Social media provides a new frontier ready for settlers. We gaze at its complex landscape of influencers, followers, and likes, and we often elect to spend our time at a coffeehouse, lost in the dip of an overused lounge chair and writing session than develop our online presence.
Writing matters most, right?
Spoiler alert: Publishers want authors with platforms.
Due to changes within the publishing industry, authors bear the responsibility of marketing their work. If they don’t have an audience for their marketing endeavors, they won’t sell their books. And if they don’t sell their books, they risk losing future publishing opportunities.
Most social-savvy individuals agree Instagram dominates the media world. With its diverse methods of content delivery and communication, the platform offers users the chance to engage with their audiences and expand their reach.
Authors, we need to take inventory of our social media tool-belts and decide which instruments best suit our target audience. For example, each social media platform caters to a specific demographic. Facebook tends to reach more users over the age of 30. Twitter also houses a mature demographic and presents business-geared content. Other platforms (Snapchat, Pinterest, etc.) inhabit the social media world, however, in this post, I aim to provide tips to help you boost your Instagram growth.
Some Instagram features to note . . .
- Insta-Stories: Temporary posts that appear when a user clicks on an illuminated profile image. Each post lasts 24 hours.
- Highlight Reel: Insta-Stories saved on a profile’s page, beneath the bio. These posts do not expire.
- Profile: A user’s main page that houses images, highlights, and stories.
- Business Profile Analytics: Information stored in a profile’s upper right-hand corner. Shares demographic, best times for posting, content engagement, and more.
- Linked Accounts: Other social media platforms connected to the Instagram page. Linked accounts share content with each other.
These features combine the experiences of Snapchat and Facebook, which is why, according to Statista, Instagram currently has over 1 billion active users. The platform welcomes various age groups and focuses on engaging audiences with image-centered content.
What does this mean for authors?
- Potential for tremendous reach.
- Ability to grow platform with self-curated content.
- Chance to connect with readers and build community.
I write for young adults, so Instagram helps me share my content with a teen and millennial audience, book-bloggers, fan girls, and other authors. Using the following 5 tips, I managed to boost my Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge from 500 followers to over 12 thousand followers in 2 years.
5 Tips for Boosting Instagram Growth . . .
Find your niche.
The first step of growing your audience is knowing your audience. What’s their age range? What type of content do they like? How do you reach them in a unique way?
Create your brand.
A brand can simply include color scheme, type of content posted, and overall message.
Know your voice.
Determine how you want to sound on social media. Are you fun and friendly? Do you write blog-style captions or share puns? Will users recognize your writing style? Consistency is key, so once you find your social media voice, stick with it.
Use Instagram’s tools.
To reach your target audience and grow your following, harness the power of hashtags. Sites like Top-Hashtag.com share the most popular hashtags for the type of content you publish. More ways to garner engagement:
- Use the Business Profile Analytics to pinpoint the best posting time for your account,
- Follow accounts like yours,
- Add gifs, polls, and such to your Insta-Story. The more Instagram features you use, the more likely your content will appear in users’ feeds.
Collaborate.
Team up with similar accounts to boost your following! Idea for a collaboration: Offer bloggers a free copy of your book in exchange for a book-themed photo and honest review.
Anyone can become Insta-Savvy with these 5 steps!
Want to know more about social media marketing for authors? Follow me on Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge and Twitter @CarolineGeorge_ for more platform tips.
About Caroline:
A 2017 Belmont University graduate with a double-major in publishing and public relations, Caroline aims to pursue a career committed to helping authors, publishers and organizations project their stories to their publics. She spends her time blogging, writing for various magazines and authoring young adult fiction books (her current publications include “The Prime Way Trilogy” and “The Vestige”). She considers herself a not-so-southern Georgia peach, coffee-junkie and delights in being best known for writing the phrase, “Coffee first. Save the world later.”