When we talk about branding we automatically go to the big named corporations such as coca-cola, Unilever, McDonalds, Samsung, Hyundai, and Nike. All of these names are so familiar to us that most of the time we don't need to think twice about who or what the advertising campaign is all about.
Over the years branding has become something of an art form, and familiarity is a key part of the process. So much so that logos are immediately recognisable and are a good sign that the company is both trustworthy and popular.
Millions of dollars are spent on memorable advertising campaigns that become embedded in the psyche of the audience, and through all campaigns, good and bad, go towards the long-term brand identity.
How Do You Market Your Brand as a Little Known Entity?
This is where personal branding comes in.
Personal branding is you the author creating and selling books online.
The easiest way to do this is through social media by developing a platform to communicate with your audience.
Separating out any personal profiles you have online, and should only focus on you and your works published as an author.
Tips to Strengthen Your Author Brand
The 5 key elements of your author branding strategy should always be:
- Consistent
- Clear
- Reliable
- Honest
- Human
Create an Online Presence With a Website
If you really want your books to be found, create a website.
The website will be quickly indexed into search engines everywhere and will start to establish your name as a writer online.
Keep it simple and up-to-date, with a homepage where your readers can find your books, information about you, and any other content of value.
Create Valuable Content
If you want to be found every week, create content people will want to read.
Use your social media platforms to spread the word about your website by creating banners and images across all of your social media platforms.
The more you write the more interest you'll have in your books.
If you build it they will come.
Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) in Field of Dreams.
Use Social Media as a Professional
Keep your business and personal life separate by operating under different profiles. Create a profile for your author brand and use it for nothing else but your books and brand.
You can create as many social media posts about your books and blog posts as you want, and let the world know what your writing is all about.
Consistency is the Key
Always be consistent in everything you do, this can't be stressed enough. People will always gravitate towards trust, a kind face, and someone who can handle themselves properly online.
Silly remarks and arguments can cost you your writing career.
Find the colour, font and logo that suits your author brand the best and stick to it. Which is why a lot of thought needs to be put into your website design.
Find inspiration in the people you admire the most online. Take note of how successful authors and bloggers manage their brand's. All of this information is useful to you and will help you create a long lasting brand that will stand the test of time.
Tools to Strengthen Your Author Brand
I'm going show you the tools I use, then show tools the favoured the most by authors online.
My Favourite Tools
Buffer
Buffer allows you to build your audience organically by setting all of your social media posts out week by week and allowing you to post when you want to. Freeing up time for other important activities you may be doing during the week.
Hostgator
I've used Hostgator for a long time now and it allows me to choose my blog name and host it alongside Blogger with very little fuss.
Blogger
People will tell you about all of the most popular platforms to publish on, but at the end of the day its what you find the easiest and most reasonable way to create the content you want. Blogging is difficult if you don't understand how to operate the platform you're on, that's why I've always preferred Blogger.
Fotor
Image creation is a key part of the writing process, whether it be creating blog post banners or book cover images. You still need a good image creation tool to do both.
DIY Book Design
I came across this website a few months ago, and found their templates really useful. What's really great about DIY Book Design is that they have a good selection of templates you can use to create book banners for advertising and for social media posts.
Tools Favoured by Other Authors
Publisher Rocket
Find the most profitable keywords and categories to help sell your books with this handy tool.
Canva
An alternative to Fotor for image creation online.
MailChimp
Make email creation simple with MailChimp, you can maintain and build an email list without any hassle using MailChimp.
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