So, you've probably noticed all the restrictions Facebook has on authors pages. As a newbie to the social network realm, I decided to do a little research. I'm still in the research phase, but wanted to share what I've done to try to figure it all out.
Mind you, I'm not a statistician or a numbers person. I am a people person and I'm analyzing the interactions I've had on social networks. First, I had a few questions. I spend a lot of time on social media and I wondered which place is more valuable. I could spend MONTHS researching this question alone, but I've come to this conclusion (as many of you have). It's all about FACEBOOK and how we utilize it.
I've also found that Facebook is the place to connect with readers, whereas Twitter is the place to connect with other authors/publishers/agents.
Here is an interesting info-graphic about the average amount of minutes spent on social media. (Taken from The Wall Street Journal)
This made me sad, as I've really taken a liking to Google+. Again, you can see Facebook is where it's at.
So, with this information, I've learned that we need to engage ourselves more on Facebook. BUT how do we do that when Facebook controls who sees our posts and when?
Based on what I've heard from other users, I tried some experiements out in one week.
A little about my Author Page. As of this post, I have 856 followers. Not bad for a newbie author. What IS bad is the amount of views my posts get. With that many followers, I have an average of 25 views per post. NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
In ONE WEEK, here are my most important variables:
Post by Melinda Dozier.
Just as a side note, the second most engagement was a PICTURE of a sexy man. Yeah, yeah, I can't help myself. I have noticed that sexy man pics tend to get a lot more views, though, so that's why I'm including it.
Post by Melinda Dozier.
Other top views included:
A simple post with only a comment (43 views)
Sharing a FB link (45 views)
Funny picture (45 views)
Also noticeable was that all my higher viewed posts were "liked' or "commented" on.
The post with the least engagement was a share of a friend's post with a resounding SEVEN views.
As a final experiment, today I asked my followers to comment on a post as part of a FB experiment. After 7 hours, I've had 28 comments & 6 likes. With this post, I've had 473 views and expect more. So, COMMENT, PEOPLE, to help each other out.
OVERALL ANALYSIS:
To have more engagement/views:
More comments = more engagement (duh!)
Use pictures (don't just link to the picture)
Others share your post
Share interesting posts from other FB users
MORE ANALYSIS to come!
Melinda Dozier is a contemporary romance author who loves to spend time on social media. Her two books, BREAKING THE RULES from Crimson Romance and LOVE AND OTHER GAMES from Swoon Romance have been category best sellers on Amazon. You can find her at www.melindadozier.com.
