I was reading Chris McMullen’s excellent (as usual) post on Amazon’s new advertising service, and thought I’d give it a go. My monthly advertising budget is $100, but I hadn’t spent anything in January. So, I had this month’s and the previous one’s budget at my disposal – which allowed me to place two ads. For my first one, I chose the Pearseus bundle. This was done for two reasons: one, it offers great value for money. Second, its higher cost of $3.49 will hopefully allow me to cover the ad’s cost.
The second ad was for Runaway Smile. This allowed me to test two very different ways of targeting my audience, as you will see below.
Oh, and I took lots of screenshots, so as to share with you the process. That way, should any of you decide to advertise with Amazon, you’ll know how to do it. And as soon as I have the results back from the promo, I’ll let you know how it went.
So, you wish to advertise with Amazon?
First of all, you can only advertise any books that are on KDP Select. You start by logging into your KDP account.
You will notice the new “Promote and Advertise” link under KDP Select.
Clicking on the link takes you to the familiar Free Book/Kountdown deal screen, only there’s now a new box that allows you to create an ad campaign.
Clicking on this takes you to the Amazon Marketing Services (ams) website. You will notice the new url in your browser’s address bar.
You now have a list of all your eligible books.
Set phasers on Interest, Mr. Sulu
Selecting one of them (in my case the Pearseus bundle) allowes you to target your ad by product or by interest. What does this mean?
Targeting by product means that you can enter a keyword and select products similar to yours. When people search for these, your ad will be displayed as well. So, in the case of Pearseus, I could have entered “Game of Thrones” and anyone searching for Martin’s book would also see mine.
However, I chose for Pearseus the second option, “target by interest.” This gives you a list of interests and allows you to specify one or several of them. So, anyone with a science fiction/fantasy interest will see my ad. You can also select not to target your audience. This feels like a sure-fire to burn through your budget, as everyone will see your ad. Still, if you have a really generic product with a good profit margin, you may want to tick that box and leave everything else unselected.
Now that I have my interest, it’s time to select my cost per click (CPC) – i.e. specify how much I’m willing to pay Amazon for each time someone clicks on my ad. Amazon recommends I choose 5c, which would allow 2,000 people to reach my book page. If 2% of these visits actually result in a sale, that will give me 40 sales – the minimum amount I need to break even.
What does all that bidding mean, you may ask. You see, every time we visit a website that features ads, a small bidding war takes place within nanoseconds. The server is asked to choose among several ads that wish to be displayed, and makes a selection based on the maximum amount each of them is willing to pay. If you chose, say, $1, you’d be practically be guaranteed that your ad would be displayed on every single search that met your criteria. You would also guarantee that you would spend your advertising budget within minutes. So, you need to find a nice equilibrium between the need to be displayed and the need to make your budget last longer. In the end, I decided to go for $0.04, so as to cover taxes and increase my chances of covering my costs (there’s a minimum bid of 2c, but I didn’t want to go as low as that).
That’s it! You then choose how to pay and you’re done. The next screen simply gives you the details of the promo you just placed, and lets you know if you ran into any trouble.
Let’s try the Target by Product now
For my second campaign, I chose to target by product. This gives me a field into which I can type a search term, that can lead to a product. As Runaway Smile is a children’s book, this is what I typed. I got 146 results.
I chose to have Runaway Smile displayed along with some of the more expensive children’s books. I figured that this would increase my chances, as my book would look pretty affordable compared to the alternative.
Once I went through the entire list of 146 books, I was taken to the usual Success screen, then to a list with my active campaigns. You will notice that these are marked as “pending overview”. Within an hour or so, this had changed to “running.” Wow.
Slap
So, what would happen if I slapped my forehead and realised I wanted to, say, change the CPC bid? You see, Pearseus might sell for $3.49, but Smile is only $2.99. This means that I need a lower CPC to have any hope of covering my expenses. Thankfully, the campaign management page allows you to edit the settings of your campaign – or at least the most important ones: duration, CPC and budget.
So, all I needed to do was to click on the wee blue pencil, and edit the campaign to my heart’s content.
That’s it! I hope you found the above useful. If you run into any trouble or need any clarifications, just let me know in the comments 🙂
Don’t forget you can read my children’s book, Runaway Smile, for free on my blog!
Reblogged this on bookpino.
Great post! I have been debating using Amazon advertising for a while now. I was wondering what the result of your advertising was? Did you get any sales from it?
