Category: News

Using Stories to Promote Your Book on Instagram

Posted on by CMPR

Instagram is a popular social media platform for influencers, including authors and readers. Using every feature the platform has available, including Stories to promote your book, can be very helpful to your campaign. Start by following celebrity and influencer accounts, as well as fellow authors, to get a rounded grasp of how useful Instagram Stories can be for public figures.

Instagram tends to skew young in terms of who is using the platforms, from teenagers to millennials in their mid-30s. As an author, it can be useful to tap into these age groups to cultivate a new audience for your books and/or brand.

How Instagram Stories work is that the photo you post will disappear after 24 hours of your posting of it, unlike regular posts. Instagram feed posts and Reels are there permanently unless deleted by the user. They are good to use for more temporary ideas you have that will not stay on your feed forever.

Using Stories to Your Advantage as an Author:

Use them for exclusive content. Are you in the middle of writing a new book? Insta-story a line from a chapter you just wrote. Are you writing a short story for a new anthology? Snap a photo of yourself with one of the other authors or editor with something along the lines of, “Meeting with so-and-so today. Can’t wait to show you our latest project coming soon!” Creating some mystery and suspense will excite your followers.

A personal glimpse into your life. We all want to know what our favorite celebrities are doing – and posting photos of themselves cooking food, out to dinner, enjoying a concert, or reading a book achieve that aspect of making followers feel like they are included in their lives. You can do the same thing as an author by taking a video of a book you are reading or your new writing desk setup.

Hold a contest. Gain followers on Instagram by holding a contest–they have to follow you to enter and the winner will receive an advanced reader’s copy of your upcoming book, a box set, or a signed copy of your newest release. 

Engage your followers. Try posting a question or hosting a poll. “What are you reading today?” or “What’s coming up on your TBR?” will engage your followers by having them respond in a message. Respond back so that they can feel that you are engaged with them as well and begin to form personal relationships with your readers.

Using Stories to promote your book on Instagram is yet another aspect to using the platform to your full advantage. Start out by posting a few personal things from your week, and see how your readers respond. You may find yourself discovering a new outlet to engage with your followers and potential new readers.

Using Reels to Promote Your Book on Instagram

Posted on by CMPR

Over the past few years, it has become clear that Instagram is no longer just a photo sharing platform. Reels are one of the best ways to grow on Instagram, but they can be very overwhelming for those who are not familiar with creating video content. Here are some ideas you can use to promote your book using Reels. 

Following Trends

Did you know that you can follow hashtags? If not, I suggest you do that now, starting with #BookTok and #Bookstagram. Bookstagrammers and authors use these hashtags to showcase content around books and writing. 

Often there are fun and easy Reels trends on these hashtags that require minimal filming and editing. Monitoring the type of content users are enjoying in these bookish spaces and tailoring the content specifically to your book will give you a bit of an edge.

You do not have to dance or point to make a Reel that performs well, but you do need to show up consistently with valuable content.

Check out this one from a fantasy author promoting his book with the use of quotes here.

General Tips and Tricks

Think of Instagram Reels like a business card. The point is to spread the content far and wide, not overloading your viewer with too much information. 

Do not introduce yourself. In the Reels format, you just do not have the time. This also might not hook your viewer. Instead, lead with educational or entertainment value and have an optimized profile to explain who you are to convert viewers to followers. 

Try using stock footage. We get it, you don’t always have the time or energy to film with your face on camera. Did you know you can find faceless stock footage online to use in your Reels? For example, grab a stock video of someone flipping through book pages (make sure you read the fine print and that it’s free use), and put quotes from your book over the footage. Simple!

Include a call to action. A call to action is an essential part of any content you make that has a purpose. People will not always engage with your content in the way you want them to unless you tell them how to do so. If you want people to comment or follow, tell them! For Reels, an excellent call to action in the caption is to comment a specific word, alerting you to DM them a link or a freebie.

Grab our free e-guide to social media marketing for information on all social platforms.

CRM or SPAM?: The Age of Over Marketing

Posted on by CMPR

Today, I’m watching a business channel and a commercial for Grammarly Business appears. In it, employees are being sucked into their computers, overwhelmed by emails they need to reply to. Of course, the AI tools available in the software are supposed to make things more efficient. I look at this problem from a different angle.

Too Much of an Email Thing

We are overwhelmed by volume, most of which doesn’t need responses. Email inboxes for managers and owners in business are overflowing with way more than necessary notes. We are inundated with CRM generated marketing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for CRM as a form of marketing and customer care, but please, spare me the constant flow of irrelevant sales pitches.

Yesterday I got one that said this:

“I have reached out to you in the past, but I understand that nobody likes being ambushed with random emails. The truth is, I really believe you’d be interested in what we bring to the table. In the interest of efficiency, I’ve removed every unnecessary detail from my previous emails”

At first glance it looks good, considerate, and tailored to something I might need or want. However, the next part is a sales pitch for software development for tech stacks. This is not relevant for my business.

I understand that everyone is trying to build a business and automation is handy. It’s not a perfect science. The problem is, this is the third or fourth email I’ve received. Enough already!

Good Email Etiquette

I run an agency and we need clients too, but, having been in some form of sales for many years, there are some etiquette rules my team follows:

  1. Pitch by email once, follow up once, and call once (if you can find a number). If you do not have anything new to offer, like a new deal or new information that could help your prospect, do not send more emails.
  2. Be courteous. Emails that start with “I am still waiting for a reply” and “I would appreciate a response” are not okay to send to prospects.
  3. Curate a list of leads that you have checked out in advance. Know what their businesses are so you do not waste their time.
  4. If you get a positive response, answer within 24 hours. I have responded to a couple of the hundreds of emails I get every day, and neither one yielded an answer. Is there even a human behind the automated platform?

