Someone on Twitter told me this the other day: my expectation of people who market on Twitter is most are all take, no give.
Another person then went on to lament their lack of followers and retweets. This is not uncommon.
Let’s deconstruct.
ALL TAKE AND NO GIVE?
One of the biggest mistakes authors make is expecting people to fall at our feet over every word we utter. One of my favorite writers and very good friend, author Gabe Berman, has a terrific book out for authors (The Complete Bulls**t-Free and Totally Tested Writing Guide: How To Make Publishers, Agents, Editors & Readers Fall in Love With Your Work) has this message for us: ‘Unless you’re a celebrity, no one gives a s**t about you.’
That may seem like tough love, but going into social media or writing books with different expectations will only lead to disappointment. Twitter is different than other social media sites in that you almost have to ‘earn your stripes’ if you will. What does that mean, exactly? It means you give and give and give: great content, funny quips (if that’s your thing), quotes, visuals, promotion of others. And with proper branding, find your audience.
I find that those who go in with the expectation of retweets and huge followings are always disappointed. I ask clients this question: why are you on social media? If it’s to sell millions of books, you need to rethink that. That’s very self-absorbed, and comes across on your stream as disingenuous.
LACK OF FOLLOWERS
A guy joked with me the other day that he didn’t have to worry about followers because he had so few. Same thing goes for his book sales. When I asked him if he was actively targeting readers (I recommend using search terms such as #bookworm, #bookclub, #fridayreads, and other reader-centric terms), said ‘what’s that?’
I actively follow several hundred tweeps (people who use Twitter) each day using those terms for myself and my clients. If your expectation is that you’ll open a Twitter account and masses of people will push each other out of the way to follow you, you’re in for a rude awakening — because unless you’re a famous pop star with a sex tape or another new spouse, that’s not gonna happen.
(And besides, ewwww.)
LACK OF RETWEETS
Retweets increase exposure. Exposure creates visibility. Visibility creates sales.
But if you’re not getting retweets, you need to look closely at what you are, and are not, doing.
I remember when I got my first retweet — I was thrilled! This was way back in 2009 and I’d been studying and ‘gawking’ (aka, watching) Twitter for months. Who got the most RTs and why? is something I really wanted to understand. Now there’s plenty of data (check out social media scientist @DanZarrella some time) that shows that curating interesting content (and that doesn’t mean spamming your own book links) nets more retweets than anything else. I would add that interacting and promoting others also helps immensely.
Remember, for authors, Twitter is about relationship building above all else. Having marketed my own three bestsellers and countless books with clients and author friends, those who absolutely do the best in regard to retweets are those who are most generous.
There’s much more to be said on the subject, but that’s all we have room for today, my friends. What’s been your experience? Please share below!
