A question I get asked a LOT in my group programs is how I’m able to churn out so much content all the damn time.
A lot of authors find marketing a struggle. It’s hard to keep up with it and remember to post every day, and most start out posting only once or twice a week (which is totally fine, by the way!)
In truth, when I first started out, I did the same. I posted maybe once or twice a week until I got comfortable and found my groove.
Then I pushed myself to post daily, and once that felt comfortable, I pushed myself to post even more.
Every time I pushed to do more, not only was there a desire to share more, but there was also a strategy behind it.
At the core, I share content I want to share. I feel called to share it. And that’s step #1 because if you’re not posting stuff you feel good about posting, it’ll be a struggle to post at all.
To date, my content strategy looks like this:
- 2 - 3 posts going out daily on PBK’s Instagram and Facebook
- Showing up daily on Instagram stories
- 1 x post going out daily on my author Instagram and Facebook
- 2 - 5 pieces of content going out via PBK every month (in the form of blogs, podcasts, videos and livestreams)
- A few emails a week to PBK subscribers (used to be daily, but now I just repurpose my best stuff)
- A newsletter going on once a month to PSM subscribers
…as you can see, that’s a LOT of content, but getting the routine and strategy for this didn’t happen overnight.
So here’s how I do it:
1) I Set Goals Based On My Current Marketing Phase
Let’s focus on book marketing phases for a second: there are five phases you could possibly be in:
- warmup
- nurture
- credibility
- hype
- close
So depending on where you’re at, you’re going to have different kinds of content going out to your audience in all various forms. It’s important to set the goal here: are you aiming to attract readers, nurture them, or finally close those sales? You need to take them through the right customer journey first.
2) I Plan Out My Posts
I like to do this via a Trello board or a table in a word document. It depends on what kind of marketing is going out really, and how much of it.
I’m very strategic in how I plan out posts-everything from the timing, to the kind of content, to the frequency, and how I repurpose it too. (Repurposing is just resharing the same content to multiple platforms. Why create a new piece of content for every single platform when people are not likely to see every single thing you create?)
So once I have my plan, I execute it.
Want the exact Trello board I use to plan my book marketing content?
You can grab it from the Launch Shop! My clients love this board and often rave about how it takes the guesswork out of book marketing. Click here to grab it!
3) My Scheduling Hack
I will often do this in phrases.
First I draft all my content.
Then I write it.
Then I batch create all the graphics.
Then finally I schedule it and it’s done.
Now when I schedule social media content, I do this through Facebook, and because I can’t schedule to Instagram I have a little “habit” hack I’ve built.
Once a day, I will check my FB page to find the latest piece of content that’s gone out, and simply reshare it to Instagram from my phone. I can do this in bed, when I’m out and about, or at my desk. Doesn’t matter-what matters is that it’s going out automatically and I only have to remember to do that part once a day.
This is how I’m able to be incredibly visible online, which is needed in the online space to stay top of mind.
Written by Pagan Malcolm
Pagan is a copywriter and business coach helping writers understand the business side of publishing so that they can become serious authors.
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