Four Reasons YA Authors Should Target Teens on Facebook
Teens have much greater power than you might think!
One common misconception I see posted over and over again in Facebook groups for authors is the idea that authors who target to the 13-17 age group on Facebook are wasting their money, because this demographic, for the most part, does not buy.
While it’s true that teens rarely make their own purchases, I have found that they have a significant influence on those who do. I have been targeting teens on Facebook since June of this year, and I’ve discovered four important reasons to keep doing it:
Teens love to comment, especially when they love a book, and this provides social proof and, thus, more power to your ads. If you take a look at this particular ad of mine for my Gatekeeper’s Saga Box Set, you will see some teens quickly coming to my defense when one or two others accuse the book of sounding too much like this book or that. You will also see teens posting about how much they loved the series and can’t wait for more. This ad is a perfect example of that. All this talk increases my organic reach in addition to adding more selling power to the ad.
Teens tag their parents and beg their parents to buy the books for them. If you take a look at the comments in this ad, you will see dozens of examples of teens tagging their parents. And in this ad, one teen says “easy present” after tagging her parent.
Teens ask their libraries to order the books. Several teens have posted on my ads that they have their library tracking down copies, such as the fifth to the bottom comment on this ad. My paperback sales have been better than they’ve ever been, and I can’t help but wonder if librarians are buying. I’ve even been receiving orders from Follett School Solutions!
Teens tag their friends and spread the word about your books. Even if they don’t buy themselves, the teen readers tag their friends and get them talking about your books. If nothing else, this spreads brand awareness. If you look through any of the ads I’ve linked to so far, you will often see one teen telling another something like, “Should this be our next series?” or “Wanna read this with me?” More than adults, teens seem to love to read in pairs and groups, and this tagging exponentially increases the reach of my ads.
One other frequent comment I get from teens is that they can’t download my permafree books because they don’t have a credit card. An easy way to remedy this is to publish your books at Smashwords and post the links to them in reply on your ads, like I do here. Smashwords requires no credit card information and makes it possible for anyone to download your book. This makes Smashwords an essential tool for writers of teen fiction.
If you live near the San Antonio area and would like to learn more about marketing tricks I’ve learned from people like Nick Stephenson and Mark Dawson and from my own years of trial and error, I’m offering an all-day seminar on November 14th. You can learn more about it here.
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