Guest Post by Mike Saunders
- Powerful
- Relationships
- Integrating
- Social
- Media
The consumer holds the true power these days. It has always been taught in business school that you should listen to your customer so you can deliver the products and services they want and need. But now it’s even more critical because if we don’t listen to them, they will start a conversation — good or bad — about our product or service online. This may be on their Facebook page, blog or maybe even a YouTube video that could damage your reputation. This is just as important for an author to focus on and create online paths for their targeted readers to find their book.
What can be done? How can you connect with your audience to convey the core message of your book?
- Learn how to participate in social media networking that is already going on all around you.
- Find where your readers gather.
- Listen to their conversations online.
- Understand their needs.
- Participate and contribute in a helpful way to their questions and comments. Be the solution-provider.
Social media is an effective tool to analyze, as well as reach out to your readers and target audiences. The fast- changing customer behavior and market trends would take much longer through conventional methods, but with social media tools this process is expedited.
You must weave your marketing message into a “voice” that is conversational because Social media is playing a huge role in the lives of authors and you want your readers to get a feel for your style even before they buy your book.
While you cannot guarantee the level of social media success, it is a powerful force that cannot be ignored because it helps authors to get a better insight into the needs, requirements and mindsets of their readers , while deepening a more personal relationship with them.
After all, one of the biggest benefits of social media is that it is already happening online. Being able to insert your message into what is already going on makes your message well-received because it is not selling, it is participating and educating your targeted readers. You are positioned as the trusted advisor.
Let’s think for a minute about “participating and educating” in the statement above. Does this mean you pop into a forum where your targeted readers gather and start typing “buy my book because it’s the best!”? Although you may feel tempted to do this because you need sales, you must resist this urge because you immediately become a nuisance.
In conclusion, you must clearly define your unique message your book offers as well as well as exactly who your targeted reader is. This is critical because once you know this information, your job is to deliver your message to them using social media in ways that draws them into your content and eventually to buy your book.
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Mike Saunders holds an MBA in Marketing and helps small business owners increase sales using online marketing and social media. He teaches Marketing as an Adjunct Marketing Professor and is a Marketing Consultant with the Denver Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Download the 1st chapter of his new book 