Black Friday and Cyber Monday create a shopping frenzy every year. But how can we writers capitalize on that frenzy and get books to the front and centre of people's minds? Well, Partner member and CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. Penny Sansevieri, is here to show you how to sell your books in the holidays.
Sell Your Books in the Holidays with Smart Social Media Marketing
Penny Sansevieri
We’d all love to take advantage of upcoming shopping dates like Black Friday and Cyber Monday to sell more books, but with those dates rapidly approaching, reaching potential buyers gets tricky.
Not to worry! Social media is a fantastic way to get in front of a lot of the right people, and the turnaround time for creating buzz is short and sweet.
Check out these tips for working social media marketing into your holiday plan to sell more books:
Do Holiday-Themed Hashtag Research
The holidays are full of excitement and enthusiasm, and hashtags play right into that added fervor. Hashtags exist for every traditional activity or element of the season you can imagine. Your goal is to figure out which hashtags get the most attention, or what’s trending.
Here are some evergreen hashtags that have stood the test of time in recent years:
- #BlackFriday
- #CyberMonday
- #ChristmasCountDown
- #ChristmasPresents
- #ChristmasMood
- #ChristmasReading
- #HolidayRomance
- #ChristmasBreak
- #TisTheSeason
- #ChristmasShopping
- #HolidaySavings
- #ChristmasGiftIdeas
- #StockingStuffer
- #WishList
Hashtags enhance searchability and relevance, but they’re also an extension of your personality, so be thoughtful.
Schedule Social Media Posts
If you’re using Hootsuite or some other scheduling software, schedule your holiday promo posts so you don’t forget. If you’re planning out your sale dates, turn those into images so you have the images ready for your social platforms. And don’t forget you can also reuse the images for your blog and newsletter!
Create Holiday-Themed Social Media Header Graphics
Dress up your social media platforms with holiday-specific headers. You can also rotate multiple headers during the holiday season, or as December 31 approaches. And if you’re doing post-holiday-themed pushes past January 1, change your header to announce those, too!
Pin Holiday-Themed Posts on Your Feed
When you pin a post on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter, it’s the first thing people see when they visit your profile.
What are your unique selling points for the holidays? If you’re running a discount, if your storyline is set around the holidays, if your book makes a perfect gift… the options are numerous. Smart holiday hashtags and holiday-themed images are also crucial.
Click here to read more about Penny's book
Coordinate with Other Authors for Social Media Promotions
If you network with other authors (even virtually), now is a perfect time to join forces and coordinate holiday sales efforts with authors in a similar genre to put emphasis on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Let’s say for example you know five or six authors. Maybe you haven’t actually met them, but you follow each other on social. Let the authors know what you’re planning, such as a string of promotions or BOGOs around the holidays, and find out what they’re doing.
They might be interested in combining forces by sharing your stuff if you share theirs!
Post Images of Your Books in Holiday Settings on Instagram
Show your book being gift-wrapped, under the tree with a bow, or on a snowy windowsill. Embrace the season! If you live where there’s no snow (like I do!) use Canva to create fun, wintery images with templates and thousands of pretty stock images.
Create a Pinterest Board for Book-Centric Gift Buying Ideas
If you’re on Pinterest and don’t have a holiday-themed board (or three!) going yet, get started. There are tons of ideas already on the site about gift ideas for booklovers. Start doing your research and curate ideas that are already popular and pin those. Then for a personal touch, pin original ideas as well. Don’t forget to pin your own books and products!
Invite Your Fans to an “Ask the Author” Virtual Holiday Party on Facebook
Invite fans to ask questions, and collect questions in advance via your newsletter or Twitter.
If you really want to entice people, offer prizes. Ask fans to stay until the end, when you raffle off the prizes. The prizes can be anything from copies of your e-book, a signed print copy, or simply Amazon gift cards.
Tying it All Together for Maximum Impact
Social media marketing is about creating quality impressions, so I encourage you to incorporate as many of these strategies as possible for maximum impact and sales conversions.
But keep in mind, social media changes rapidly, so whatever you posted yesterday, may not be seen by many people today – so the strategies that keep your message front and center are the ones you should focus on first, and then start working in the ideas for individual post.
Last but not least, I wrote a book specifically to help authors sell more books for the holiday season, with tips for taking advantage of holiday sales opportunities throughout the year, across many celebrations and seasons, so check it out on Amazon today!
Sell More Books in the Holiday Season with Top Marketing Tricks from @Bookgal #selfpublishing #IARTG #ASMRG #amwriting #writingcommunity #writetip Share on XOVER TO YOU
What tips and tricks are you using to sell your books in the holidays?
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Love this post, Penny! I was inspired by several of your ideas and ran with them. Thanks for sharing!