Create a Strong and Memorable Author Brand with Social Media

After working hard on your manuscript, you are ready for it to hit the market, but you need to realize that YOU play an important role in your success. It’s necessary to create an author brand that promotes you and not just your book so that future releases get more attention with less effort. 

It’s always best to establish your brand before you release any book. Even if you already have several books featuring your name, it’s never too late to establish a brand. 

The Buzz on Branding 

Branding is important for any business. As an authorpreneur, you should be paying attention to it as it offers a host of benefits. 

The main aim of branding is twofold: First, it helps readers to identify your work. Second, it differentiates you from other authors. 

Brand Recognition

A strong brand allows your readers to recognize your books and products. It’s all about the colors, style, and personality that you envision for yourself. They make it easier for your audience to see a book, article, or merchandise and link it to your name immediately. 

Brand Differentiation

With so many books on the market, you have to do something to set yourself apart and show you are unique—this is where your brand comes in. 

Your competitors might write about similar topics or have a style close to yours, but that doesn’t mean that readers should choose their books above yours. By establishing a well-known brand, you become more present in the minds of your audience, which makes your products more desirable to readers. 

Let’s get into how you can build a successful brand!

Know Your Audience

Your manuscript was written with a specific group of people in mind; it’s not for everyone. Understanding this group of people, known as your target market or target audience, assists you in creating a suitable brand. 

Identify Your Target Market 

Think about who your readers are, what they like, and why they are choosing your books. Figure out their demographics like age and gender as well as lifestyle factors such as career, hobbies, and how they spend their free time. 

Choose an Appropriate Tone and Style

Your brand is like a person, so it has a tone of voice and style, but this has to agree with your audience. If you are writing business books, then your brand could have a more informative and formal style. In contrast, a brand focused on young adults will have a more conversational, friendly, and fun tone. 

Determine Where Your Audience Are

Most readers use social media. You have to find out which platforms your readers use so that you can target them in the right place. Authors can use Facebook to reach Baby Boomers, teens are found on Instagram or TikTok, while entrepreneurs are more accessible on LinkedIn. 

Social Media Brand Creation 

The public won’t get to know your brand if you keep it to yourself. The best way to share it with people is to place your information center stage on social media. 

Building an Unforgettable Profile

Once you have chosen a suitable social media platform (it can be more than one), fill in every possible detail of your profile. The more you can add, the better because your audience wants to know about you. 

Add some photos of yourself, your products, and what your brand represents. Your profile should include a short biography and your contact details. 

Refresh Your Profile

Times change. Life events impact your story and you release new books. You might even branch out into a new genre. Make your audience aware of these changes by keeping your profile up to date. Your contact details and places where your products can be purchased should be highlighted with correct information at all times. 

Add Personality to Your Author Brand

Your personality plays a pivotal role in the social media brand creation process. You want customers to get to know your brand like they would if they knew you in person. This remains true even if you are using a pen name, which makes it essential to make your brand as personal as possible. 

A Glimpse into Your Life

Most readers only know you through your books and the information you release about yourself. Those details are usually quite formal and relate to your writing career. Use social media to give the audience a sneak peek into your life, almost like a look behind the scenes. 

Be a Friend

Treat your audience as if they were a friend—in most cases, your friends know loads of personal details about you. Your brand should do the same. Share some fun facts about yourself, discuss your hobbies, and tell readers about your pets. 

Interact Frequently

Your readers wait in anticipation for your next book, so it only makes sense that they also wait to hear from you on social media. Talk to your audience by posting at least once a week. Often, they would expect to hear from you about three times a week. 

Create Engaging Content

Wondering what you should post on social media is always a concern. Don’t overthink this too much—share what’s on your mind or what you are telling your friends about. Ensure it fits with your brand. 

It’s recommended to create a content calendar to help you with your posts. Spend some time to think about a couple of topics or consider themes for specific weeks or months. Write and schedule the post about a week in advance. 

Thank Your Followers

A great way to engage with readers is to thank them for their support. Ask them for their opinions, respond to their questions, and be grateful for their help in building your reader community.

Post Audience Feedback

Your followers will provide feedback about your brand or respond with reviews of your latest book. Add credibility to your brand by sharing these testimonials on your profile. 

Authorpreneurs Share Information

Brands aren’t stingy with their information. They want their audience to know what is happening, and the same sentiment should apply to your brand. 

Readers follow you on social media because they want to know the latest news, so give it to them. Tell them what you are working on (you don’t have to give them all the details) or get your audience to guess the topic of your next book. 

Give readers any important details about your brand and accompanying events. Provide information about book readings, release dates of new manuscripts, and any meet and greets on your schedule. 

Start a Blog

A blog is another form of social media as it’s a space where you can share your thoughts in greater detail. You can also promote your blog posts on other social media platforms so that customers get to your website. It’s an excellent opportunity to get the audience to subscribe to a mailing list for direct communication. 

Prioritize SEO

Your blog should be an extension of your brand and have the same components as your social media profiles. Part of this process is to create keywords that appeal to your audience so they can find you. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for every blog. It allows you to optimize your content so that your articles are found higher up on search engine results pages. 

Blog Topics

Deciding what to write about on your blog can be quite a headache. You can use a content calendar for these articles to make it easier. It’s also possible to write these articles in advance to be released on your blog. 

Here are some ideas for your first couple of blog articles: 

• A day in the life of an author
• Behind the scenes of my new book
• The writing process
• The inspiration behind a story
• Book reviews of other authors

Some authors don’t want to struggle with blog articles, they prefer to stick to their trade of writing novels or non-fiction books. This is totally okay. You can always have a blog and make use of our SEO article writing services. 

Be Consistent

Your personality doesn’t change much throughout your life, despite some small tweaks and quirks. In the same light, your brand shouldn’t change easily either, although adjustments within reason are okay. 

Stick to the tone and style you choose for your brand, and use it across your social media accounts. Select a couple of colors and certain types of visuals that represent your brand. 

Ready, Steady, Build a Brand

Are you ready to build your brand? 

You have all the tools you need to create a strong social media presence and share your brand with your biggest fans. You might even attract some new audience members! 

Give your brand a unique personality and then use your social media profiles to promote your books. Identify your target market, create a schedule, become present on social media platforms, and add a blog for more insights into your author brand.

Contact us today for assistance with your blog. We will ensure that it fits in with and