No need to post everyday

Recently, I saw an image on my social media feed that was trying to sell a set of social media templates for writers (templates supposedly designed to help writers sell books). But when I saw the image (and its caption), I had an instant negative reaction. The marketing tactic involved felt like it was trying to sow fear, insinuating that if you don't post every day, you'll never sell books.

The caption:

Every day you don't post is another day your perfect reader doesn't know your book.

My reaction based on experience:

Your perfect reader won't care if you don't post every day. They won't care if you post only once a week. In fact, they won't care if you decide to go social media dark completely. But they will care if you come across as a bot that is only trying to sell them things, ignoring the opportunity for genuine connection. They will care if you are treating them like a transaction.

FOMO on Steroids

FOMO. Fear of missing out.

It's a known psychological issue that this era of social media is feeding into. With so many people now posting photos of their latest party fun, concerts they've attended, or views of nature, we are constantly bombarded with messages that show us how great life can be, but without showing the other sides of life too. In fact, it's so full of "Wish you were here" messages that we have fostered the FOMO anxiety in the extreme.

FOMO has always been present in society. All you have to do is think about the popular kids tropes to know what I'm saying is true. But social media has taken it to a whole different level. Instead of it being restricted to the school hall bullying tactics, it's now 24/7 and intruding on our everyday lives.

By the way, doomscrolling is a function of FOMO. If we don't keep looking at that feed, scrolling through, we might miss that dog or cat video that everyone is talking about.

Social media sites feed into FOMO. Their algorithms are designed to give us that instant dopamine hit so we can feel a temporary reprieve. Turn it off, and the anxiety returns. "What are we missing out on?"

So, when I see marketing tactics that not only lean into FOMO but actually heighten it, I want to scream.

Don't get me wrong: a lot of marketing tactics lean into FOMO to entice people to buy courses, books, the latest tech, and a whole range of other products. Even I use it occasionally, particularly when I point out that my courses have a maximum number of students allowed (both in-person and online). But I would never try to convince a writer that the magic solution to selling books is to post more on social media. Because in truth, constant posting doesn't work.

The cost is too high for the rewards to be worth it.

What is the cost?

For a moment, let's focus on the comment/caption that sparked this post in the first place:

Every day you don't post is another day your perfect reader doesn't know your book.

This quote suggests that to sell more books, you need to post every day on social media. But what site should you use? What should you post about? And how much automation should you use so this effort to post every day doesn't eat up your precious writing time?

What site?

You can't be present on every single website, nor should you try to be. Not only do you want to focus your efforts on the playgrounds where your audience is likely to hang out, but some sites are better suited for different personalities.

If you don't like recording videos, then stop wasting your time with TikTok. If you are not a visual person, not likely to post photos or graphics, then Instagram may not be the best place for you. And if you prefer to write short text-based messages, then Threads, Bluesky, or Mastodon might be suited to your style, but which one would give you the widest reach without your messages being swallowed by the algorithms or the noise?

And what about your audience? Where are they? And what are they interested in? If you don't understand who your audience is or what it is they actually want to see, then any social media marketing efforts become a waste of time.

Maintaining Unique Self?

The comment that sparked this post was connected to some sort of template archive, supposedly providing you with over 365 ready-to-use posts. But if you were to just use them without taking the time to rebrand and rework the posts so they are a reflection of who you are, you start to look like everyone else or worse—you look like a bot.

In the current era of AI, too many people have started to rely on AI to create their posts for them, creating this automated feeling and lack of genuine connections. And social media users are noticing.

So, if you start to use templates made by somebody else without careful thought and consideration, then you run the risk of losing those elements that are uniquely you.

Time Sucked Away into Doomscrolling?

Not only that, social media was meant to be social. This means being present on the sites and interacting with others.

The social media gurus, in all their wisdom, say that you should spend 15 minutes a day doing your social media interactions. That's a joke and a half, because since when did 15 minutes a day actually equate to 15 minutes a day and not a doomscrolling time suck?

Face reality here: for the sake of your mental capacity and saving your precious writing time for actually writing, anyone who wants to post on social media every day needs to rely on scheduling and automated tools to a certain extent. And that in itself comes with its own set of problems.

Time or Money?

The free scheduling tools for posting to social media can only do so much.

For example, the business tools for Meta will only allow you to schedule posts to Facebook and Instagram up to 28 days in advance—but don't bother trying to cross-post to other services outside of Meta's control. Buffer's free account will only allow you to connect to a single social media site and only schedule a maximum of 10 posts at any given time. Other systems have similar restrictions, most often in the number of accounts connected and the number of posts allowed to be scheduled. So, if you really want to make any real use of these tools, you either have to schedule it into your weekly tasks to get in there and compose your messages, or pay money to extend your limits.

Time or money? And what is the return on your investment? And what kind of return are you looking for?

