You might have the greatest group of social media fans ever, but did you know that your news blasts reach only a small percentage of them? Repeating posts can be annoying, and paying to boost posts helps, but neither guarantees you’ll reach everyone. At Web Design Relief, our marketing experts know that nothing works better to push the launch of your next book or improve your marketing and promotion efforts than a solid mailing list, where you control the timing and frequency of your emails and can even reach out to those who didn’t open your missives the first, or second, time.
How To Move Your Social Media Fans To Your Mailing List Without Being Pushy
Pin A Post
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow you to pin a post to the top of your newsfeed so it’s the first thing a visitor sees. Consider crafting that post as an enticement for followers to join your mailing list, perhaps by offering:
- a free book
- a short story or unique content unavailable in any other way
- advance notices of launches, exclusive behind-the-scenes information, and/or a heads-up whenever there’s a sale or discount
Include an enticing graphic to be sure to grab your followers’ attention!
Make Signing Up Simple
Include a hotlink to your mailing list in your user description on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, and any other social media platforms.
Also make sure you have a “Sign Up” button on your Facebook page that leads directly to your mailing list sign-up form. MailChimp, Constant Contact, and a number of other email marketing services have Facebook apps that make it easy for fans to sign up without leaving your social media site.
Run A Contest
Running a contest or giveaway is one of the most effective ways to move your social media followers to your mailing list. Contest apps like Rafflecopter make the process easy. Just make sure to include language in the entry form that clarifies that, by joining, entrants will be added to your mailing list.
Chats And Live Videos
When it comes to making a connection with fans and followers, nothing beats live action. Consider starting up a Twitter Chat or doing regularly scheduled Facebook Live Videos or Google + Hangouts to engage your followers. A reminder about your mailing list, including the URL, may be all you need to turn those viewers into subscribers.
Lead Generation Ads
If you’re willing to spend a little money to move fans from your social media profile to your mailing list, consider Facebook’s Lead Generation Ads. With these ads, the Facebook user doesn’t even have to leave the platform in order to join your list. These ads can be targeted to people on your page, friends of people on your page, people interested in authors in your genre, etc. They can also be restricted based on age, gender, and geographical area. Facebook can even create a custom audience similar to, say, your current mailing list to increase the odds you’ll attract the right followers.
Ask
Every once in a while, ask your followers to join your mailing list. It can feel awkward to request a favor, but if you offer lots of interesting content on your social media pages, grateful followers will be willing to help you out if you ask them to sign up. Explaining the reasoning also helps convince wary fans:
Hey, everyone! If you want to be sure to receive news about upcoming books, freebies, and discounts, please join my mailing list at (URL). I love interacting with all of you on my (insert social media platform), but because of the way social media works, I can’t always reach all of you! This way, you won’t miss a thing and we’ll stay connected.
While it’s always smart to encourage fans and followers to join your mailing list, just remember that social media is about sharing. Fans and followers want to get to know you better, and that takes time. So make sure you limit your mailing list requests just as you limit your “buy my book!” posts to about one in ten. If social media followers start to feel pressured or spammed, they’re more likely to scoot away than sign up.
Question: What’s the favorite kind of “gift” you’ve received from signing on to an author’s mailing list?
Wonderful article. I neglected to do this for my first book, and suffered the consequences. I will certainly follow your guide for the newest book I am completing.
Pauline Perron