Back in the day — you know, like a year ago — when I developed internet marketing* plans for clients, I used the same basic three-part formula every time. I loved the internet marketing part of my job, and used this three-part formula to create long-term marketing plans that worked.
Print this out, grab a piece of paper and pencil, or open up a blank word processing document. Let’s write your marketing plan!
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Which online tools are you using? Make a list of everything you’re using right now to promote yourself and your work, including social networking sites, email marketing, and anything else that’s internet-based. Make a note next to each with how often you use it.
Which online tools should you be using (or, which tools do you want to try)? Jot down the tools you think you should be using, or heard about and want to try. If you’re an artist, you should consider signing up for a deviantART account. If you’re a musician, you should check out MySpace, YouTube, and consider setting up an iTunes account where people can download your music. If you’re a writer, you should be on Goodreads talking about your favorite thing — books, of course.
How can you make them unique? Don’t just vomit the same things onto your email list and Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads accounts. (And by “vomit,” I totally mean “copy and paste.”) Think about it. Would you follow someone on Twitter, be their fan on Facebook, circle them on Google+, and sign up for their email newsletter if they were just posting the exact same things to both? Jot down a couple ideas next to each with how you can make them interesting and tempt your fans to follow you everywhere.
Once you’ve completed steps one, two, and three, take a look at your list. Is there something you aren’t getting any results with? Do you find yourself dreading logging in to any of these sites or neglecting your email list? It may be time to move on. I deleted my Facebook because I procrastinated logging in so that I didn’t have to deal with their change addiction. Your best bet with marketing is to use the things that work, and ignore everything else. You’re just wasting your time if you cling to everything.
That being said, there are also some necessary evils. I’ve been thinking about going back to Facebook because let’s face it: there are a lot more people there than on Google+. I don’t have any family or high school friends on G+, but there are boatloads of them on Facebook, and I’m willing to bet many of them would be at least interested in hearing about my publishing adventures, maybe even interesting in checking out my work. I may just have to give Facebook another shot (unfortunately for my ego).
With that said, you can’t be everywhere at once. (Am I confusing you yet?) Make sure you are focusing your marketing efforts in key areas so that you don’t burn yourself out. This is why making that list helps. If you can’t think of a unique use for each tool, you probably don’t need it.
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BONUS TIP: All of your marketing tools should be directing people to your website!
What’s your favorite social media account to follow, and why? Is there a brand or single person doing it really well? Mine would have to be @maureenjohnson. She cracks me up, but she also regularly tweets news about her books. I’m always wondering what she’s going to say on Twitter next.
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*Some people call this social marketing, but I’ve recently taken to calling it internet marketing, because as Gary V pointed out, it’s all the internet.