It’s still running (which is why I haven’t shared the results yet), but these are the numbers so far:
Money spent: $30.03
Impression: 75,189
Clicks: 49
Average CPC bid: $0.61
Page views: 75
Total sales: $3.96
So, basically, I’m $26 in the red, but at least 75,000 people have seen my book, even if only peripherally.
That’s great – exposure is what it’s all about!
Well, I don’t know if you’ve read my post https://nicholasrossis.me/2015/03/07/marketing-tips-a-second-look-at-advertising-with-ams-brand-building-vs-ad-sales/
What I say there is that you may want a confidence boost every now and then, available through ads, but brand-building is the long game. So yes, I agree – exposure is the name of the game 🙂
Very clear instructions. It’s worth noting that this is only available on .com. You can still do it from the UK but only on the .com site. I ran a campaign at 6c for my book The Creatures of Chichester, got 10,000 impressions and just one click so it cost me 6c! The campaign got ‘suspended’ by Amazon but at least I got some awareness if not sales!
Thanks for sharing that, and welcome 🙂
Really helpful information here: I don’t think enough authors approach marketing let alone advertisign with any sort of cost/benefit analysis, like your pay-per-click strategy here, which is where pretty much everything can go horribly wrong. And the more of this sort of data which is made available by the likes of your good self, the less horrific social media abuse we will (hopefully) see. Thanks for your hard work.
High praise coming from a fine analyst like your good self. 🙂 Not doing the math is a sure-fire way to lose money. However, some may not mind that, as long as they increase their visibility and/or sales.
Have a lovely Valentine’s day 🙂
Will do, Nicholas – you too!
Do you know where the advertised books show up? Only on pages where people have entered topics, for example, along with all the Amazon ranked books? At the side of the page? In the list of Books recommended for you?
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found the post interesting.
Chris McMullen recently wrote an excellent post that answers your question: https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/howwhere-does-your-ad-display-on-amazon/
Have a lovely Valentine’s Day 🙂
Thank you so much for the photos along with the explanations of the instructions. Most of the time I think I’m a word-person. Until I have to do something technical. Then I really appreciate photos. This was fantastic.
Lol – same here! Thanks 🙂
That’s an excellent idea and definitely worth a look for later when I have some cash – my advertising budget is $200 per year. Thanks for the fool proof instructions that even I understand.
Cheers
MTM
Thanks. So far, it’s been disappointing, though. Even worse, Amazon seems to remove my organic mentions (“people who bought this also bought…”), and my sales have plummeted. I’m giving it another week, then I’m giving up.
Have a lovely Valentine’s Day 🙂
Very useful information Nicholas! When money permits to advertise I may call on you just the same to talk me through the process 😀
You know where to find me 🙂
I’m a neophyte on marketing and advertising, and the way self-publishing is going these days, I think it’s easy to be a neophyte forever, since things change so frequently. I loved reading this post – you are so generous to explain it all to us…neophytes! Looking forward to seeing your results. Hope it’s worthwhile for you. I’m going to keep following along with you, until I decide if I should do the same thing. THANKS!
Lol – a pleasure. I’ll be sure to let you know what happens. As for the neophyte comment, that’s so true! We all are neophytes, which is kind of the point of this blog – to help each other by sharing what we all find out 🙂
So VERY informative, and thank you! Loved this blog so much I reblogged it!
Reblogged this on Terri Herman-Ponce and commented:
Great insight into advertising through Amazon for authors. I’m keeping these details handy!
Reblogged on “Everything Indie” with comment:
This is a great guide for those interested in advertising on Amazon! Thank you, Nicolas Rossi, for sharing this experiment with everyone who is still uncertain about investing in such advertising. (Of course, it helps if you’ve written a great book!)
Reblogged this on Everything Indie and commented:
This is a great guide for those interested in advertising on Amazon! Thank you, Nicolas Rossi for sharing this experiment with everyone who is still uncertain about investing in such advertising. Of course, it helps if you’ve written a great book!
Reblogged this on MM Jaye writes… and commented:
Advertise on Amazon for Dummies. Everything you want to know in one post.
Wonderfully relevant and informative. A gift to all your readers. Thanks! I’m reblogging.
Thank you – and special thanks for sharing 🙂
Very helpful article and well explained. Will be using it in the near future! Thanks.
Thanks and welcome! 🙂
Reblogged this on BeeWrite Publishing and commented:
Great explanation for anyone wanting to advertise on KDP Select.
That was so informative. Great presentationt too. I wish you great success with your campaign, and thank you for putting this together.
