How to Run a Facebook Launch

So, the book is written. You have survived the editing process and design, along with rounds of beta readers, endorsers, and influencers. You’re in the clear right? Not quite. We still need to successfully launch your book! A successful launch takes a lot of elements working together to create it’s own sort of magic in the marketplace for your book. Most of the time, it doesn’t happen overnight; however, a successful Facebook party is the starting point for spreading the news that your book has released.

 

First, don’t get overwhelmed. There’s not a lot required to run a successful launch other than starting a conversation. You can start a conversation. Since you have a book published, you obviously have something to say. Here are some items to remember going into your launch.

• The goal is fun, engaging conversation.
• You want your event to be shared and your book’s topics to be discussed.
• You need to give people a way to help you, purchase your book, and possibly win something for themselves.
• Don’t make it too long. 2-4 hours is the maximum. You will lose 1/3 or more of your conversation leaders during the event if you make it too long. Short, sweet, and memorable will prevail overall.

If you need help creating an event on your Facebook page or profile, please visit the How to Set Up a Facebook Launch page for details. This guide picks up from having a created and complete Facebook party to how to run it.

 

Step #1- Create your topics.

These should be leading questions on any topic of your choice. Usually, I tell the authors to create enough questions for one question every 10 minutes of your event. DON’T WING IT! Having these topics set up ahead of time is critical to a successful and well-planned launch. Here are some tips for great conversation starters.

1. Make them generic enough that most people have a story of their own to share or can relate. You want to start the conversations so they will lead somewhere.
2. Find a way to connect them to your journey or your book. People want to connect to the author. Give them a way to do so.
3. Whenever you can, you always want to have an image to go with the question. This makes it stand out as a new topic and makes it more visual for people that are joining the conversation.
4. Having too many topics written down is a good thing. (You can always skip some.) However, not having enough can lead to a lull that can kill the buzz of a party.
5. Have about ¼ of the question/topics be a trivia of some sort where the fastest person to answer correctly wins a small prize. This keeps them checking back more often and staying with the conversation.

When I am running your launch, please send these to me about a week or two ahead of the launch in a Word document. This way I can review them and make sure you have the right idea.

Here is an example of a good conversation starter. This is from the launch of Laurel by Susan Craft.
https://www.facebook.com/events/323605987833539/.

“The first giveaway will be a jar of “fireflies.” What is your favorite summer memory? And did you ever catch fireflies and put them in jars?”

 

Step #2- Choose your incentives for people to participate in the event.

Let’s face it. These days people have a harder time slowing down with the world’s busy schedule. People have an innate value to their time. Increase the value of the time spent with your launch by offering an incentive to your participants.

Now usually when I say this, people ask if they should give copies of the book they are releasing. NO! One or possibly two copies of the book you are releasing is okay, but giving away several copies will actually defeat the purpose. We want interested parties to go buy the book. So, after saying that, what makes a good giveaway for a launch party? Here are my suggestions starting with smallest to largest.

1. Small door prize gift boxes. (For example: a homemade craft, painting, story, or some small items under a $10 value, put together to make it unique.)
2. Gift cards. I highly recommend Amazon gift cards. For several reasons actually, but the main one is that you can give them in ANY amount and you can send them digitally to the person’s Amazon account or mail them. My second favorite cards are between coffee shops like Starbucks and generic Visa gift cards. You can click on Amazon.com Gift Cards – E-mail Delivery to order gift cards in amounts from .50 to whatever limit you choose and deliver them via email. NOTE: You want to obtain the email address that the person has associated to their Amazon account.
3. Amazon Kindle. Of all the giveaways, this is one of my most recommended. Typically we use Fire HD 7, 7″ HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB – Includes Special Offers, Black. The reason behind using this one is it is a fully-functioning tablet and is appealing to all ages, yet is more affordable than the typical tablet. This particular model runs a total of $139.

TIP: Do not go overboard. An average launch should not run more than $200 in value of the items. If you do go with a Kindle, which is a good way to garner an email list, you need to make sure you don’t give it away in the single day of the launch. Kindles should be open for entries for 3-6 weeks and be heavily promoted on social media so that you have the most return for your investment. The advantage of the big-ticket Kindle is the ability to garner big entry numbers. We use this with Rafflecopter to mine email addresses for a direct email campaign.

