Bookbub ads - share and critique those 300x250 creatives here

[Simon Haynes]

What this topic is for:

• Post the image ('creative') for your planned BB ad, in order to get feedback.
• Share two or three versions of the same ad, to see which might be more effective.
• Give feedback on other posters' ads.

Hopefully we can all help each other out, and sharpen our skills along the way.



Personally I have no problem if discussions take a side turn into other facets of BB advertising, such as targeting, CPC vs CPM and so on, but I'd like to suggest a few ground rules:

• Bookbub ads only. If you want to discuss facebook creatives, or banner ads, or anything other type of ad, I'd suggest starting another topic.
• Please ensure your image is 300 x 250 pixels before you post it. That's the standard Bookbub size, and if you post something five times bigger it's impossible to judge what it'll look like as a regular ad.
• I would avoid critiquing someone's cover art unless they ask for it.
• The topic shouldn't be used as a guerilla marketing area. I'd like to discuss ads, not get blasted with screens full of adverts posted here ONLY to advertise someone's book.
• The ad shouldn't be active - in other words, clicking the ad shouldn't open a webpage or a product page.

I know indies like to keep keywords and categories to themselves, and with good reason, but I figure we ought to be able to discuss this type of ad without revealing our hand. Chances are, we'll all be targeting different authors for our BB campaigns.


Any other suggestions, let me know. I guess we should just wing it for now, and see if we have to implement new rules such as 'only 400 ads per person per day' or something.



EDIT: Original post reproduced below, just for the paperwork trail.


I'd be interested in a topic where we could post BB ads (those 300x250 creatives), to get some feedback from others on which are more effective, and also to offer critiques.

The only reason I haven't gone ahead and posted something is because ... they're ads. I'm not sure whether posting them would contravene the spirit of the forum.

Also, I'd really like to restrict the topic to bookbub ads if at all possible, because it's a specialised market and completely different from, say, facebook creatives and web banners and so on.

[TimothyEllis]

No problem.

Re-task this thread and start it.

Discussion of how to do ads and how they are effective or not, and how to improve them is definitely appropriate here.

[WasAnn]

I have no current BB ads, but I'd love to see some!

[Simon Haynes]

Okay, I'll share.

I'm currently running three BB ads, each for a different first-in-series novel priced at $2.99

Leaving aside the one for the middle-grade novel, these are the other two:


 



One ad's stats are 10,182 views, 41 clicks, 0.40% CTR rate

The other's stats are: 4,938 views, 6 clicks, 0.12% CRT rate (AND the CPC is about 30% higher)

They both have the same bid amount. (75c)


I expected the low CTR because it's not a 99c special or a freebie, but one ad is clearly doing much better than the other, although both could be better.

Now for the challenge - can you guess which stats belong to which ad? Also, happy to have feedback on either.


They've been running about 5 days now. I'm aware of the following:

I should increase the bid if I want more views. (I'm just testing)
I should be creating separate ads & creatives for the four countries I target. (I can do this when I hit on the right ad)


All feedback appreciated!

[dgcasey]

I am running three ads currently. I think it's about time to retire them and do something new. These three are fizzling out. Any ideas are gratefully welcomed.

[Simon Haynes]

Hi Glenn - are they freebies, or do you hope people will click, discover the price and then buy? (I put prices on mine so they don't click then bail.)

Also - how did they do for you?


Edit to add - the fonts on the left and middle ads could be pretty hard to read.

Also, if you're targeting the stores in BB, there's probably no need to mention them in the ad (middle one).

[missingalaska]

I am running three ads currently. I think it's about time to retire them and do something new. These three are fizzling out. Any ideas are gratefully welcomed.

I love the ad for The Wishing Well.  I would think that would work on Facebook -- but I wonder how that style works on Bookbub. My question - Does it convert?  I've been tempted to try something like that myself.

[Cathleen]

Simon, speaking just as a reader who sometimes buys books from Bookbub, the ad for Peace Force draws my eye more. Not sure why. Maybe the cover works better with the ad? I've never been a fan of the whole "if you liked..." line of advertising because when I started reading fantasy, I bought a lot of books based on recommendations like this, and I almost always disagreed. But if it works, don't worry about me. I'm probably statistically anomalous.

And I like that your ads actually show the books. I've seen plenty of ads with only an enigmatic tagline, and that's it. Why would anyone click on that? But maybe they're getting results from readers who are nothing like me.

dcasey, I like the ad for Wicked Rising best, possibly because it includes the cover. Also, I don't read horror and I'm a pretty traditional Catholic, so I'm not a target for your other ads. You'd probably need to take that into account.

Afraid I haven't dived into PPC ads, so I can't offer anything other than a reader's impression, but I hope this helps.

[Simon Haynes]

Simon, speaking just as a reader who sometimes buys books from Bookbub, the ad for Peace Force draws my eye more. Not sure why. Maybe the cover works better with the ad? I've never been a fan of the whole "if you liked..." line of advertising because when I started reading fantasy, I bought a lot of books based on recommendations like this, and I almost always disagreed. But if it works, don't worry about me. I'm probably statistically anomalous.

And I like that your ads actually show the books. I've seen plenty of ads with only an enigmatic tagline, and that's it. Why would anyone click on that? But maybe they're getting results from readers who are nothing like me.

