Book marketing through social media: Devise a content strategy for maximum result

Writer Akhil P Dharmajan's Malayalam novel 'Ram C/O Anandhi' was published in 2020. It was well received, especially among the youth, then. The novel was also planned to be adapted into a movie with, reportedly, Pranav Mohanlal and Sai Pallavi in the lead. However, like any other literary work, the hype around it waned gradually over the years.

But, Akhil didn't want to let it go. He employed his promotional skills on social media to make his work of fiction, which he tagged as a cinematic novel, reach more hands. Now, after four years of its publication, the book is in the limelight as the best seller in Malayalam literature.

(L to R) Film director Kamal, producer Vignesh Vijayakumar, debutant director Anusha Pillai and Akhil P Dharmajan during the announcement of film adaptation of Ram C/O Anandhi. File photo: Special arrangement

The digital screens, which have invaded into the people's time, are being tapped to bring readers back to books. In recent years, social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and so on are being used extensively to promote literature both in digital format and well as hard copy.

Here are a few points to strategise your book promotion through social media:
» Share different versions of your book's cover ahead of its launch

» Share your journey towards the publication of the book in an interesting way - right from the conceiving of the idea to the final dispatch to the press

» Share pictures and videos of others holding or flipping through the pages of your book. Ensure that the book's cover, title and the author's name are visible.

» Make reels, shorts and videos with snapshots of intense passages, dialogues or lines in the book and keep posting them regularly in an organised manner.

» Join hands with social media influencers. It's a quick way ticket to popularise your work

» Plan your posts by keeping the algorithm in mind. Take into account the time, engagement pattern, audience and so on while promoting the book.

» Analyse other posts which have garnered a considerable measure of engagements of say more than one thousand and emulate the essence of those strategies

» Improve your rank on various platforms to make your posts appear instantly as search results

» Use relevant, trending and popular hashtags. You can follow popular writers of your time and take a cue from them in creating the hashtags.

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