I have seen way too many writers who are either not on any Social Media form or are there, but have remained inactive. From experience, social media is a great tool for building most careers (including writing), ask two of OkadaBooks’ bestselling authors, Sally Kenneth Dadzie and Naija Single Girl. The reason for this is not far-fetched; they are almost all free, they have an endless reach and take little effort to use. social media platforms are easily the cheapest and easiest avenues for promoting oneself.
Ignorance of how to use social media platforms is not a valid excuse, therefore this article will focus on ways through which you can improve your various pages as a writer or in any career, really).
Choose One Platform and Use it Religiously
It’s okay to reserve your handle by registering on every social media platform there is. However, it is important you figure out which one works best for you and focus on it.
Use the Same Handle Across All Platforms
Your handle is your name or identity on social media. Thus, it is important to use a consistent ID because it will help ensure that your followers find you easily. In some cases, you might find that the handle you want has been taken on one platform and available on another. The best thing to do when that happens, is usually to tweak it a bit or come up with another handle altogether.
In addition, let your handle be easy to find, too many characters and numerals in one handle can be confusing.
Different Platform, different content
My social media accounts are linked to one another, so it is easier for me to post on one and share to the others. While this sounds convenient, avoid it. The reason is, each platform has its own vibe and your posts should reflect that.
Follow those who Similar Accounts Follow
This is a sure way to meet other people in your niche.
Post Every Day
…okay, maybe not every day, but as often as possible. Nobody wants to follow an account that puts out posts once in a blue moon.
Have a Persona
Your social media page should represent your brand. It should also allow for the possibility of controlling and shaping the bran’s persona if need be.
Socialize
Social media has more than enough monitoring spirits already, you do not want to increase the number. As often as possible, interact with others, leave comments and reply when others leave comments on your posts.
Use Hashtags (for Twitter and Instagram)
The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. Hashtags are a sure way for your target audience to find you directly.
Stay Away from Squabbles
Everybody on social media has an opinion, and that’s fine. However, as someone who is building a brand, avoid conflict as much as you can; Except your brand thrives off controversy. Not all publicity is good publicity, and the last thing you want, is for people to take your post out of context, so be careful.
What’s one social media tip you have found helpful? Share in the comments.
Hi, thanks a lot for this post, it was very helpful. I am a budding writer and these tips were just what I needed, esp the part about using hashtags (I used to think that they were unnecessary) and the part about consistency too. I’ll go right ahead and make good use of them. Gracias🙏🏾
I really appreciate the part where you say to avoid posting same thing across different social media (using automated tools) and also the part of sticking to one social platform. It is so overwhelming to manage multiple social platforms, unless someone is a social media freak. At least one can hire/get social media accounts manager to manage the others if all must be active.