Thanks for the feedback!  The 'if you like' is actually a direct quote from a review ... guess I should mention that ;-)   If someone else says it I don't mind, but if it's the author I'm usually leery.

Yes, the Peace Force one is doing better.  I agree about the tagline only ads.

I just clicked on a bookbub ad today which said 'it's free and I need more reviews', or words to that effect. Cute, so I downloaded the book.

What I like about bookbub is you can set a daily limit per ad, and target wide pretty easily. What I don't like is that the bids are getting ridiculous!


Here are two brand new ads I'm testing today, by the way. I didn't realise this, but if you advertise the same book in two ads on Bookbub, with the same target, it will randomly show one or the other.

         

[Tom Wood]

I'm a little bit cart before the horse here since I'm not (self) published yet, but it helps me think about target audiences to think ahead about the marketing. I'd like feedback on overall impression:

[missingalaska]

One ad's stats are 10,182 views, 41 clicks, 0.40% CTR rate

The other's stats are: 4,938 views, 6 clicks, 0.12% CRT rate (AND the CPC is about 30% higher)

They both have the same bid amount. (75c)


I expected the low CTR because it's not a 99c special or a freebie, but one ad is clearly doing much better than the other, although both could be better.

Now for the challenge - can you guess which stats belong to which ad? Also, happy to have feedback on either.

I like both of these ads but question how much they convey your brand of comedy at a glance. I almost think an image of a knight on fire (or something equally outrageous) might communicate your brand better.

In response to your question, I'm guessing that your first ad gets fewer clicks at a higher rate.  If I'm right, my next guess is that you are targeting George R. R. Martin -- a name with lots of competition.

Personally, I've used the basic Bookbub template that they provide and had the best success with a straightforward blurb.  For example, Book 1 of the series in my signature simply featured the cover and the tag "A pandemic follows a worldwide network outage."  With that simple tag, I got a 1% click-through and sales on 1 in 5 books. The only problem is that this worked only when the book was $0.99 -- and the ad rate I was forced to pay couldn't support it.  When the novel went full-price, putting $2.99 on the button (instead of "Read Now!") killed my click rate to the point that I killed that version of the ad entirely. Since then, I've finished the series -- so I may try at $0.99 price point again as the read-through rate seems okay (trying to get a regular Bookbub first though).

[Simon Haynes]

I like both of these ads but question how much they convey your brand of comedy at a glance. I almost think an image of a knight on fire (or something equally outrageous) might communicate your brand better.

Believe me, I've spent years trying to find a way to convey comedy with my covers. The problem is, you're never going to find a stock image which will work as funny off the bat, and I have way too many titles to go paying for custom art.

So, I try and attract readers with an engaging blurb and a cover that sells the story & plot, rather than the humour.

(The right-hand ad is a first, because I quoted someone who realised it was a humorous novel. Usually I just use a description instead.)

In response to your question, I'm guessing that your first ad gets fewer clicks at a higher rate.  If I'm right, my next guess is that you are targeting George R. R. Martin -- a name with lots of competition.

Correct on the first ad being the lower clicks.  I don't usually target big names with my ads, and to be honest I'm tempted to ditch the authors altogether and go for genre only.

Personally, I've used the basic Bookbub template that they provide and had the best success with a straightforward blurb.  For example, Book 1 of the series in my signature simply featured the cover and the tag "A pandemic follows a worldwide network outage."  With that simple tag, I got a 1% click-through and sales on 1 in 5 books. The only problem is that this worked only when the book was $0.99 -- and the ad rate I was forced to pay couldn't support it.  When the novel went full-price, putting $2.99 on the button (instead of "Read Now!") killed my click rate to the point that I killed that version of the ad entirely. Since then, I've finished the series -- so I may try at $0.99 price point again as the read-through rate seems okay (trying to get a regular Bookbub first though).

Yes, it's easier to advertise a 99c special, but my plan involves keeping the prices up and applying for a bookbub featured deal as frequently as possible. If I drop something to 99c, it won't be as attractive to bookbub as a $2.99 title which will be offered to their subscribers at 99c.

My other plan is to advertise free short stories on Bookbub CPC ads, with a prominent newsletter magnet inside. I only started today.

[WasAnn]

I like both of these ads but question how much they convey your brand of comedy at a glance. I almost think an image of a knight on fire (or something equally outrageous) might communicate your brand better.

Believe me, I've spent years trying to find a way to convey comedy with my covers. The problem is, you're never going to find a stock image which will work as funny off the bat, and I have way too many titles to go paying for custom art.

So, I try and attract readers with an engaging blurb and a cover that sells the story & plot, rather than the humour.

(The right-hand ad is a first, because I quoted someone who realised it was a humorous novel. Usually I just use a description instead.)

In response to your question, I'm guessing that your first ad gets fewer clicks at a higher rate.  If I'm right, my next guess is that you are targeting George R. R. Martin -- a name with lots of competition.

Correct on the first ad being the lower clicks.  I don't usually target big names with my ads, and to be honest I'm tempted to ditch the authors altogether and go for genre only.

