You Won’t Find Readers on Twitter
Source: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2016/the-authors-three-step-test-for-sellability/
This is a fascinating article on how effective social media platforms are at selling your books. It touches on the psychology behind selling, and which platform best lends itself to that practice.
In my own experience, Twitter is the worst. All those tweet parties I’ve participated in, the hundreds and hundreds of tweets about other authors’ books taking over my feed (okay, that may be an exaggeration, but it sure seems like it). I’ve had to create a new Twitter account–@NatHairAuthor–to get a clear feed of what I want to read. I rarely follow authors. I don’t even post about my books. I retweet interesting peeps, update my writing/editing status, and tweet industry news.
Basically, selling can be viewed through a six-part funnel. First, potential readers are introduced to you, and are consistently made aware of books. Then through their own research, readers find social proof (word-of-mouth) about your book. Readers will reach that coveted purchase point, where a decision to buy is made, and then they are converted to paying readers.
The best site for this process: FACEBOOK
Although YouTube is better overall at conversions, FACEBOOK is king at introducing readers to you and then guiding them through the process with a highly optimized author page.
The worst site: Twitter
I’m shocked, shocked to discover you can’t really sell on Twitter. Nope. It’s great for awareness and research, but you’ll have a better chance at finding readers through LinkedIn even if you can only convert 2% to Twitter’s 4%.
Facebook’s conversion rate: 10%
If I happen to come across a tweet of a book by an author I know on Twitter (and I mean one I converse with regularly, which is only a handful), then I’ll retweet. Authors, don’t be offended if I don’t follow you. If you unfollow me because I didn’t follow you back, no worries; I’m looking to tweet about you and not your books.
It’s a great article and worth the read.
