Influencer marketing is a great way to get your book the word of mouth promotion it needs. Each influencer has a following who keeps an eye on what they are doing, trusts them and pays attention to what they have to say.
A mom influencer or book blogger may help you book promotions even more than a news channel (subjectively). Because not everyone watching the news wants to buy a book but everyone following a book blogger or influencer is looking for good books or products to make their lives easy.
But how do you find these influencers? And should you pay them? Is it even worth your time to reach out to influencers at all?
Keep reading as I answer these questions for you. Having gone from bloggers to freelance writer to founder of RaisingWorldChildren.com to author hitting bestseller, I have seen the world of influencing evolve.
Who is an influencer?
IMO today, anyone who is online sharing their opinion is an influencer. Now people say that only those with 10k+ followers are influencers. But in today’s world where bots can be bought to increase followers, it is more about the authenticity of someone.
How do you find an influencer?
Someone who follows the hashtags relevant to your book. So if your book is a children’s book then following #momlife #bookblogger #bookshelf etc may be a good bet to find people who would be a good fit. Rather than numbers, I recommend finding someone aligned to your core values such that you are building a community and collaborating towards a goal ie mutual promotion.
Approaching an Influencer
Give before receiving. If you find someone you would want to work with. Like their posts, comment, build a rappot via their stories and then DM them to help promote your book. Share their work and understand their personality through their posts before asking for promotion.
Mind you, half the people you approach and half of those will do the review/post on social/share on stories (unless paid).
You would write something like –
Hi there. I have been following your account for a while now. I love (what you enjoy about their work). I think my book (xyz) would be of interest to your followers. The book talks about (2–3 key points). Here is the link to the book. I look forward to collaborating with you to build a long term relationship. I am open to (what you would want — post, story shout out, book review) .
Most influencers are pretty transparent. Those who take a free book do not usually do a full review unless they are a book reviewer. But even a mom influencers’ story shoutout is great word of mouth and social proof at times.
Should you pay for promotion?
Most people say no. I though, say that this is subjective. If you haven’t had any luck at all and trust someone to do a good job promoting your work, then paying them to reach their circle is totally worth it. Totally depends on their actual following, their brand and what you are willing to pay for marketing support. Specially if you have no idea how to market your book.
Should I promote my book with someone having a low engagement rate?
Engagement rate is an influencer follower to engagement ratio. Things have changed since 2 years ago. There is a huge influx of social media influencers, authors and more and while there are so many people out there, there is that much more division of people’s time as well.
Often there are more eyes that do not actively engage than those that do.
Some “pundits” will tell you people with low engagement rates are NOT worth your time.
I have another perspective to this. Sometimes sending a free book is also about gaining social proof for your book. Most social influencers who have high engagement may have that because of the strong support group them have. So that again is not people who will buy the book. People with super high engagement rate often do not respond / take a lot of money. So , yes while engagement is important, when starting out it would be great to have a few different faces promoting your book for your own social proof that the book is a quality resource. Remember, 25% of people you approach will say yes and half of those will actually do it, unless it is paid. So think about that too…
So don’t necessarily negate someone coz of low engagement. I have over 5 years amassed followers and I know a lot of peple who DM me about my own books don’t even follow me but when they talk I can make out they have been following me a while. A LOT of people are simply lurkers … That’s where human connections and psychology comes into play.
A LOT of people simply do not engage with social media posts unless they are trolling, want something OR are genuinely moved. That all that is rare…
So, if you are just starting out , reaching out to someone , regardless of engagement rate can be about building community , connections and gathering followers…
How do I Find Influencers?
In the vast online world it can be surprisingly hard to find influencers to connect with. Here are three key ways that you can connect with influencers –
1. Use the hashtags that would be in your book’s niche. The niche would be depending on the many layers of your book. A book on pets can also be about antibullying or mindfulness. So first outline your book’s key benefits and they reach out to people using that. #petlovers #bullyingprevention #mindfulparenting
2. Follow those who have supported other authors in your niche.
Again, think about relationship building, rather than book promotion. After all, no one likes a random person popping into their feed, asking for favors. If that is your personality, then just find people who you can pay for promotions.
Wishing your book success. Comment on this post on what you would like to learn about next.
If you have any more questions about this or would like a free Instagram bio audit, contact me via contact@raisingworldchildren.com or DM me on http://instagram.com/publishrwc
I also provide a lot of Done for You services like book promotions via RWC, editing, writing marketing material, one on one consults, strategized per your book/brand. Email me for a quote on what you need.