Personally, I've used the basic Bookbub template that they provide and had the best success with a straightforward blurb.  For example, Book 1 of the series in my signature simply featured the cover and the tag "A pandemic follows a worldwide network outage."  With that simple tag, I got a 1% click-through and sales on 1 in 5 books. The only problem is that this worked only when the book was $0.99 -- and the ad rate I was forced to pay couldn't support it.  When the novel went full-price, putting $2.99 on the button (instead of "Read Now!") killed my click rate to the point that I killed that version of the ad entirely. Since then, I've finished the series -- so I may try at $0.99 price point again as the read-through rate seems okay (trying to get a regular Bookbub first though).

Yes, it's easier to advertise a 99c special, but my plan involves keeping the prices up and applying for a bookbub featured deal as frequently as possible. If I drop something to 99c, it won't be as attractive to bookbub as a $2.99 title which will be offered to their subscribers at 99c.

My other plan is to advertise free short stories on Bookbub CPC ads, with a prominent newsletter magnet inside. I only started today.

Well, let us know how that goes! I put a novel onto IF exclusively. It's a prequel to a series of mine, but totally stand alone and without cliffies. I've gotten a lot of sign ups off it, but I'm wondering if the time might come for me to put it up on all venues and make it permafree. So, this would be of interest to me!

[liveswithbirds]

Now for the challenge - can you guess which stats belong to which ad? Also, happy to have feedback on either.

I'm going to guess that the one on the left has the higher CTR. I first looked at these on my phone, and immediately the one on the left jumped out at me -- in a good way. It has more blank space, so easier on the eye, and the copy is broken up. Plus, with the one on the right, the blue background of the book cover blends a bit too much with the background of the ad. Not enough contrast there.


I think the copy on both could be pared down. BB says on its blog that less is more.


Has anyone with more experience in BB ads found that to be true?


All in all, I really like the one on the left. It has movement and contrast, and I think eliminating one of the quotes would open it up even more.


Also, as to your stats, are you targeting Amazon-only readers or wide?


Thanks for sharing!

[liveswithbirds]

Simon, speaking just as a reader who sometimes buys books from Bookbub, the ad for Peace Force draws my eye more. Not sure why.

Yes, the Peace Force one is doing better.

Wow, shows you what I know. It's a great quote, though. Must be my eyes.

[NeverGiveUp]

I just started messing with these yesterday. I have two ads with a $15 daily cap on each. My average CPC is $0.35. So far ...

67 clicks
6 sales (I know these are from the ads. I get very few organic sales)

In the series I have a 30% read-through rate to Book #2, and near 100% from Books #3-5.

The book I'm advertising is at $0.99. I'm using it as a loss leader.

Per paid click, if my read-through numbers are correct, I can expect from today and yesterday (so far)...
Gross Profit: $47.38
Ads Cost: $24.43
Net Profit: $22.95

I am using the basic BB template and getting a 5% CTR with 1 sale per 10 clicks (roughly).

I'm going to put up one more ad today with the template, targeting two specific authors who are ranking in the 2000's.

I'll report back with more numbers later. So far I'm very encouraged by these ads. I was having far less luck with AMS and FB.

[Harald]

Great topic!

Here are two of my best so far:

 

My best stats were for the FREE using CPM. One day test, $10 budget, Effective CPM: $7.94, Effective CPC: $0.18, Impressions: 1,260, Total Clicks: 57, CTR: 4.52% overall (but Canada was 8.24%!). The $0.99 ad was lower in stats but still decent. A full-price version did not work well.

One thing I'm noticing with most of the ad creatives above is that they're way too busy (IMHO). You'll notice that the BB Auto-Generated ads only include 4 elements: blurred background, cover, short blurb, and call-to-action button. I don't use the auto-gen but create in Photoshop and tweak there. And I added a "limit" line under the CTA box.

[Simon Haynes]

Of mine above, with the dragon, the Walked into a Bar is getting 16x the clicks, so I paused the other one.

Harald, your images aren't showing for me, but I'll check back because I'm interested to see what you're doing.

[JRTomlin]

Simon, thanks for bringing this up. I really like your first ad which probably means the other does better. 

I played around a bit with BB ads (doing quite poorly) using their template. So I am trying out making an ad with Canva. Here is my first try. I can only expect limited results since, like Simon, I'm not reducing the price. Any thoughts?

DG, yours are so far out of my genres, I can't really make a suggestion. Sorry.

[Simon Haynes]

Simon, thanks for bringing this up. I really like your first ad which probably means the other does better. 

I played around a bit with BB ads (doing quite poorly) using their template. So I am trying out making an ad with Canva. Here is my first try. I can only expect limited results since, like Simon, I'm not reducing the price. Any thoughts?

My initial impression is that it's a bit too dark.  Can you see what it looks like with white text with an outer glow in black to separate it from the background? (The blurb, I mean.)

Also, I know there's not much room, but I'd bring the cover size up as much as possible. It's a nice cover but I think it's just too small a thumbnail.

Also, I don't know what Canva is capable of. I use an older version of Indesign myself, and it's got a zillion features I haven't explored yet. Sometimes that's a curse!

[JRTomlin]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give them a try. Canva is fairly simplified which suits my very limited skills with graphics! 

[Simon Haynes]

I just fired this ad up, and it has to be the most minimalistic bb ad I've run so far. I'm hoping the artwork says SF and comedy/disaster, but we'll see.



My targeting is SF, no specific authors.

[JRTomlin]

I like it!


The text stuff you can do on Canva beyond bold and italics is limited but you can do a very slight drop shadow, so I tried that and changed to a heavier font in white, which I think helps. I made the cover larger. So what do you think?

