Social media is the icing, not the cake!

 I recently chatted to a fellow writer, a former journalist working on a novel but simultaneously attempting to build a business-writing operation.

 "I've tried this social media nonsense and it doesn't work for me," he declared. "I set up a Facebook page opened a Twitter account and told the few people who decided to become friends what I'm doing, informed them of my skills and special offers and...nothing. Just a gigantic waste of time! Social media doesn't work for me as a marketing strategy."

 And he's right. Social media is not a marketing strategy. To use a baking cliche: social media is the icing on the top of the cake that is the marketing strategy.

 So what exactly is a marketing strategy? Naturally it varies from business to business and writer to writer but it's all the other stuff you do to help you get sales. That could include:

•  Advertising in mainstream media (Not recommended!)
•  Your online presence -- ensuring your website is the best it can possibly be.
•  Blogging
•  Presence on Pinterest 
•  Public relations
•  Networking -- online and in person 

 You get the idea. So where does social media fit in? Let's say you post a new blog entry. You would then share that fact across your social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and maybe Linkedin. The idea is not to sell anything on those channels but to inform people of the blog post that, if you've done your job properly, gets them to head on over to read it. If you provide content that is valuable they will likely share it with their friends, followers and colleagues and you are establishing relationships with new people who may become clients/readers and further recommend you.

 And that means social media is working for you. You are using it to grow traffic to your website and blog or possibly to grow your email and newsletter subscriber base. Then it's up to you to convert the increased traffic into sales.

 I am absolutely convinced you can sell nothing on Twitter or Facebook (don't ask me how I know that!!). Simply sending out "Buy me" type messages only irritates recipients and turns them away from you. (If your experience is different, I'd love to hear about it.)

 The role of social media is to build relationships, it is the icing. The selling comes from the cake!