 

Okay, now you know what you are going to say. You know what you are going to give away. What’s next? Learn the mechanics of operating the launch itself.

CRITICAL: Make sure you have a HIGH-SPEED, RELIABLE Internet connection. If you know your computer or Internet is slow, you should make arrangements to be at a location where you can use a reliable and fast connection. Libraries are often a good place for this if your home Internet is not a good fit.

Pin the topic or question you are on. This will come up again during the instructions portion below, but pinning is what makes the topic come up at the top of your event. Here is an example of what I mean.

To pin your topic, you need to write and post your topic. If you hover over the right side of the box containing the post you want to pin, you will see a V. Click on the V and a dropdown that looks like the image below will show. You will want to click on the “pin post” option. If you already have a pinned post for that page you are working on, it will ask you if you want to replace it. You simply say yes. Pin the topic you are on each time and make sure to clearly let the thread you are on (or post) know you are moving to the next topic.

Use clear and concise instructions. Facebook parties, while not new, are still something people are not overly familiar with. Teaching your participants how to turn off those annoying email barrages can make or break a party. (If a participant receives 100 emails from your event, they are likely not going to participate again or will be inclined to talk to their friends about the annoyance more than the book … which is obviously not our goal.)

Before the event and at the beginning of the event make sure to give these instructions to your participants. (I like to use a welcome image with them so people see it and know they are in the right place.)

Welcome and thank you for joining us today. We will be starting soon but before we do, I want to point out a few tips to help make this as fun and easy as possible. If you have email notifications active on your Facebook profile, you may wish to disable them for the event. If you leave email notifications on, you may receive an email whenever someone comments and during a busy party this could become an annoyance. To turn off your email notifications for Facebook, please watch this quick YouTube video https://youtu.be/G1qcsg4GmTY. You can also manage the notifications you receive during the party at the top of the page of this event.

We will be running the party by pinning the conversation topics to the top of the page for you. The post we are on should come up first in your feed when you visit the event page (insert your event page link here.) On some Internet connections you may need to refresh often during the event.

We hope you will enjoy the event and please remember, don’t be a bystander. You gain entries to the prizes by joining the conversation.

 

TIP: Always log onto Facebook and be available a minimum of ½ hour before the event to make sure there are no kinks with the Internet and that you can answer questions for people who aren’t sure what to do. If this is your first time and you’re nervous, it is okay to say so to the readers. It will make you endearing.

Now you should be ready to start your event. Don’t panic. Be on time and start the conversation off with  some fun. This is the general timeline of a 2-hour launch.

1 hour to 30 minutes before event starts – Be online. Test your Internet connection. Take the time to check the directions above and personalize them where you can.

5 minutes before event starts – Share the welcome and the instructions. When people ask questions about being in the right place (and trust me they always will), answer them and be inviting. If I am running the launch with you, then I will be fielding these questions for you. If I am an admin to your author page, sometimes I may answer them as you to make it easier for your during the launch.

Start of event – Share your introductory topic. This should be the most broad and interactive. This is where you start the tone for the party.

Every 7-15 minutes, depending on the participation – Share a new post or trivia question with an image. Keep the conversation moving and make sure to respond to any questions. I usually announce the winner of each section during the start of the new post; however, if I am not tallying your winners for you then you can do this yourself and announce them at any point in the event.

30 minutes before the end of the event – Make sure to share the links to your book for purchase. Also, this is the best time to let people know if you are looking for reviewers or additional launch influencers. Don’t forget, you need to ask for the sale. However, don’t beat them over the head with it. There is a fine line between great and too much.

5 minutes before the end of event – Wrap up all your loose ends. Thank your participants. This is a good time to show the link to follow your newsletter or highlight any important last minute items. Make sure you get email addresses for the winners.

Follow-up by shipping out your prizes in a timely manner.  Congratulations! You will have successfully completed your Facebook launch event.