[Simon Haynes]

It's better, but the 'Rousing tale perfect for' still disappears.

Always a problem when the background contains light and dark patches. I'd suggest a darkening of the background directly behind the text (and a brighter area around the book cover).

If I had the files I'd just knock something up to show you what I meant.

[JRTomlin]

I know what you mean; it's just something I can't do with Canva. The only way would be to change the background to a solid. I may have to do that. I just haven't found a solid background that is very attractive. 


I tried raising the text slightly and increasing the size of the drop shadow. Maybe that helps? Maybe?

[WasAnn]

I know what you mean; it's just something I can't do with Canva. The only way would be to change the background to a solid. I may have to do that. I just haven't found a solid background that is very attractive. 


I tried raising the text slightly and increasing the size of the drop shadow. Maybe that helps? Maybe?

You can do it in Canva...sorta. Go to SHAPES, then select the rounded rectangle. Position OVER your text, drop transparency, and make it a darker shade of blue or whatever matches. When you have it the way you like it...click it BACKWARD behind the text.

[WasAnn]

I just fired this ad up, and it has to be the most minimalistic bb ad I've run so far. I'm hoping the artwork says SF and comedy/disaster, but we'll see.



My targeting is SF, no specific authors.

I like that! Draws the eye for sure!

[JRTomlin]

I know what you mean; it's just something I can't do with Canva. The only way would be to change the background to a solid. I may have to do that. I just haven't found a solid background that is very attractive. 


I tried raising the text slightly and increasing the size of the drop shadow. Maybe that helps? Maybe?

You can do it in Canva...sorta. Go to SHAPES, then select the rounded rectangle. Position OVER your text, drop transparency, and make it a darker shade of blue or whatever matches. When you have it the way you like it...click it BACKWARD behind the text.

Took me a second to get what you meant, but that should work. Thanks!

[guest120]

I just fired this ad up, and it has to be the most minimalistic bb ad I've run so far. I'm hoping the artwork says SF and comedy/disaster, but we'll see.



My targeting is SF, no specific authors.

I like this. It draws my eye the way the cover of a LEGO box draws my eye. I hope you take that as a compliment, because I love LEGO!

I know what you mean; it's just something I can't do with Canva. The only way would be to change the background to a solid. I may have to do that. I just haven't found a solid background that is very attractive. 


I tried raising the text slightly and increasing the size of the drop shadow. Maybe that helps? Maybe?

JR - I like the words in the ad copy itself, but in my opinion, I think flat yellow text works really well in contrasting against a blue background. Might be worth a try, with varying shades/hues of yellow. Just a thought.

[JRTomlin]

It's definitely worth trying. I'll give it a shot!


ETA: Doesn't quite work in yellow. The problem is that part of the sky and bits of the clouds are too whitish. It works very well in the parts that are a pretty solid blue. The variations in color are a definite problem. It tried some darker yellows and almost orange, but they just didn't show well against the whiter parts. 

[Harald]

I just fired this ad up, and it has to be the most minimalistic bb ad I've run so far. I'm hoping the artwork says SF and comedy/disaster, but we'll see.



My targeting is SF, no specific authors.

Simon: nice and clean with a lot of power. The only question is the no cover. I guess you'll see in the results, eh? Personally, I like it.

ALSO: did you ever get to see my two? I can see them just fine 

[Lysmata Debelius]

It's definitely worth trying. I'll give it a shot!


ETA: Doesn't quite work in yellow. The problem is that part of the sky and bits of the clouds are too whitish. It works very well in the parts that are a pretty solid blue. The variations in color are a definite problem. It tried some darker yellows and almost orange, but they just didn't show well against the whiter parts. 

I don't know much about canva. Can you import pictures into it to use as backgrounds? If so, these might be useful. Textured blues and greys so they're richer than a solid would be, but not as contrasty as those clouds you have now:




https://pixabay.com/en/background-blue-rough-abstract-3246124/


https://pixabay.com/en/watercolor-background-design-795161/


https://pixabay.com/en/background-grunge-vintage-old-1858848/


(I think these might be too blue, though. A darker grey might work better)


https://pixabay.com/en/stone-floor-wall-design-707171/


This one is my favorite:

[Simon Haynes]

ALSO: did you ever get to see my two? I can see them just fine 

Aha - they were being blocked by my ad-blocker. I guess that's to be expected!

I like them, they stand out nicely and the text is clear and easy to read.

[WasAnn]

Okay, I jumped into the kiddie pool over here. LOL.

Since the ads just started, I have zero clue of any effect. The part of me that worries how disdainfully others might view my woefully inadequate marketing skills thought maybe I should wait until I have some results before posting. The part of me that is the honey badger just doesn't give a sh*t.

I targeted one to three authors. I targeted the other to two authors plus genre. I put my bids at 0.70 for each one, just to be contrary and I only put 20 bucks for each ad since I'm testing. I figure I have to try this the first time at some point, so it might as well be now.

The book is virgin for ads of any kind. First countdown sale and in KU. Is still new enough that it hasn't had a bookbub yet.

Here's the very stupid creatives.





Also, I'm not sure why mine don't look as sharp as others. I used high-res and all the rest. What gives with that?

[Simon Haynes]

They look pretty good to me. I'm interested to know how you go with these.

