![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?source=bk&t=beckwithcommu-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5b003a05b8ae9bac87894ef2e18a8598&_cb=1445359278521\")
, is now on pre-order at Amazon and will be released November 1. Follow her on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and get more tips her agency\u2019s blog for authors<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n10\u00a0terrible social media myths authors should\u00a0avoid<\/h3>\n
By Chris Syme<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to social media, it seems like we will believe just about anything. If we see it on the Internet it must be true, right?<\/p>\n Much of what we\u2019ve come to think about social media is just wrong. It\u2019s time to tear down those tips and tricks that people keep telling us and close the door on bad social media advice.<\/p>\n Sometimes it\u2019s obvious that some practices are wrong; other times not so much\u2014especially if we see them over and over again online.<\/p>\n In order to produce content that people will love enough to pass on to others, we need to clear the table of bad practices so our fans can see the real value in what we post on social media.<\/p>\n If you see yourself in any of these 10 myths, take heart. We\u2019ve all been there. I want to challenge you to challenge yourself. Together, we can stamp out these terrible social media myths.<\/p>\n This myth basically infers that all social media audiences are created equal.<\/p>\n Today, if you post the same message verbatim on every social media channel, people will think you are lazy and ignorant.<\/p>\n Every channel has its own demographics and channel culture. If you go to a black tie dinner wearing your yoga pants and sweatshirt, people will know you didn\u2019t take time to understand where you were going. You\u2019ll stand out and not in a good way.<\/p>\n Learn how to reframe your message in the channel culture\u2019s frame. This fun infographic from instamom.com<\/a> does a fantastic job explaining how your social media messages should differ in approach.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget age demographics. Some channels have younger audiences and require a different approach. If the channel\u2019s target demographic isn\u2019t in your audience, you are really wasting your time there anyway.<\/p>\n There are just so many ways this is wrong.<\/p>\n Hashtags have strengths, but stuffing is not one. I could list a million reasons but I\u2019ll just stick to data. In 2014, Buffer published data from an extensive study by Buddy Media<\/a> to find out the exact science of how hashtags affect a social media post. They found that tweets with hashtags receive two times more engagement than those without.<\/p>\n But more is not better. After two hashtags, engagement levels started to drop off drastically. Bottom line: a post full of hashtags is never a message, it is a distraction.<\/p>\n This myth violates a couple basic principles of effective marketing:<\/p>\n For marketing purposes, it is not enough to just join a network. You have to be working at producing engaging content and building loyal relationships wherever you are.<\/p>\n Be smart about which networks\u00a0you use. Some may return much less than the amount of effort you are putting in.<\/p>\n Note: There is something to be said for the credibility of having lots of followers but today everyone knows that people are buying followers and scamming for auto follows, so who are you trying to fool? Concentrate on engaging the number you have and they will grow organically.<\/p>\n You can run contests and giveaways to increase your qualified followers (people who want your books). I would rather have 1,000 people who like to read my kind of books than 10,000 bots and fake followers who will never buy one book.<\/p>\n This is a particularly common misconception for authors.\u00a0If done correctly, social media does help sell books.<\/p>\n The problem with this myth is that represents a misunderstanding of the benefits of social media marketing. Authors have two basic needs when it comes to marketing: sell more books and build a dedicated fan base. Social media is better at the second but it can certainly do the first.<\/p>\n Social media can certainly be measured, but you need something to measure first.<\/p>\n What is your goal? Increase followers? Build an advance reader team? Increase sales with a launch campaign? Build an email list?<\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t know how to match goals to measurement. But don\u2019t worry\u2014this can all be learned. The backbone of good marketing is a plan. If you have a plan that includes goals, measurements, strategies, and tactics, you will know exactly what you are measuring.<\/p>\n If you are just playing darts with a blindfold on, even if you hit the bullseye, you won\u2019t know how you got there.<\/p>\n A whopping 71\u00a0percent\u00a0of American adults online use social media\u201453\u00a0percent\u00a0of them use more than one network. As of last year, for the first time in history, the majority of online adults over age 65 now use social media. The 18-29 group has the highest percentage at 90\u00a0percent, but all age groups are on social media now. The 30-49 age group is second at 70 percent\u00a0of online adults.