Thanks! So far it’s off to a slow start, but that’s probably because my bids are still below Amazon’s suggestion.
Nicholas, I was eyeing that feature last night with curiosity and suspicion. Thank you so much for a timely post. I shall have to try this…
I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂
Awesome post. I’m going to try this myself when Will ‘O the Wisp comes out this Spring. I’ll be watching for any results updates.
Absolutely! As I was saying, I’m still playing around with the budgets etc. Three days later, I have 78 impressions and 0 clicks. Keep in mind that the usual click-through rate is ~1.5%, and you’ll see that’s actually pretty normal.
From what I can figure out, each sale requires some 70 clicks, and each click requires another 70 impressions. So, you basically want around 5,000 impressions before you make a sale.
I expected as much, but it still seems worthy.
Reblogged this on So, I Read This Book Today and commented:
Nicholas has written a killer piece on how to advertise your book with Amazon – check it out! And following Nicholas is, of course, a great idea! 🙂
Nicholas, Thanx for the info. It sounds much like Facebook advertising, which I did several years ago. Same bidding technique, CPC, (but FB also has CPView), selection of purchaser’s interests, etc. Amazon’s is a lot more directed in being targeted at books, instead of general interests. FB casts a wider net.
Although the screen shots would be different, your post well explains concepts common to both Facebook and Amazon.
It does follow a similar process, with slightly different targeting. You’re right; FB casts a wider net. Twitter Ads now probably are closer to the Amazon model, but I’m nitpicking now 🙂
Wonderful post, Nicholas! I don’t have much of an ad budget at the moment, but I’m very curious to see what your results are like! I may create a budget if you feel the ad campaign is successful.
Thank you, Nat! As I was saying, I’m still playing around with the budgets etc. Three days later, I have 78 impressions and 0 clicks. Keep in mind that the usual click-through rate is ~1.5%, and you’ll see that’s actually pretty normal.
From what I can figure out, each sale requires some 70 clicks, and each click requires another 70 impressions. So, you basically want around 5,000 impressions before you make a sale.
Great tutorial. This is easy to understand even by me. Makes my head spin though how much constant change keeps you on your toes. 😮
Aye, there’s the rub. Thanks! 🙂
The time to take all those screenshots paid off for your tutorial. Well done. 🙂
Thank you, Chris – it means a lot coming from you! 🙂
Looks like some good info.
Thank you! 🙂
Thanks for your very informative post, Nich. I’m interested to hear the results of your ads.
Me too – I’m quite interested in seeing what happens! 🙂
As I was just telling Liz, I’m still playing around with the budgets etc. Three days later, I have 78 impressions and 0 clicks. Keep in mind that the usual click-through rate is ~1.5%, and you’ll see that’s actually pretty normal.
From what I can figure out, each sale requires some 70 clicks, and each click requires another 70 impressions. So, you basically want around 5,000 impressions before you make a sale.
Wow – this is so informative! Thank you for sharing – I’m very interested to hear how this turns out for you. You’ve made the process very clear and easy to understand, just what I needed, being new to this whole thing 🙂
That’s super, thank you! 🙂
Very interesting. And clear. You did an incredible job of making this easy. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Sue! 🙂
I always appreciate your supportive advices! Since I have published one book over Amazon perhaps I’ll go for that… Thank you for this very helpful information! Wouldn’t have thought about it otherwise.
It’s a pleasure, Erika! I hope this helps your books take off 🙂
I’m still list on the bidding part. I’m doing this for Beginning of a Hero, but I’m doing all the minimums to see how it works. Probably try at a higher bidding rate later when I get a feel for it. I can’t see how a 2c book can get anywhere if the highest ads are always taken. You’d only win a spot when everyone else runs out, which makes me think very few people take that number. Guess I’m just not sure how any of the minimum users will get any ad time, which is something I want to find out.
Thought the product connection was rather limiting too. Preferred the interest one from the look of things.
Good luck.
Reblogged this on graemecummingdotnet and commented:
Any post from Nicholas Rossi is worth taking note of. However, this one is so relevant for writers trying to promote their books that I felt it had to be shared more widely. If, like me, you aren’t in a position to do something with it yet, at least keep a note of it for when you need to refer to it.
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog….. An Author Promotions Enterprise! and commented:
Author Nicholas C. Rossis give takes you throughAmazon Advertising step by step 😀
Reblogged this on Liz Gavin's Blog and commented:
Another excellent post from Nicholas Rossis. Keeping my fingers crossed his sales skyrocket because he’s a talented author.
