Successful eBook Marketing: Twitter

I read an interesting article the other day about how Twitter is dealing with spammers by suing some of the software sites that generate automated spam and phishing activity and it reminded me of some basics for Twitter. I have two accounts, one as an author (a pen name) and the other as a publisher. They have very different dynamics, because one is promoting a single product (on a long, slow burn), the other has a multitude of agendas and this leads to some very different interactions. But there are some common lessons:

1. Engage. Above all engage. Join in conversations, politely, but have something interesting to say.
2. Your main purpose might be to promote your ebook but don’t do it all the time, it will put people off. And find interesting ways of promoting in 140 characters: some writers take quotes from their books, others link to their own blogs with teasing questions, some will write about their characters. Variety and mystery are essential factors in gaining and keeping an audience on Twitter.
3. Identify people who are interested in the same things as you - music, art, cupcakes, gardening. It doesn’t matter what. If you’re genuinely interested in the subject(s) then you’ll have more natural interchanges with your fellow tweeps.
4. Retweet tweets that you think are useful, or which complement the subject matter of your writing. If you can, add a comment to say why you've retweeted. Over time this will make you more helpful to others who will begin to retweet you back.
5. If someone follows you, don’t automatically follow them back. Check them out, see if they’re real, see if they have interests that chime with yours. Ask yourself if you’d be happy to see a tweet from them, even if it’s just once every ten days.
6. If someone follows you, follow them straight back. Yes I know that contradicts what I’ve said above, but this is a valid method for building followers and that’s how some people have several thousand of them. Personally I worry that of the 12K followers for some tweeps I've seen, only a few hundred must be fellow travellers, the rest being marketeers, evangelists and spammers who will never engage.
7. Be clear about your goals. Having fun and exploring is just as valid as being heavily focused on your own ebooks. Some people tweet in order to find friends from other parts of the world, or connect with new ideas. It doesn't matter what, just do it with conviction!
8. Be patient. Quality is definitely more important than quantity. It takes time to build genuine groups of like-minded people. Watch how others talk about their work, see how effective they are, read the blogs they read, join the forums they discuss.
9. Be persistent. Whenever you tweet, always look for new tweeps to follow, chase down the bloggers and online mags in your areas of interest and see who is following them.
10. Deal with spam. Personally I report any spam I find. I’ve had hundreds of follows from so many innocent sounding porn stars from a every US State. A quick look at their web-address usually gives it away, or the randomness of their three tweets. A follow can also qualify as spam if its unwelcome attention from marketing companies promoting a product which is of no interest to you. So, block it. You don’t have to clutter your news feeds with stuff you don’t want to read.

Some people like to tweet all the time and scan all the tweets that come into their feed. Others allocate a small amount of time every day or week and so restrict their activity. Whatever you do, be consistent and try to integrate the activity into your daily/weekly routine. In time you'll find you have an audience that will respond to your requests for downloading that free chapter of yours on the Kindle, enjoy it so much that they'll buy the full ebook!

So, even with the ever-present dangers of spam, there are so many ways to promote your ebook through Twitter. It's fantastic.

Coming soon: Nook vs iBookstore vs Kindle and Yes, Size Matters, Even for ePubs.