I ran the Clunk one at $50/day for three days, and I had a total of maybe 300 views, no clicks.  It wouldn't even show, so I paused it and I'm going back to the drawing board.

[WasAnn]

They look pretty good to me. I'm interested to know how you go with these.

I ran the Clunk one at $50/day for three days, and I had a total of maybe 300 views, no clicks.  It wouldn't even show, so I paused it and I'm going back to the drawing board.

That really surprises me! That ad is super fun. I mean, they want your money so what's the deal? Were the CPC prices way out of line for that genre at that moment? I took their bid suggestion with my bid five cents less than the max range. Your other ads were max suggested too, right?

Yikes. Now I wonder if I'll get a big zero on mine. Well, live and learn.

[Simon Haynes]

I started at 70c, then went to 85 and finally, because I wanted to see what would happen, 1.01

My targeting was fine, it just didn't fire up.

[Tom Wood]

Simon - Have you tried any CPM ads at BookBub? I want to target one author who has about 20,000 followers there. The recommended range is $5-10 per 1,000. So it could be an efficient way to get in front of some very targeted eyeballs.

[guest215]

They look pretty good to me. I'm interested to know how you go with these.

I ran the Clunk one at $50/day for three days, and I had a total of maybe 300 views, no clicks.  It wouldn't even show, so I paused it and I'm going back to the drawing board.

I'm quite disappointed for you, Simon. I rather liked that promo. I wonder if the price point turned potential buyers away. Many bookbubbers are primed for a deal. Whereas perhaps if you hadn't listed a price, perhaps your cover and blurb might have enticed them in? Would you consider doing a second go of it, without the price, for A/B testing?

[Simon Haynes]

Simon - Have you tried any CPM ads at BookBub? I want to target one author who has about 20,000 followers there. The recommended range is $5-10 per 1,000. So it could be an efficient way to get in front of some very targeted eyeballs.

I have but it was a wash. I think I got my 1000 views but only about 2 clicks.

[Simon Haynes]

They look pretty good to me. I'm interested to know how you go with these.

I ran the Clunk one at $50/day for three days, and I had a total of maybe 300 views, no clicks.  It wouldn't even show, so I paused it and I'm going back to the drawing board.

I'm quite disappointed for you, Simon. I rather liked that promo. I wonder if the price point turned potential buyers away. Many bookbubbers are primed for a deal. Whereas perhaps if you hadn't listed a price, perhaps your cover and blurb might have enticed them in? Would you consider doing a second go of it, without the price, for A/B testing?

The main problem was that it was only shown about 300 times. That's not even enough to gauge interest.

I had the free 'pub' ad running (higher in this thread) and that got about 30,000 views and 90 clicks. (Different targets)

[Tom Wood]

Simon - Have you tried any CPM ads at BookBub? I want to target one author who has about 20,000 followers there. The recommended range is $5-10 per 1,000. So it could be an efficient way to get in front of some very targeted eyeballs.

I have but it was a wash. I think I got my 1000 views but only about 2 clicks.

Thanks. If you don't mind a followup. I'm thinking about adding 'Kindle Unlimited' at the bottom of my ad. My thinking is that there may be some overlap between the BookBub readers and the KU readers. What do you think?



Warcross is a YA cyberpunk-lite novel that bridges between romance and sci-fi. It's a futuristic adventure with many of the elements that I have in my stories. Marie Lu, the author, is categorized at BookBub under Action Adventure, Dystopian, and Young Adult - perfect for my targeting.

[Simon Haynes]

Not sure - there's a lot of text on there.

[JRTomlin]

I got a fairly good click through rate on my most recent ad, but I was paying way more than I could justify for the sales, even allowing for sell-through of the series. I just can't seem to get them to work for me. 

But Simon, I like that ad. It is very hard to figure out how to get results there.

Tom, that ad is very text heavy. I'd be interested in how it would do though.

[WasAnn]

Tom - like the others, I find the ad too wordy, but at the same time, if you look at the blog post on BB with their top 20 ads (as of last year), you'll find a couple that are text heavy.

Balancing the text heaviness, you have a slender color range and no textures, so it might be a wash.

Give it a try!

[Simon Haynes]

Okay, I'm trying again. This one's a freebie in exchange for a signup, which is hopefully clear from the ad.



Using a custom bookfunnel landing page which will identify sign-ups as coming from this ad.

[WasAnn]

Okay, I'm trying again. This one's a freebie in exchange for a signup, which is hopefully clear from the ad.



Using a custom bookfunnel landing page which will identify sign-ups as coming from this ad.

I like it! It's cute!

Also, I want to be you when I grow up with understanding all the marketing to-do-ra. LOL Let us know how it goes?

[Simon Haynes]

Okay, I'm trying again. This one's a freebie in exchange for a signup, which is hopefully clear from the ad.



Using a custom bookfunnel landing page which will identify sign-ups as coming from this ad.

I like it! It's cute!

Also, I want to be you when I grow up with understanding all the marketing to-do-ra. LOL Let us know how it goes?

Haha. Sure, I don't mind sharing whatever I find out. Usually it's what NOT to do, but that still helps.

[Nobody]

Okay, I'm trying again. This one's a freebie in exchange for a signup, which is hopefully clear from the ad.



Using a custom bookfunnel landing page which will identify sign-ups as coming from this ad.

I think this one is pretty good!

