This one simple thing is costing you readers, and it's easy to fix
The essential first step to effective book marketing
Authors and writers often come to me because you want to ‘fix’ your Instagram.
Many of you are working hard, plugging away, posting consistently, following advice about optimum reel lengths and trending audio, but you’re still not seeing the results you want to see. Or you feel completely overwhelmed by all of the options and long for the days when all you had to do was post a picture and a simple caption.
The temptation is often to blame the platform, or the algorithms, to throw your hands in the air and declare that Instagram doesn’t like you, but what if I told you the problem often lies in something so simple that its power is over-looked, that is relatively easy to fix?
The importance of defining your ideal reader
When I ask most writers to tell me about their book they don’t struggle at all. But as soon as I ask them about their ideal reader, this emoji is the one that springs to mind: 😶
Me: ok, that’s great, I have a picture of what your book is like. Now tell me about your ideal reader.
Author: oh, that’s easy - my book is for everyone.
Me: 🙃
And look, I get it.
Your book is brilliant, you've been working on it for months or possibly years, it has been edited and polished and burnished smooth by hours up on hours upon hours of effort: of course your book is for everyone!
But does everyone want to read it?
When you’re marketing your book, you shouldn’t be trying to convince everyone to read your book. You shouldn’t be trying to reach as many people as you can through your marketing activity.
You should be trying to reach the right people, who are going to love your book, but who do not know it exists, YET.
When you don't know who your ideal reader is you’ll find that:
you're trying to convince everyone to read your book (which means you'll be convincing no one)
you're always guessing what you should post about on Instagram and never feel confident about showing up
you feel like you're howling into the wind and no one is listening
it's difficult to keep coming up with post ideas which means you don't post as often as you should, and when you do it takes longer than it needs to
you're inconsistent and post only when so much time has passed that you feel like you should and not because you have a clear idea about what you’re doing on Instagram
you rush around joining in with every trend you see just in case this is the one that works
you obsess over, and over-think, every one of your posts because you don't know if you're posting the 'right' things
Whereas when you have a clear idea of who your ideal reader is you’ll find that:
you know what your ideal reader is interested in hearing from you and as a result they talk back - your engagement will increase
you’re able to target your posts at the people most likely to become your reader which makes you feel more confident about what you are sharing and why
you’re able to plan posts in advance that will appeal to your ideal reader’s interests
you feel confident ignoring irrelevant trends and instead select the ones that will appeal to the right people for your book
you're able to generate post ideas around your readers' interests which means you never run out of post ideas again
you’re able to plan your content and therefore post more consistently and confidently
‘Forget your generalised audience… In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person - a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.’
John Steinbeck
Defining your ideal reader, and thinking of them as ONE single person, can make it easier to design Instagram posts that are going to appeal to their interests, connect with them over things you both care about, and ultimately nurture them into becoming one of your readers.
Once they’ve read your book and loved it, because it was exactly the kind of book they enjoy, they may also become a ‘digital surrogate’ for you, sharing your book online with their networks as well as offline with their friends and family.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? But you might be thinking, how do you do it?
How do you figure out who your ideal reader is?
Well, I would like to show you.
Join me for 60 minutes on Weds 6th November at 6pm BST (10am PST/ 1pm EST) and I’ll guide you through a series of exercises and tasks to define your ideal reader.
You’ll walk away with a clear definition of who your ONE IDEAL READER is, so you can tailor and target your Instagram posts (and other marketing activity) to find, attract and connect with them.
It’s the first step to effective book marketing.
Tickets cost £25 (approx 33USD), or you can upgrade your subscription to become a member of Too Much Instagram and attend for free. A replay will be available to all ticket holders.
