4 Things Writers Should Decide Before Posting

Many writers want to instantly be bestsellers so they turn to the gorilla of social media and expect this magical panacea to bring readers to them. Not so much. With Facebook, like any marketing strategy, you need a plan. You need to know what your content objectives are, how you’ll measure success, and how you will scale that plan.

There’s no easy button.

You need content objectives a plan.

(It’s not about funny cat pics either!)

Every piece of content you post on Facebook needs to have a goal — an objective AND meet a need for your fans. Success won’t come without both working together. Don’t add to the noise. Despite what some may think, your Facebook Page/Profile is not about you, or about making you feel good. If you don’t take care of your fans, they won’t support your work.

What are some common content objectives?

• Drive Traffic
• Build Edge Rank
• Engage Your Fans (Let Them See Oz)

If you’re posting a link with the objective to drive traffic to your blog, you’ll want to analyze how many clicks to your website were generated moreso than how many Likes or Comments you got. If you’re posting something to build Edge Rank, you’ll care less about driving traffic (even if you’re sharing a new item) and more about interaction — the Likes, Shares, and Comments. If you want to be discovered by new readers, well targeted ads are perhaps a better bet than hoping for something to go viral.

Posting content that performs double duty puts the antlers on the moose. If you can post a link that successfully drives traffic to your blog but also starts a conversation that reaches that tipping point so it’s shown to friends of fans—BOOM! Now you’ve not only added value for fans but you’ve grown organically.

Before you post any content ask yourself:

• What do I want this content to do for me?
• Who is the intended audience for this piece of content?
• What is the desired goal?
• How will you measure success?

After you post a piece of content, evaluate how successful it was based on the answers to the questions above.

So You Want To Go Viral?

All the time I hear writers asking what to post. Sometimes these are legitimate pleas for help, sometimes this is someone begging for the path to the easy button. What they’re really asking is how do I get a post to go viral?

No argument, this is a great way to boost your platform. However, it comes with some drawbacks. When a piece of content goes viral, often you’ll have users Like your Page, which you’d think is great, except maybe that was a one-off blog post that is outside the normal scope of your blog. Maybe that post was tied to a trending topic. Maybe they Liked your Page because an influencer recommended the post, but they don’t know anything about you.

Who knows? But now you’ve got a bunch of fans who have Liked your Page organically and don’t interact any further.

Instead of chasing the Facebook lotto and wishing on beaver tails to go viral, aim always post content that adds value for fans and know what the objective of that content is. Always take the time to evaluate how successful that content was in reaching that objective – this should mean exporting your insights report and having a deeper look at the data.

Been told you should learn Deep Point Of View? Had an editor or critique partner tell you to “go deeper” with the emotions in your fiction? Looking for a community of writers seeking to create emotional connections with readers? Check out the Free Resource Hub and then join the Going Deeper With Emotions In Fiction Facebook group.