Btw, how do BB ads perform Vs BB standard promotions?

[Simon Haynes]

Okay, I'm trying again. This one's a freebie in exchange for a signup, which is hopefully clear from the ad.



Using a custom bookfunnel landing page which will identify sign-ups as coming from this ad.

I think this one is pretty good!

Btw, how do BB ads perform Vs BB standard promotions?

I would take a BB promo every time, but alas they're hard to get. At least anyone can run BB ads any time.

Re effectiveness, I've had plenty of luck advertising perma-frees, not much with 99c or full price books.
This is my first attempt with a sign-up in exchange for a book. It's possible that strategy works better with non-fic.

[Simon Haynes]

I just paused that BB after approx 180 impressions and no clicks.

Reason being, my ad on Facebook which is trying to achieve the same results just hit a relevance of 9, and it's going gangbusters.

PPC is 9c on FB vs a bid of 75c per click on BB, so why would I bother?

I'm converting maybe 1/3-1/2 of the clicks into new subscribers, and they have to verify their email to get the book, so it's not like they're all going to trash.

[WasAnn]

I just paused that BB after approx 180 impressions and no clicks.

Reason being, my ad on Facebook which is trying to achieve the same results just hit a relevance of 9, and it's going gangbusters.

PPC is 9c on FB vs a bid of 75c per click on BB, so why would I bother?

I'm converting maybe 1/3-1/2 of the clicks into new subscribers, and they have to verify their email to get the book, so it's not like they're all going to trash.

Wow! That's amazing. Will you show us your creative on it?

I just did a pair of FB ads for this sale, and for whatever reason, it's not doing anything except on instagram. They've changed the interface since I last used them, so it's possible I did something wrong, but it's just egregious. Not sure if I should dump them or not. I can't even find any ads to compare to!

[Simon Haynes]

Sure! It's pretty basic. I think the blurb probably sells it though:


It's Game of Thrones meets Discworld ...

"Laugh after laugh, dark in places but the humour punches through. One of the best books I’ve read in 2018 so far."

Join my newsletter and get a FREE COPY now!

[Simon Haynes]

I found out my BB CpC ad actually got 1 click and a signup to the newsletter (sometimes the figures lag), so I went off and activated it again.

As the old joke goes, I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

[DavidM]

Long time lurker at other place.

I've not had much luck with BB ads in the past, especially with CPM -- it just seems to suck up money with no discernible results (clicks or sales). My CPC ads seem to only get served for short periods of time. I've always assumed it was because the creative wasn't good enough. Here are a few I'm trying out next week on a 5-day free run for a two-book bundle. Do they seem "clickable" enough?







I've mixed and matched the images and text but didn't want to put every version out here. Which (if any) do you think would work?

[Simon Haynes]

Of the three I prefer 1 and 2. As you can tell from my own posts, though, I'm no expert on BB ads ...

[WasAnn]

I like #1 the best, but also like #3 because of the contrast.

[DavidM]

#3 is a cropped version of the cover from Book 5 of the series. For some reason, the less-cropped version of this artwork does really well on Facebook. (I think it's the steampunkish brassy color that stands out in the Facebook newsfeed. I think blues get lost on FB.) I'm betting this one doesn't perform as well on BB, though.

On the other hand, #1 (which I suspect will do best on BB 'cause conventional wisdom says covers do best there) would crater on Facebook. I've never gotten traction with any book cover on FB. I think they look too much like conventional ads.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I'll post how it goes next week when the promo is over.

[Simon Haynes]

Currently running CPC ads on FB and BB for signups to my newsletter. I'm offering the Dragon and Chips novel, and results so far ...

BB: Paying 45c per click (bidding higher), 0.41% conversion, 18 clicks so far with 11 of those signing up to my ML = 74c per signup

FB: Paying 6-8c per click, 5% conversion, 359 clicks with 150 signups (41% conversion)  = 19c per signup.

I'd say the FB ads have it when it comes to building a mailing list.

[DavidM]

Geez. To where are you linking for the email sign-ups on Bookbub? (A landing page on your own site?) They literally shut my ad down in minutes and sent a nastygram for doing lead generation.

On Facebook, are you using FB's lead generation form or your own landing page? What experience have you had with either?

Have you had any issues with redundant sign-ups (people who sign up for the same offer multiple times?) I've had days where a third of my conversions were people who had already signed up. Seems to be less of an issue now that I'm using a lookalike audience and expanded to several other English speaking markets. (I'd focused on U.S. at first.)

Killer numbers on FB, by the way. I can't get close to single digits.

[Simon Haynes]

I was linking to a bookfunnel landing page.

I wondered whether they'd be okay with ads for ML signups, but perhaps they didn't spot it.



Re FB, I've noticed the price per click rises on Fri/Sat, so presumably others run more ads or bid higher for the weekend? Looking at US 9c right now for yesterday's average.

[Ash]

Simon you seem to be one of the only people sharing CTR, which in my view is probably the most important figure here. I'm getting about 1.9% targeting science-fiction readers (specific authors close to my genre). I had the creative made on upwork, not very expensive. Just the book cover superimposed over the cover art, and a CTA.

Do people who choose to target by CPC still see CTR? I've never tried it.

[Simon Haynes]

Do people who choose to target by CPC still see CTR? I've never tried it.

