Friday, January 2, 2015

#WWoW! @dochappycamper Discusses How to Share Your Facebook Posts With Your Fans and Followers #MyWANA #ASMSG

Welcome to Tammy's Tidbit's here at Not Enough Time in the Day. I hope all is going well with everyone and their journey through the world of publishing. New Year's Day 2015 celebration around here is extra special since the collection of stories I'd been working on for six months finally went live. Whew! 


With that under my belt I can concentrate a bit more on sharing more helpful hints here with everyone. This week I'd like to talk a bit about how to get around Facebook's algorithm that determines who will see your posts on your wall and fan pages. As you all have heard by now, Facebook is once again changing the way we get to see posts in our news feeds. They've listened to what the users stated they want and don't want to see on their walls.


Unfortunately, that means even less people will see our posts on our pages. Facebook will be cracking down on posts that look too much like advertising. It's important to have a presence there, but you should try to be social and interact more with your followers. Yes you want to share your book links and let your fans know your new one is ready for them, but now you'll have to figure out more creative ways to do it and not come off like a BUY ME NOW commercial.


I know some of you have no idea what I'm talking about so let me back track just a bit.

If you have a author/fan page you've noticed that only a small percentage of your fans (those who've liked your page) actually see your posts. Why? Because those are the ones who actively engage with you and your posts. They like it, make little comments on the majority of them or even just a smiley emoticon. These are the people Facebook and their computers feel are important and want to be updated about you and your page. 


You can get more views for your posts by encouraging your fans and friends to make comments and commenting on the posts yourself. One way to get your post in front of your current fans and friends is to boost it. For only $5, up to 3500 people can see your post. Of course this depends on your current fan base and friend count, but it is an investment that can really pay off.  Some of these people may not have realized they weren't seeing your posts. If they just click the like button, Facebook will register that as an ENGAGEMENT and these folks will be on the list to see your next posts. The more they like and leave even a short comment, the higher up on the list they go.


Sure, these little boosts may not lead to any sales of your books, but it gets your name out there and in front of the people who WANT to see your posts. These are the people who WILL buy your books if they know about them. It's why many of them liked your fan page to begin with—to get news of your events and new releases.


Another thing that's really helped me to get my posts in front of more people who are NOT my fans/friends yet is FREE. In two groups I'm in, we do weekly post shares. Each of us creates a post/status update on our wall or fan page, then we share the URL of the post in our group thread. Each person participating in the thread will then click on the URL, like the post and leave a comment. We also share these posts on our own walls and pages to our fan base. These additional shares make the original posts more engaging and Facebook keeps the lists growing.


Go ahead and give both methods a try. Use them in combination with each other to get more reach. Either way you do it means you get your name and your work in front of more people and in front of those who wish to see it. Isn't that what social media is all about?


For more information on how to get around Facebook's algorithm, please check out this fabulous blog article by Elyse Salpeter: Facebook – Getting Around the Darn Algorithm…


Before I go, I'd like to address another issue with the new Facebook advertising rules that are rolling out this month. You may have seen several posts from authors planning on deleting their pages and just stick with their private profiles.


While this may seem like the best answer, it's not. Profiles have a friend limit of 5k. Those pages allow you to have more than that following your updates. If you let them follow your profile, you set yourself up for anyone to have access to photos you post there. This is one way those Facebook hackers have stolen pictures and set up new accounts pretending to be others.


Facebook isn't going to suddenly present you a bill if you create posts that are too much like advertising. They may delete the post or the link associated with it. Instead of posting a link in the status, why not put it in the comments? It's still there, but it's encouraging readers to check out the comments and maybe even talk with you there. 


While it's true your ultimate goal is to garner more sales for your books, isn't it worth more if you "meet" people and get to know them as people first? These acquaintances could very well turn into fans for life and in turn will happily help you spread the word about your work.


Go on. Give it a try and have fun on your pages with those who visit. What have you got to lose?


Until next time,
~Tammy


Learn More About Tammy


Tammy Dennings Maggy is a best selling, multi-published poet and erotic romance author with Siren and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all on their own. 

Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels, Stephanie Ryan and Tawny Savage make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing. Together they've created the shared world series Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that series to come out later this year.

Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.


Check out:

Tammy's Website
Tammy's Blog
Tammy's Books on BookstrandAmazonBarnes and NobleSmashwords,  and iTunes 
Friend Tammy on Facebook
Like Tammy's Facebook Author Page
Friend Tammy on Goodreads
Friend Tammy on Pinterest
Follow Tammy on Twitter
Find Tammy's Videos on Youtube

No comments:

Post a Comment

Wildfire Romance Series