<\/p>\n This myth is a lame argument anymore.<\/p>\n This myth is vaguely related to number seven.<\/p>\n Social media savvy is not the domain of the young. If you are adept enough to write books, you can certainly learn how to use social media.<\/p>\n The trick is finding help learning how to do it right. Find some resources you can trust. Take some free online webinars from trusted sources, follow bloggers who\u00a0know what they\u2019re talking about<\/a>, and network with other authors<\/a>\u00a0who are in your same boat. I think the really intimidating piece here is the learning curve. But once you get around the curve, the road is pretty straight.<\/p>\n Boy I wish. Most of the platforms are free to use but maintaining a consistent presence takes time and resources, and sometimes money. You know the old saying, time is money. And time will be your biggest cost.<\/p>\n In addition, email providers, website hosting, images, and advertisements all cost money. Although it is possible to do social media well on a shoestring, reaching a wider audience often costs money. The good news is, there are ways to control your budget and still be successful.<\/p>\n The formula for selling on social media is \u201cyou have to earn the right to sell.\u201d You do that by producing entertaining, helpful content that shows people you care more about them than you do about selling books. It doesn\u2019t matter if you write fiction or nonfiction, this is still the formula.<\/p>\n What can you do to bust some of these myths in your own social media today? Share your thoughts in a comment below!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Chris Syme<\/strong><\/p>\n When it comes to social media, it seems like we will believe just about anything. If we see it on the Internet it must be true, right?<\/p>\n Much of what we\u2019ve come to think about social media is just wrong. It\u2019s time to tear down those tips and tricks that people keep telling us and close the door on bad social media advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,20,11],"tags":[624,625,41,626,85,405],"class_list":["post-7410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-columns","category-news","category-tactics","tag-chris-syme","tag-smart-social-media-for-authors","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-myths","tag-social-networking","tag-social-networks"],"yoast_head":"\n1. Copying and pasting the same content word-for-word on all my social media channels will help my message reach more people.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Dollarphotoclub_60555596-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>2. The more hashtags I stuff in a tweet, the more people I will reach.<\/strong><\/h3>\n3. I need to join every social network to reach more people.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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4. Buying followers and fans will help me sell more books.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Dollarphotoclub_6375851-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>There are several reasons buying followers is a waste of your money. Besides being unethical, here are a couple:<\/p>\n\n
5. Social media will not help me sell any books.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
6. Social media results cannot be measured.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
7. Social media is only for young people.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Dollarphotoclub_81116895-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>This myth is easily busted with data. Just take a look at the latest data from Pew Internet Research, the top internet research organization in the world.<\/p>\n8. I am too old to learn how to use social media.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
9. Social media is free.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
10. Social media is a soap box for me to sell my books. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"social](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Smart-Social-Media-for-Authors-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>I don\u2019t know if anyone really says this, but they certainly act it out. If all you do on social media is tweet or post \u201cBuy my book\u201d then you are failing. If you sell a handful of books with this method, think of how many you could sell if you actually built a platform to sell more books and develop a dedicated fan base.<\/p>\n![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Chris-Syme-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>I connected with today’s guest blogger, Chris Syme, when she let me know that she linked to one of my articles\u00a0in her\u00a0DigitalBookWorld.com guest post about\u00a0social media. Impressed with her message in that article, I invited her to write a guest post for us on social media myths. Chris is a 20-year veteran of the communications industry and principal of the award-winning CKSyme Media Group. The author of three books on social media, she is a frequent speaker on the national stage. Her third book,<\/em> SMART Social Media For Authors<\/a>10\u00a0terrible social media myths authors should\u00a0avoid<\/h3>\n