Yes indeed. CPC is all I use, apart from one CPM experiment.

[Ash]

Do people who choose to target by CPC still see CTR? I've never tried it.

Yes indeed. CPC is all I use, apart from one CPM experiment.

Out of interest, what CPC are you getting? I bid $10, or maybe $9.50, get a CTR of around 1.9% and end up paying around $.50 on a real CPM cost of $8.50. I think I can work to bring the CPM down by bidding a bit less, but then I'll probably get a lower volume of clicks, so it might end up only hurting me.

[Simon Haynes]

It was around 12-18c CPC for my freebies.

[Ash]

It was around 12-18c CPC for my freebies.

Wow! Mine's for a paid book, but that's a big disparity. Brb, trying CPC!

[Simon Haynes]

Mine's closer to 50-60c for paid, so don't expect that result on anything with a price sticker.

[Tom Wood]

Tangentially related, BB sent out this email today:

"Do BookBub Members Buy Full-Priced Books?"

https://insights.bookbub.com/do-bookbub-members-buy-full-priced-books/

Using Stephen King as an example of the books they buy kinda undercuts their message to startups.

[Ash]

Mine's closer to 50-60c for paid, so don't expect that result on anything with a price sticker.

Ah ok. I'm $0.45-50 so that makes sense!

[dgcasey]

Okay, here is a good one for a case study (in my opinion).



It's been running for about four days now and it's numbers are:

8139 impressions
39 clicks
0 sales

[Here's a quick add:
Effective CPM: $1.15
Effective CPC: $0.28
Effective CTR: 0.42%]

I've run ads similar to this a few times and the results always seem to be the same. The only time it didn't draw clicks was when I put the price in the ad. Then it drew about one click for every five thousand impressions. The clicks are spread across six different links with the majority going to Amazon US and B&N, as would be expected. The budget gets spent almost every single day, even with low bids of 0.33 cents.

Here is the blurb that the clickers are seeing:

"Just wait by the wishing well."
"For how long?"
"What do you care? You're dead and not going anywhere soon."

Melanie arrives at the Pearly Gates, only to find a grumpy old man that won't let her in. How was she supposed to know she needed a number to come in?

So, what's a girl to do?

Miss Claudia told her that you can never do too much to get into Heaven, even if you are dead. Realizing she can still influence the living, Melanie decides to look after the people of her little town. She just doesn't realize there are others working in her town already, trying to drag them down.

There is one particularly nasty demon, who seems to have it in for her.

They don't like each other very much.

Join Melanie as she finds out she is one of the most important spirits in the coming war for Heaven, but has to face her battles before she even gets there.

I realize some will see a price of $3.49 and turn right around and walk out the door, but I can't believe there aren't any that won't go ahead and buy the book. I know there are some here that can sell their books at $3.99, $4.99 or even higher all day long, but it's been weeks since I got sales off this ad and that was a stretch of sales from Amazon UK. It is the one book that I can count on getting impressions day in and day out. My other ads peter out to 5-10 impressions a day after about a week, but this one keeps going.

Any ideas?

[DavidM]

Long time lurker at other place.

I've not had much luck with BB ads in the past, especially with CPM -- it just seems to suck up money with no discernible results (clicks or sales). My CPC ads seem to only get served for short periods of time. I've always assumed it was because the creative wasn't good enough. Here are a few I'm trying out next week on a 5-day free run for a two-book bundle. Do they seem "clickable" enough?







I've mixed and matched the images and text but didn't want to put every version out here. Which (if any) do you think would work?

Here are the results after a 5-day free run. I bid  0.50 per click on everything and refused to raise it for any reason. There were three versions of each ad and all pointed to Amazon's US, UK, CA and AU stores.

Ad 1 (3D Cover image) got 27 clicks @ 0.50 for CTR of .55

Ad 2 (Sci Fantasy Adventure) got 169 clicks @ 0.27 for CTR of 4.03 (164 of those clicks were in AU store and someone bought the whole series on the first day, which was cool. Don't normally sell much in AU). Didn't think this creative would be the performer--just goes to show, you never know.

Ad 3 (Brassy one) got 7 clicks @50 cents for a 0.33 CTR

I definitely got more bang for the buck from my Facebook ads (much lower click prices and many more clicks converting at about 66% each).

I'll probably revisit BB ads once I go wide on this series next year to focus on non-U.S, non-Amazon stores. I'd be interested in hearing of people's experiences with those.

[Simon Haynes]

BB ads only really work for me on international stores, and usually apple, kobo, google play.

[Simon Haynes]

Okay, dipping my toe into the BB pirahna pool once more:



I set a click price of 75c, targeted SF plus a wide range of comedy SF authors, and since it's wide I aimed the ad at all stores and all BB-supported countries barring India.

Oh, and a pretty large daily budget.

[OfficialEthanJ]

Okay, dipping my toe into the BB pirahna pool once more:



I set a click price of 75c, targeted SF plus a wide range of comedy SF authors, and since it's wide I aimed the ad at all stores and all BB-supported countries barring India.

Oh, and a pretty large daily budget.

Well...???!!!!! Don't leave me hanging (any more)!

---

Thanks to everyone who shared their BB ads. Mine are poop, I can see that now, not that the stats didn't bear that out already. I'm stoked to give it another try in 2019.