Nicholas, I’m very curious as to the results and would love to hear your feedback on that. I placed a campaign for Luck of the Irish and Amazon replied saying they didn’t accept it because my cover wasn’t in compliance with their ad policies. I was about to send them a reply inquiring which exact policy they were talking about because I couldn’t find any when I saw this post. You see, before I make any changes to the cover I’d like to know if it’s worthwhile.
Liz, a lot of romance authors have had the same problem. Usually it’s any kind of nudity on the cover. Yours doesn’t have that, but it could be because their pose is provocative. I’m thinking of giving it a try with Just Stay.
Tks Michelle. I thought so too. It’s either that or the garter. Hehehe I sent them a message just to be sure that is the issue before I change the cover. I wouldn’t like to do that, though, because I’m quite proud Of it. 🙁
Anyway, you helped me so much because I was wondering about other authors’ covers whic, in some cases, are more provocative than mine. But guidelines exist for a reason and I respect that. 🙂
“My shop, my rules,” huh? I guess it makes sense, as they don’t know who might see the ad and take offence, but still…
Exactly! I totally get that and can’t argue with it. My point is – why can’t I advertise a book which has been published with them (exclusively, I might add) and is on display at their Kindle Store for anyone to see because it wasn’t considered sensitive material by them.
And to be honest, I know Brazilians are culturally more lenient where sensual material is concerned but I really can’t see the problem in this cover.
#feelingabitlikedavidagainstgoliath HAHAHA
Greeks (and Europeans in general) are the same, so I know what you mean 🙂
UPDATE INFO – For other romance authors who might be interested – I just got a reply from Amazon confirming that Luck of the Irish Campaign was rejected for “provocative cover image.”
You can check it on Amazon and see for yourselves how provocative your covers CANNOT be. LoL 😀
Hi Liz, a friend of mine got the same response. The cover was mildly sensual, that’s all, and I agree this is ridiculous. I mean, they accept the cover for publication but not for an advert? Preposterous! My friend got the email of the CEO and sending his complaint to him… I would advise you to express your views to them in the same way. Who knows? If enough complain, they may reconsider 🙂
Dammit you harlots! You have to ruin everything with your shocking book covers 😀
I asked myself the exact same thing. Why can’t I advertise a book which I have published on Amazon? Tks for the tip about the CEO. O also have his email and have used it in the past. I might do it again. 🙂
My eyes! They burn! Dammit, Liz! 😀
EXACTLY, right? LoL
If your cover was rejected I have a few that would never pass! This is good info to know since I was going to try the ads on The Illegitimate Heir.
Huh, that’s interesting.
To answer your question, I’m still playing around with the budgets etc. Three days later, I have 78 impressions and 0 clicks. Keep in mind that the usual click-through rate is ~1.5%, and you’ll see that’s actually pretty normal.
From what I can figure out, each sale requires some 70 clicks, and each click requires another 70 impressions. So, you basically want around 5,000 impressions before you make a sale.
Thank YOU so much for this reply, Nick. I guess Amazon is an excellent place to invest my advertising budget. My problem now is deciding whether or not to change my cover. *sighs*
Hope you have a great week!
You can make up your mind when I have some data on how well it went 🙂
Thanks, Nicholas. I’m filing all this Amazon information for further use. Thank you for making it easier to understand the process. 🙂
Reblogged this on Effrosyni's Blog and commented:
A handy & highly informative article that offers step-by-step instructions in order to advertize your books on Amazon most effectively! Thank you, Nicholas Rossis!
Oh my gosh, Nicholas! This is tremendously helpful! It is so thoughtful of you to share these step-by-step instructions offering screen prints and full details! 2 questions if you don’t mind. a) what is the minimum amount that Amazon asks you to budget as to advertize with them? b) How many interests or products are you allowed to set for your campaign among all the ones that come up on your search results? Again, thank you! Trust you and your blog to be always among the first to showcase Amazon’s freshest and coolest of services 🙂
Aw, that’s so sweet of you – thanks! To answer your questions, the minimum budget is $100, and I haven’t see any sort of limit on the targeting.
Hmm, that’s actually pretty interesting. Though I do not have a use for it right now, I will certainly be bookmarking this page and coming back to it later when I do have a use; this could be really helpful to me. Thanks very much!
Thanks and welcome. I’m glad you found it interesting 🙂
wow – Nicholas – this is genius and informative!
Thanks, Mihran! Glad you liked it 🙂