by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I don’t spend the time on Facebook that I probably should (it’s never been my favorite platform). But I understand the importance of Facebook to my overall social media presence. I know it’s where my readers are and I hear from them regularly there. I want to make sure that I’m available on the platform so that I can easily connect with my readers.
I realized last week that I really needed to perform some sort of Facebook page tune-up. Sure enough, I found lots of things that needed to be updated or tweaked.
Ideas for areas to address on your own page:
First of all, it’s always a good idea to check your security settings and basic profile information. I discovered that, in my contact section, Facebook had once again in all its wisdom decided to display my cell phone number. I removed it.
How is your bio? Is your newsletter signup mentioned there? A link to your book page?
You have the ability on your Facebook page to add a call-to-action button. For authors, one of the best options may be the ‘shop now’ button (the newsletter signup button would also be a valuable option). I link mine to my website’s book page, which links to all three series and each book at each retailer. That way anyone can find my books at any retailer or on any reading platform.
A couple of other things are worthwhile to consider. One is adding milestones to your Facebook page. A milestone, when read in order, reads as a story on your Facebook page. You can add a milestone (and back-date it) to your Facebook page by going to your timeline and clicking ‘offer, event +’ and then clicking ‘milestone.’
There are probably plenty of ways we could implement milestones. I chose to go very simply with it–I only correlated milestones with the releases of each book of each series. You could do release dates, conferences, panels, great reviews: anything that helps you put across your brand and story best.
There is also an area where you can add videos. I do have a couple of videos of me talking about mystery reading and writing (one that I uploaded to my Amazon Central page and one I was asked to create for an event that I wasn’t able to attend in person), so I did upload those to my Facebook page.
Unfortunately, checking the ‘do not show on my newsfeed’ box doesn’t mean your followers won’t get notified about your milestones or videos. So, just a heads-up…if you update everything at once (as I did), you might be unintentionally spamming your followers on Facebook.
Another important thing to check is newsletter signup integration. If you use a service like MailChimp (free for up to 2,000 subscribers), have you connected your MailChimp account to your Facebook account? Readers can then sign up for our newsletter from our Facebook page. I went into that process a little more in depth in this post.
Have you done a Facebook page tune-up lately? How do you use your Facebook page to connect with readers?
Checklist of Updates and Tweaks for Your Facebook Page: Click To TweetPhoto via Visual Hunt
Hi Elizabeth – as I don’t have a FB page and really don’t get to FB very much – something I need to change .. you’ve given me some idea of the approach I need to take … so I’m really grateful for these excellent points … thanks! Cheers Hilary
Hilary–Facebook can be a good way to connect with readers (although I’m not on it as I should be!) Thanks for coming by.
Your tuneup ideas are great but you forgot to mention posting. To have any chance of engaging readers, an author needs to post something every day and 2-3 times per day is even better (posts can be scheduled). Posting about your book or books each post will get you nowhere but sharing about your life, sharing useful information, sharing what your reading, etc. can all go a long way to help you become more accessible and approachable to your potential audience.
One other thing: bear in mind that Facebook only shows posts on fan pages to 5-10% of your followers, on average. Posting more often and posting varied content will get you in more news feeds daily. You can’t engage if you only post once a day – if that – and only 6-7 people are even shown your post.
Anne–A very good point. I know some writers who are fantastic at connecting with their readers through Facebook–even asking what everyone was cooking for supper, what they were doing with their day, and polling readers. Good point, too, on FB rewarding more frequent posting with more exposure/visibility. Thanks for the tips!
I unfriend people who post too often. I don’t care about what people eat and I doubt they care about my diet. Likewise the latest quiz, selfies taken everywhere they go, photos of the latest cute thing their child or grandchild did this week, etc.
Great tips! I’m on Facebook all the time. (Probably more than I should be, but it’s become a habit.) I have a personal profile and two Pages – one strictly for my genie series and the other for everything writing related. One thing I’ve found valuable about FB is the ability for readers to message me if they want. They reach out to me and we chat a bit, which is always cool.
Not sure how much any of my FB activity is increasing sales, but then again, I’m not sure how effectively I’m using it. I probably could be doing a better job.
B.E.–I’ll second you on the messaging–sometimes I think readers automatically think of Facebook as a way to connect, instead of searching for an email address. This works for me, too, since I have my notifications turned on.
That’s a lot. Still glad I’m not on Facebook. I do good to update my blogger pages.
Alex–I *completely* see where you’re coming from! Besides, I’m not sure that your readers are on FB that much.
Great tips, Elizabeth. I’ve never been one to be on Facebook much but when I started MC Book Tours I did start a page for it and need to do more with it. I especially like learning about the newsletter signup integration. I’ll definitely check that out more.
Thoughts in Progress
and MC Book Tours
Mason–It only takes a few minutes and it can be really helpful to build up subscribers. Good luck with it!
This is really helpful, Elizabeth, so thanks. Facebook has really become an important social media outlet, and I think it’s important to have a good FB page as part of one’s author presence. I like using it for on-ground events, too.
Margot–Good point about remembering Facebook to promote local events!
These are all great ideas, Elizabeth. I especially like your reminder about the call to action button. That’s an important one not to overlook.
Thanks, Frances! Yes, the call to action for writers is especially helpful, I think. Hope you have a great weekend!
This was the kickstart I needed to go to my Facebook page and clean it up. Thanks, Elizabeth.
Ken–Great! Glad to help. :)
I had no idea I could do all of those things. I definitely need to use the milestone option with a series of posts that I’m running. Thank you for sharing!
Tyrean–Good luck with it and thanks for coming by!
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Thanks, my friend, for keeping me on my Facebook toes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Leslie–You’re so welcome! And Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!