[OfficialEthanJ]

Here's my first BB ad for 2019. Not crazy fancy, but I tried to incorporate things I learned here and abroad (okay, David Gaughran), including exciting new author targeting.

[LilyBLily]

Here's my first BB ad for 2019. Not crazy fancy, but I tried to incorporate things I learned here and abroad (okay, David Gaughran), including exciting new author targeting.

Wondering why the background color doesn't contrast with the second book. Those are two covers, aren't they? The second is virtually unreadable because of the lack of contrast. My advice, for what it's worth, is to make them pop.

Also, what's your offer? Where's a buy button or a learn more or a shop now, or even a button with the price on it? The advantage of the price button is it stops people from clicking who are price sensitive.

[dgcasey]

The advantage of the price button is it stops people from clicking who are price sensitive.

Which is just about everybody at BB. I ran an ad once that got decent impression counts and not one single click. I put the price of $3.99 in the ad. I had run the same exact ad, with a Buy It Now button, about a month before and got good impressions and clicks. So, I have to believe it was the price that did the ad in.

[Tom Wood]

The BB speaker at the 20booksto50k Vegas conference endorsed adding Kindle Unlimited to a BB ad. They must have some overlapping members, so that notice helps the KU readers who are also at BB find you.

[OfficialEthanJ]

Also, what's your offer? Where's a buy button or a learn more or a shop now, or even a button with the price on it? The advantage of the price button is it stops people from clicking who are price sensitive.

The offer is: "Witness the rise of her legend." 

I stole that approach from David Gaughran. He touted it as a method to raise awareness that there is a 2nd book available in the series. As of this morning is is getting some traction in the US (!!!) and Australia. (If I get USA clicks, that's huge.)

Re: The background, the nifty bokeh background I selected flattened out. The white drop shadow does offset the sameness (on my screen) but point taken... the cover looks great in print but is really hard to sharpen up in squint-o-vision.

[LilyBLily]

The advantage of the price button is it stops people from clicking who are price sensitive.

Which is just about everybody at BB. I ran an ad once that got decent impression counts and not one single click. I put the price of $3.99 in the ad. I had run the same exact ad, with a Buy It Now button, about a month before and got good impressions and clicks. So, I have to believe it was the price that did the ad in.

But did you get sales from those clicks?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but if I spend on an ad I want it to result in sales.

[dgcasey]

But did you get sales from those clicks?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but if I spend on an ad I want it to result in sales.

Yes, I got a few. Nothing to write home about, but it was definitely better than when I included the price.

[LilyBLily]

But did you get sales from those clicks?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but if I spend on an ad I want it to result in sales.

Yes, I got a few. Nothing to write home about, but it was definitely better than when I included the price.

That's exactly the opposite of what some guru says to do. Was it Mark or David? I don't remember. I try stuff that people say is gold, and it doesn't work for me.

[JRTomlin]

I must admit I have given up on Bookbub ads. i just cannot make them work for me.

[Simon Haynes]

I ran a BB CPM ad on a 99c special last night, and only had 0.7% clickthrough. About $1 per click I think.

Now I'm running the following CPM ad for a newly-permafree first-in-series.  8 impressions, 1 click, 12.5% clickthrough  ;-)  If I can multiply that by 1000 I'll be laughing.

[Simon Haynes]

Seems BB works well for perma-frees (early figures yet, but promising)

[ashleycapes]

Hi folks, here's an attempt - I'll trial this and do some testing with a new one later so I can compare click rates, what should I change (other than the tagline maybe?)

[Lu Kudzoza]

Hi folks, here's an attempt - I'll trial this and do some testing with a new one later so I can compare click rates, what should I change (other than the tagline maybe?)

If the book is 99 cents I'd add a "Click Here 99 Cents" box. Bookbub readers like deals.

[Lynn]

Hi folks, here's an attempt - I'll trial this and do some testing with a new one later so I can compare click rates, what should I change (other than the tagline maybe?)

Too much green? It could really use an accent color that pops.

Nice cover, by the way! :D

[ashleycapes]

Awesome, thank you everyone for the feedback and the compliments

The existing ad had a 1.4% click rate, which could be better - when I have a book that's free or on sale, I tend to do better there.


I'll whip up another version soon, with some shadow on the text and maybe test a new button colour to. I like the way the green contrasts with Bookbub's red, red, red, but if it's getting lost within itself that's no good. I wonder if I should also trial a new tagline version as well.


I wrote this book with something like "a cross between D&D and the Tom Hanks film Big” in mind but I worry that audiences might not recognise the film and its premise anymore, and thus it would fail as a tagline?

[JRTomlin]

My own experience with BB ads is that a lot of text just doesn't work well. The simpler I make mine, generally the better they work.  (although some just don't anyway)

I ran one as a run-up to a BB Free Promotion in the week after I already had it free.

It got this which was not fantastic but not terrible either: CPM $10.81   CPC $0.41   Cost $85.09 Impressions 7,865 Clicks 206   CtR 2.62%



I tested this one first thinking maybe a little text wouldn't hurt and got a CTR of 1.21% and canceled it. *sigh*



What works for me seems to be the cover and FREE in a really big font.  To hell with pretty.

ETA: For me the comprables for targetting are the hard part. There just aren't many HF authors with a big following on BB except trade authors like Bernard Cornwell and those are a waste of money. Testing comparables is an absolute necessity on BB.