Know Your Social Media Market

As someone who has no idea what she's doing with regard to social media marketing, I've surprisingly garnered a lot of Instagram followers (a lot for me); 337. Keep in mind that I'm a micro-author. I've tried virtually all the social media sites, and for promoting, I like Instagram the best. However, if I didn't have a Canva subscription, I probably wouldn't bother with it. I can dash off a "story" (a post) for Instagram in a couple of minutes with Canva, and Canva's templates are endless, so I'm not repeating myself. Those are the pros. The big "con" is that Instagram doesn't allow links, so all I can do is add my novel's Amazon address as pure text and hope that a person or two might bother to paste it into their browser.

My mini foray into social media led me to research each social media site's demographics. I already knew that TikTok wasn't for me, and I certainly know which sites I prefer and which ones I detest, but am I overlooking a place where my target readers gather?

I don't view YouTube as a social media site, but it's by far (for most demographic groups) the most popular of all:

18-29 years – 93% 

30-49 years – 94% 

50-64 years – 86%

65+ – 65% 

I personally love YouTube for podcasts, which is what an author would need to create (or at least make guest appearances on) in order to promote books. I've already discussed how book trailers don't work. Clearly, YouTube is not an option for me; I won't use any visual medium, plus an author would need to market in order to market. By that I mean, they'd have to promote their podcast to gain viewers and thus (maybe) sell some books. It seems needlessly complicated and I suspect, not worth the investment.

Facebook: The largest group of Facebook users is in the 25-34 age demographic. This is shocking. I assumed Facebook was the place where old ladies congregate. (The two times a year I log onto my personal FB account, that's all I see.) And surprisingly, the site skews more male than female (56.8% versus 43.2%). Are statistics like political polls? You can't trust 'em? None of the males I know spend one iota of time on Facebook. Nevertheless, the stats are what they are. 

Now, I don't know the percentage of users who are looking to buy books, but an ad could potentially catch their attention. Thrillers, sci fi, fantasy probably stand the best chance, given the demographic breakdown. I did a week of Facebook ads and wasted my money. I only got a few clicks and zero purchases. 

As for simply posting on my author account, I rarely get any engagement whatsoever.  Occasionally, someone will like one of my posts, but I'll bet all the money I have that not one person has bought my book after seeing me talk about it on Facebook.

60% of Gen Z (ages 13-28) and millennial (29-44) users, as well as those under 35, like Instagram. According to the linked article:

"Instagram drives shopping decisions. Sixty-one percent of users turn to Instagram to find their next purchase, making it the top channel for product discovery. If your brand isn’t showcasing products here, you’re missing out." 

 My personal perspective is that Instagram is the most "viewer" friendly social media site. That is, it's visual, with larger-size stories and reels. An author's post will stand out. A user might well scroll past it, but they'll see it.

Instagram's gender breakdown is the closest of all the sites ~ 50.6% male and 49.4% female. If any social media site would be a fit for my genre, it's Instagram. And I have made at least one sale from it (that I can verify).

Gen Z loves TikTok, which also skews more male (55.7% compared to 44.3%). And TikTok users buy (77% of them). Again, TikTok skews higher male, and again, I'm hopelessly out of touch. Everyone probably knows that TikTok is video-centric, making it a bad match for an author like me. YA, romance, sci fi, fantasy all could do well there.

X: 60% of X users are male. This time I'm not surprised. 

According to the article:

"Thirty-five percent of X users interact with brand content daily, and 23% do so multiple times a week."

That's not huge compared to TikTok. X is my go-to for breaking news; well, really for news in general. But that's in my personal life. Every time I post on Instagram, I post the same Canva-created design on X (and sometimes on Facebook), but I am unaware of any sales resulting from X. Based on its user demographics, the same genres that would work well on Facebook would do better on X than contemporary fiction with a female protagonist.

I'll include LinkedIn, though I find it pretty worthless. LinkedIn's largest user group is millennials, and again, more male than female. I used to try promoting my books on LinkedIn occasionally, but to me, that's not the purpose of the site. I'm not sure what its purpose is, other than posting one's resume. I get connection requests every day, but most are frankly, from third-world countries, and they're not looking to buy my books.

Overall, for purchases, Facebook leads with 39%, then TikTok (36%) and Instagram with 29%. 

Whether you're spending money or time or both, it's important to get the most bang for your buck, and that means knowing where your potential readers are. I really only have one option that holds any promise. I've already abandoned my TikTok account after getting no more than one view from all three videos combined. I'm not in the market to purchase any more Facebook ads, and just posting there does nothing for me. X is more about politics than anything. 

I don't enjoy social media marketing, but if I'm going to do it, it'll be on Instagram.