type of content they post to yours. What types of posts do well? (PS: Check the number of reviews they have to make sure their books are actually selling!)
Everyone is different, and what works for one author may not work for you – but you won’t know until you try.
Fear of Failure
I like to describe myself as a recovering perfectionist. If you have perfectionist tendencies as well, you know there’s nothing more paralyzing than the idea of potential failure. The hard-but-liberating truth is that failure is part of the path to success. Commit to making failure your best friend.
You’re more comfortable talking to other authors
The most common mistake I see authors make is posting content that’s primarily for other authors. It can feel really good to get support and validation from the people who understand us best, but bemoaning your least favorite part of book production isn’t engaging to readers.
Show up to social media with a goal in mind. If your goal is to connect with your writing peers, by all means share content for engaging with other authors. But if your goal is to build an audience and sell books, you need to post content that’s engaging to readers.
You want instant results
Virality is neither predictable nor sustainable. Building a following on social media takes consistency over time. I usually tell authors it takes about twelve weeks of consistent posting on any given platform to know if your marketing strategy is working. If you’ve been sharing content for twelve weeks without seeing increased engagement, it’s probably time to do some research and assess what is and isn’t working.
ACTION STEPS:
Do any of these common challenges apply to you? If so, what can you do this week to overcome them?