Discover 8 Simple Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing

Your new book is out and available in the market. You desperately want your target audience to find you, i.e. you need ‘discoverability’. An excellent social media platform lets you do just that, and that platform is – Twitter. Twitter has 192 million daily active users, a whopping 27 per cent year-over-year increase.

Twitter’s advantage over other social media platforms is that it lets anyone interested in a particular topic conveniently search for information related to that topic. It has unique search functionality that gets your tweets to the audience in no time. With the help of Twitter, an author can market their book effectively and reach readers quickly.

*In this blog, you will often come across the word ‘tweeting,’ which means writing and posting short messages on Twitter that are not more than 140 characters.

Eight Twitter Marketing Strategies

1. How to Create a Handle and Bio for effective use of Twitter for social media marketing?

When using Twitter for marketing a book your goal is to attract like-minded people to your profile. Make sure your handle reflects those qualities. The usual handle is in the format – first name, last name, however, one can experiment with it. To keep it simple, one could use the word ‘author’ before their name, e.g., AuthorNikita, etc. The bio should be catchy too. It should reflect your interests, e.g., marathon-runner, cinephile, bibliophile, etc. Keep in mind the profile of people on Twitter. Approximately six of every 10 (63%) Twitter users worldwide are between 35 and 65. The Twitter audience is more mature than Instagram and Snapchat. Example

When using Twitter as a marketing tool, remember to Interact with your followers

Do not always try to sell something to your readers. Interact with them casually as you would with your friends. Nobody likes people constantly asking them to buy stuff.

Engage them in conversations. If people like you as a person when you engage with them, they are more likely to take an interest in reading your book. If people are trying to say something to you, respond to them in appropriate ways. Build relationships with them to the best of your ability.

Twitter marketing tip – Start Tweeting

When you are looking to use Twitter as a Social media strategy, it works best to tweet about the book even before the book is out in the market. This will create a buzz, arousing the readers’ interest in the forthcoming book. Tweeting regularly before the book is published will help a writer build followers. Pin a  pre-order link to the book to the top of your page. The highly visible link will make it easier for visitors/followers to place an order.

Using Twitter for marketing a book  – Tweet Quotes

Building anticipation about a book that is yet to be released is an essential part of the pre-release marketing strategy. Consider sharing snippets from a chapter of the book. This will build excitement amongst readers to want to read more, they will want to know, “What’s next?” It is an excellent way for readers to ‘taste test’ the book. A short quote from the book will work well. Tweet quotes and excerpts from your book from time to time. The trick is to keep your readers engaged and not to let them forget your book.

Keep the quotes short, not more than 120 characters, so the readers can retweet them easily. Here is an example:

How to market on Twitter – Plan a book giveaway

Once your book is published, host free giveaways for your followers, organize a contest and set a prize for the winner. These activities help to build excitement amongst the readers and they will want to engage with you more. It is also an exciting way to grab the attention of the readers. The reader gets something in return for liking your post, commenting, or performing a given task that you want the reader to carry out. Giveaways can be in the form of a free copy of your book, a goodie, or a discount code that they can apply at checkout while buying your book. Example:

To market on Twitter – Find Book Reviewers

If your question is how to do marketing on Twitter? Use Twitter is by linking up with known Twitter book reviewers and sending them a message. Give your introduction and ask them if they would like to review your work. If they approve, offer them an advance copy of your book. Many reviewers with a large following will ask for cash or other incentives in exchange. If they offer to review the book for free, in return, you can retweet their reviews. The retweet can benefit both of you as you will be getting a review and the reviewers’ reviews and their names will get greater exposure. Example:

When using Twitter as a Marketing Tool – Ask Followers to vote for covers

You can ask people to vote for the final book cover from the book cover designs you have chosen. This is a great way to get engagement. The followers will get a sense of involvement and be more likely to buy your book.

You could hold a book cover design contest on Twitter. The reward could be in the form of cash, a free copy of the book or credits in the book. This will encourage people to use their creativity and get involved in the process. Example:

Eighth Twitter for marketing tip  – Run Twitter Ads

Though optimizing your Twitter ads is a complex process, you could use the opportunity and create Twitter ads for marketing your book. You can do that by going to the Ads Manager in your account. Getting the best out of the ads that you create should be the primary goal. Therefore, put focus on what should be the target audience for your ads. Otherwise, the whole purpose of your ads would be lost.

Last but not least, be a good human being. Build genuine connections. You need to create a lasting impression on people, this can only be done if you carry out the marketing by being a responsible and genuine person! Happy Marketing!

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