Stop Social Media, I Want to Get Off! Focusing your online strategy

Social media is an inescapable part of being an author these days. The question then becomes, “Which social media platforms should I be on?” With so many, many platforms out there, it makes the head whirl!

Personally, I write for 2 blogs (here and my personal blog), and am on my website, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Goodreads. And of course once you have books out you need to keep your profiles current on the bookselling sites like Smashwords and Amazon’s Author Central. Then fellow Chronicler Matt Q. McGovern told us all about Ello, and that we should get on it.

Seriously? Another platform to spend time on instead of writing?

I already feel like I am everywhere and nowhere. As a writer I have to squeeze my writing around my child’s schedule, so my time is already constrained. I touch base on many social media platforms during the day, but I know I m not as deeply engaged as I probably need to be in order to be effective. I am spread so thin, I don’t think I can add another network.

So what can we beleaguered writers do? We know we must have an online presence, so our audience can find us. But where is the best use of our time? There are 2 answers to that question:

1) Where your audience is

2) Where you enjoy being

Obviously, the best use of your time online would be to be on the social media platform where your target audience plays. This differs for every demographics, so you need to do your homework. You want to be where your audience can most easily find you.

However, if your needed social media platform is not the same as your favorite, then make sure you also spend time on the social media you enjoy. Why? Because being online shouldn’t be all a chore. You need to have some fun, or you’ll get burnt out. And if you are online somewhere you’re comfortable, chances are good that your audience will find you there and engage with you where you are obviously enjoying yourself.

For a while, the advice was for authors to be everywhere on social media. We’ve all found that in reality, this doesn’t work well—it eats up too much precious writing time. So now the advice seems to be shifting: focus on one or two social networks—the one where your audience lives and one that you enjoy. If you are very lucky, they will be one and the same, and your social media “chores” can turn into fun and relaxed interaction with your readers.

What social media platforms have been your most successful ones?