It has been proven that social media marketing does not equate to direct book sales. In fact, social media marketing without interactions and engagements is useless. So, even if you pay money, you'll still need to pay in time, because you need to be present and interacting with other users on the site. But even the return on those efforts is questionable.

While some writers might see increases in book sales down the road, social media marketing really is good for only one thing: growing the following on social media. But notice I said following, not audience.

Following Does Not Equal Audience

Yes, there is going to be some overlap between those who follow you on social media and your actual readership audience. But it's not 100%. If anything, of your following on social media, less than 5% will be your audience and will actually buy your books (or whatever else you're selling).

There are a couple of things going on here:

1. Some people will follow you with this idea (or hope) that you'll follow them back. And the moment you follow them back, they try to sell you stuff in return. They're not following you because they want to follow you. They see you as a transaction.
2. Some people follow you because they like the things you post on social media, but for whatever reason, the algorithms have decided that they don't actually want to see your posts… so the algorithm never shows them your posts. As a consequence, your followers forget that you even exist. It doesn't matter if you're posting every day or not. You're just not on their radar.
3. Some people follow you and they engage with you, so the algorithms show them your posts… and your followers keep engaging with you. Yay, the system is working. But your follower is still not going to buy your books (or whatever else you're selling). They might be freebie hunters, only after the stuff they can get for free… and they can get your posts for free. But when it comes to actually spending money, they'll find every excuse they can to not spend a dime.

But a small percentage (less than 5%) will buy things from you… because they've come to trust you and want to support you. These are the people who are actually your audience.

But 5%? No, I'm not being cynical here. These numbers are based on experience. So, such a small number will ultimately equate to sales. But is it really worth the effort?

For a moment, let's do the math.

Let's say that you currently have 500 followers. That's a respectable number for a new account. But 5% of 500 is 25. So, that might be 25 copies of your book sold. (Though many authors see much less than that for their social media marketing efforts.) But let's say that you've managed to grow your following to 5000. Now you're talking 250 potential books sold. And of those copies sold, if you're lucky, you'll get $2 per book. So, we're talking approximately $500.

But that's not ongoing. That's one off. And it's likely spread out over months.

Are you starting to see why posting every day might be a fool's mission?

I've been there. It doesn't work.

Look, I've been there. I too followed the ill-gotten advice about posting every day. All I got for my efforts was a headache caused by stress, because I was failing at what the experts said was the path to glory.

I'm telling you now that it doesn't work. All it does is create anxiety, fueling any FOMO feelings that you might have. We have to stop listening to this advice and follow our own instincts.

And if anyone puts numbers in front of you to prove otherwise, I want you to look at those numbers with a skeptical eye.

Most of the time when someone shows you sales numbers as proof that their tactics work, all they are doing is showing you the gross sales. What they're conveniently hiding is the money they spent to make it all work in the first place. They're also hiding the time it took to set everything up.

They're hiding the cost! Sure, they might be raking in the sales, but their net profits are probably small.

And for those who have large net profits, the question that you need to ask is when did they start this endeavor? How many books do they actually have published under their name? (Those with large back catalogues will see sales in older titles, not just the new one.) How long did it take them to build their following? And what other marketing are they doing that doesn't involve social media?

FYI, the most successful writers don't rely on social media alone. Most of them have large newsletter lists or have been in this industry for decades and have amassed a readership that will gobble up anything that they write.

The likes of Brandon Sanderson and Stephen King are unicorns. Their marketing tactics rely on their name alone. The average writer can't compete on their level—so stop trying to.

WHY Are You Doing This?

In everything that I do, whether it's connected to my writing, my business, or life in general, I always take things back to my why.

Why do I write? Why this story and not some other story? Why now and not tomorrow?

Why do I publish? Why this editor? Why this cover?

Why this marketing tactic and not some other? Why this social media site? Why this content in my newsletter?

Why this course? Why this conference? Why this software program?

Why this particular form of exercise? Why this diet? Why this thing and not that?

WHY?

As long as I can understand the why, then I'm able to rationalize the benefits to me. My why helps me to see the progress that I'm making. It keeps me focused on the tasks that I need to be doing rather than getting sidetracked by the latest craze because someone else said I should do it.

I still get distracted by the shiny bauble dangling in front of me. (Who doesn't get distracted by the shiny new?) But by bringing it back to my why, I'm able to stand back and carefully consider my options.

And by keeping my why in mind, when things don't work out the way that I had expected, I'm able to go back and work out what might have gone wrong without seeing myself as a failure.

Final thoughts

If you are one of those people who wants to post every day on social media and it makes sense with your personal why, then go for it. I'm not going to stand in your way.

But if your why just happens to be because someone else told you that you should do it (promising the magic pill to book sales glory), then I'll be sitting in the corner with the glass of wine, waiting for you to come to your senses. Because I'm telling you, based on experience, it doesn't work.