Earning the Sale is the Goal

Mindlessly pitching people makes us inattentive. We stop reading emails. Instead, we spend the first part of every day deleting and marking things as SPAM, and those automatically generated electrical impulses hit the e-landfill in cyberspace.

So trying to be a bit more mindful of who you are reaching out to; how your offering fits their needs; and the number of times you ping the same email address can help all of us. The goal is to connect and build a relationship with a new client. It would be great to start that bond on the right foot.

Interview with an SEO Expert

Posted on by CMPR

This week, we talked to an expert on SEO about all the questions you may have on maintaining a successful website with the best practices for SEO in 2024.

What makes a website SEO friendly?

SEO friendliness takes a lot of things into account. Keyword density and placement, properly using “ALT” tags (which is also important for ADA compliance), and context that is relevant. Meta tags (title/description) for search are also important.

What kind of factors do search engines consider when ranking?

Search engines don’t want to be scammed. They can tell when people are using gimmicks or tricks to skew their SEO scores. Every time the algorithm changes, and people freak out, it’s often because they like shortcuts instead of doing the work.

How can I find relevant keywords?

Chances are you didn’t invent the industry you work in. Use Google trends / search / keywords to find out what is relevant to the specific page you’re working on. If you’re targeting a local market, research that specifically and compare it with larger scale results.

Why is my organic traffic dropping?

Is your content stale? Is it relevant? Keep your content fresh. If you have a blog, utilize it.

How long will it take to rank on search engines?

Could be 2 weeks or 2 decades depending on your content (first) and SEO (second). SEO happens naturally to some extent if your copy is presented well.

 How long should my content be?

Long enough. Sometimes people write novels, sometimes nothing. Present your content in a way that makes sense to humans.

How often should I be adding new content?

Is it good quality content, or filler because you feel like you need to be adding things? Go for quality over quantity but if you can manage both, great!

What are some common SEO mistakes I should avoid?

Don’t put 600 keywords on one page and then list every city on the planet. Keyword density targets are usually small. Overdo it and you’ll lose points fast. Don’t go changing your URLs to ridiculous long-winded keywords. For example, your about page is your about page and should simply be /about; it should not be /about-the-best-car-dealership-in-new-york.

Above all else, remember that your target audience is usually human. Your goal is to engage humans by engaging search engines to get humans to your website. If your website isn’t geared towards humans (simple & concise language), and focused on specific content, then you’re wasting your time.

For example, if I click a keyword in your paid ad for “ice cream” and your page is entirely about salad, I’m going to bounce. Follow the funnel logic (before funnels were a keyword) and SEO drives people to your website, and your website is supposed to convert them by encouraging them to participate (by communication, interaction, sales etc.).

Don’t fall for large company gimmicks that include services like monitored/recorded phone calls as part of their SEO package. Some companies charge many thousands of dollars and do almost nothing for you. If you want to monitor and record your incoming calls, get yourself a good phone service (most good business plans offer this anyway).

Finally, keep your websites fully maintained. Making sure your website is up to date will usually also keep things running safer and smoother. Outdated plugins or scripts can put your website at risk. Any visible risk can often be seen by crawlers, especially if there is a malware or other security issue. These things also affect the speed and reliability of your website, which can greatly impact your search performance.

Catch up with Josh:

https://www.facebook.com/flashydragonco/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/flashydragonco/

https://www.instagram.com/flashydragonco/

Finding Killer Keywords for Your Content

Posted on by CMPR

Everyone can’t be a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert, but you can do some simple things that will make your content more competitive.  Using keywords or trending search terms in your content is one way to be found in search results. Even better, there are FREE tools that can help you identify killer keywords for your content, such as Google Trends, Google Search,  and Google keywords.

 Simple Tools for Identifying Keywords

Today I’m going to focus on two of my favorites, Google Trends and Search.  The keyword planner in Google is good, but you have to have an advertising account and I don’t like to give people advice that turns into a whole new can of worms.  Believe me, Google’s advertising platform is not for the faint of heart.

To use Google Trends first visit the Google Trends site.   Among the graphics and words, there is a blank box where you can type in a search term.  I just tried “books” and got these results.  [Click Here: Keyword Search Result]

Maximize the Power of Trends

The results screen gives you the opportunity to compare different terms and identify them as “web searches”, “youtube searches”, and other kinds of searches.     While you are here you can also:

  • dig down and get more specific, which may return a smaller number of results.  I put in “mystery novel” and saw a couple of spikes over the past couple of days, but not much else happening.
  • see the ranking by state, so you know the locations of people who are searching using your word or string of words in a search.
  • compare terms that may be close in meaning to see if there’s a difference in how popular they are.
  • set a time frame so you can see a whole year of search.  You can see if there are certain times of the year your terms are more likely to be trending.

Google continues to update the features that make Google Trends more powerful and full of information.

Use Search to Find Even More Keywords

Next you can navigate over to Google Search and type in one of the terms you feel is most popular.  Scroll down to the area that says “people also searched for…” and there will be even more phrases and words you can use in your content.  If you are stumped for ideas, you can also do this process in reverse.  Throw some words in the search bar and find some related terms for which other people are searching.  Now you know how to find killer keywords for your content.  Using this process will create greater chances for you to be seen and heard.

Newsletter subscribers will get a video demonstration on how to use Google Trends.  To subscribe please visit www.clairemckinneypr.com.

Other articles on topics related to increasing your chances of being found are on our blog.  Here is a more general commentary on SEO – What is SEO and Why Should You Be Interested?