As an author, you know that social media can be a powerful tool for building your brand and promoting your book. But knowing that social media is important and tackling the challenge of creating content and engaging with your community are two very different things.

You might understandably feel overwhelmed in the vast environment of social media or overestimate how much time and effort it requires. It’s true that growing your social media presence is a big task, but it’s much less daunting when you break that effort into small steps.

If you are not sure where to start or what actions will contribute to organic growth on your social media platform, we have collected a number of small daily tasks that offer guidance to help you stay active, engaged, and growing. If you commit to accomplishing these attainable goals each day, over time you will build a meaningful presence to attract your target readers.

Building an audience on Twitter is ideal for nonfiction of all types, and it is especially powerful for connecting with new people, organizations, and potential partners. To stay vibrant in such a fast-moving environment, focus on these activities each day:

• Follow three new people or organizations that align with your book or views.
• Retweet one interesting article, fact, or piece of news from a reputable source. Adding your own comment makes this retweet even stronger.
• Share one original tweet (a daily observation or a comment on your industry, area of expertise, or genre).
• Respond to anyone who tweets to you or retweets you. Keep the conversation going or send a simple thank-you to them for tweeting at you.
• Share one self-promotional tweet (a link to the Amazon book page, an article or interview you’ve been featured in, a post from your blog, or an endorsement for the book). Do this sparingly.

While Facebook has largely become a pay-to-play environment, it is still important to have a presence there for discoverability purposes. These tips will help you make the most of this asset:

• Share one interesting article, fact, or piece of news from a reputable source. Adding your own comment is a must on Facebook and asking a question to prompt comments helps to engage your audience.
• Share one self-promotional post (a link to the Amazon book page, an article or interview you’ve been featured in, a post from your blog, or an endorsement for the book). Do this sparingly.
• Respond to anyone who leaves a comment. Keep the conversation going or acknowledge their comment with a simple thank-you.

LinkedIn is a great platform for any business-oriented message or for developing professional connections and/or leads for your business. To maximize the impact of this forum, consider building each of these tasks into your daily routine:

• Share one interesting article, fact, or piece of news from a reputable source. Adding your own comment is a must on LinkedIn and asking a question to prompt comments helps to engage your audience.
• Comment on one post from a first- or second-degree connection (offer your perspective on an update or celebrate an accomplishment).
• Review and approve any connection requests.
• Reach out to say hello to one former colleague to keep a relationship warm or introduce yourself to a new second- or third-degree connection to grow your network.

If your book or content features a compelling visual aspect, or if you regularly travel for business or pleasure, performing these simple tasks on Instagram will help you build a following:

• Share one original photo or graphic with a caption that encourages engagement.
• Conduct a hashtag search on a popular tag related to your content and like three photos.
• Follow one new person or organization from your network or in your industry and comment on a recent post.
• Respond to anyone who has left comments on your recent posts. Keep the conversation going or acknowledge their comment with a simple thank-you.

Regardless of the platform where you choose to build your community, you will want to experiment with posting and sharing material at different times during the day You may find that your audience is more active and your engagement is stronger at certain times rather than others. If you change the times you post, you may get a much better result.

You should also maintain a balance between how much self-promotional content you share with your audience (about 20% is ideal) compared to how much content you share that is helpful and informative (about 80% is a good goal). In the same vein, always remember that social media is meant to help you engage with your community, increase your visibility and reach, and serve as an introduction to the book. You are playing a long game, so you should not expect that any magic level of usage or number of followers will guarantee book sales. You can download these tips in a checklist format. Best of luck integrating these quick but impactful action items into your daily routine. If you follow through, you’re sure to find your groove on social media and see your influence grow.