7 Tips For Using Instagram To Promote Your Book

It’s a great idea to hire a book marketing agency to promote your upcoming or recently released books. However, if you want to be more particular with your marketing approach, you can still use a book marketing agency, but it is preferable if you assume the entire responsibility. You might not realize it, but Instagram, particularly Bookstagram, is an online niche corner for bookworms dedicated to books and is a fantastic channel to market your book.

Instagram has over 1 billion users globally and is much more than a destination to watch the latest dance videos and holiday photos. So, how can you use Instagram to promote your book? Isn’t it a good question? Read this post for seven suggestions on promoting and creating a strong readership for your book.

Tip #1

Reflect Like A Businessman

To market your book, create a dedicated Instagram account for your book. This focuses the limelight on you, the creator, as your recent work tagged in a photo of your sister’s dog playing doesn’t appear professional, so reserve it for your private account. Your postings can then be geared toward promoting you as an author and your book. In addition, your followed accounts will also be related to the book industry. This practice is seen to be practiced by every professional book marketing agency making this evident that a strong online presence is bound with professionalism.

Tip #2

Make The Most Of Relevant Hashtags

If you are trying to promote anything on Instagram, hashtags are your best friend. People use hashtags to keep up with what’s happening globally and on social media. Make a list of popular hashtags and add relevant ones. You can use up to thirty hashtags to attract individuals interested in that subject or genre. It’s also worthwhile to look at how successful authors use hashtags. Don’t just replicate their list; instead, use it as a guide to see if there is any overlap with the book’s genre you are marketing. Moreover, you can also look at the social media handles of reputed book marketing agencies to better understand how they promote their clients.

Tip #3

Offer Exciting Teasers

It’s a good idea to share a little sneak peek of your latest release if you have acquired a solid following and credible links on Instagram. This can be a chapter, a cliffhanger question, a character, or a collection of memorable quotes throughout the novel. Creating a feeling of anticipation will draw readers in and inspire them to purchase your book.

Tip #4

Ask For Honest Reviews

It may seem self-evident, but having some honest feedback on your work will help attract new readers. For example, you can use a book marketing agency to find potential readers who will post honest reviews or give a few copies to a local book club or school to be reviewed. You can also request your friends and colleagues for their honest reviews to be displayed on Instagram. This way, you can gather some honest feedback on your work which can significantly help design and target your marketing strategy.

Tip #5

Go Live On Social Media!

Prepare yourself for a live web stream! Promote it on your Instagram page to get some attention. Moreover, invite your target audience to your live sessions to ask you questions about your book, how it feels to be an author, future book ideas, and so on. Make sure a copy of your book is prominently displayed — it’s free publicity.

Tip #6

Photography

Take some pictures using your phone! Stick to original pictures of yourself and your book instead of stock photos. To make amazing images for your book page, you will need carefully chosen settings and adequate lighting. Don’t forget to include hashtags as well! Experiment with different filters to best showcase your work.

Tip #7

Accept the Challenge!

We have all seen numerous social posts on people’s social media profiles encouraging new followers, such as tagging three friends and winning a free lunch. So, why not give it a go-to to help you promote your book? Offer an autographed book as a prize in a contest like “Show us your preferred reading spot and tag three friends.” The goal is to attract people to interact with your Instagram account and grow your following, ideally resulting in more people buying your book!

Takeaway

So, now you have it: the significant tips for marketing your book on Instagram. Of course, there are a variety of other options, such as paying for a book marketing agency and hiring influencers, but they all are pretty heavy for your budget. So now it’s your turn to decide as your book isn’t going to promote itself!