Author Topic: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?  (Read 1634 times)

alhawke

I don't know. Maybe I just had an itch to start a new thread or writer's block or something. I'll tell you one thing, I can't get myself to actually write this morning.

But I've noticed that there's an increase trend for mega promos on Bookfunnel. I was in a romance one with 200 authors and hundreds of books. I'm also frequently involved in the mini ones. What do you guys think? And while we're at it, for those of you who do these, what do you look for when deciding to join a cross promo? Are many books gonna get clicks from a giant promo or is your book gonna drown in too many of them?

Might as well put some data into it. This is only two promos last month for my free book--popular ones ran by popular indie writers; and these are stats for my book only:
200+ book fair romance: 378 views, 163 claims
sci fi/fantasy fair with 50 books: 172 views, 88 claims
Obviously the larger book fair won in total but the other one which had a quarter of the books gave me a better percentage of claims. My freebie book fits both paranormal romance and fantasy.
 

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2022, 04:52:05 AM »
They are two different beasts imho.

Small group promos are to target tight genre/author matches.

The big ones spread your net and see who's interested in your books.

Most times I like tight matching genres, but because i straddle several genres i can get a really nice response from the larger ones.

For example i've been running tight targeted promos for over a year now with the same magnet. I genreally get 1/3 views/claims. Whereas currently with the mega promo im in i have 4/5. i doubt many of the looky loos will make it though but there is something to say for sheer quantity of eyes.
 
The following users thanked this post: alhawke

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2022, 06:16:09 AM »
Most times I like tight matching genres, but because i straddle several genres i can get a really nice response from the larger ones.
Thanks! Promos closest to my own books are surely better for my readers. But the +200 book promos are tempting. I'm wondering why these huge giveaways are becoming a thing?

I'm also looking to advertise outside of Bookfunnel because I feel like I'm marketing to the same audience. StoryOrigin seems to be having less options ?? I think I only saw a handful of promos last I looked. I used to run them all the time when they were free. And I've considered a Prolific Works promo to get a different audience, but they don't have a lot of options either. There seems to be only one main company doing this right now. Bookfunnel.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2022, 06:18:56 AM by alhawke »
 

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2022, 06:25:47 AM »
 FB private invite promo. It's free and better than bookbub but the ones i know are only for romance.
 

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2022, 12:05:38 PM »
FB private invite promo. It's free and better than bookbub but the ones i know are only for romance.
I'm not in Facebook because of my pen name. I don't feel like their system is secure for my identity. But it sounds like I'm missing out.

What do you mean better than BookBub? The promotion BB or ads??
 

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2022, 12:39:25 PM »
Better than bookbub feature deal. Like way way way better. 10k+ downloads in one day for zero cost.
Though i should qualify that. It's sub genre dependent. I write clean romance and i only hit 2.5k which is the lowest supported genre from what i've seen.
 

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2022, 01:21:40 PM »
Better than bookbub feature deal. Like way way way better. 10k+ downloads in one day for zero cost.
:icon_eek:
Do you apply just like BB through Facebook and the group? Is this through the "private event" function on Facebook? (I'm very Facebook naive so forgive me if it's a dumb question).
 

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2022, 02:47:15 PM »
It's a semi private. You need an invite by a current person in the group just to ensure you follow the rules of the group (which aren't major) and arent a bot or scammer. There are no requirements other than your book is a romance which can span any genre.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2022, 02:51:17 PM by idontknowyet »
 

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #8 on: May 03, 2022, 05:38:04 AM »
This, alone, is a reason for me to re-think Facebook. Thanks, @idontknowyet!
 
The following users thanked this post: idontknowyet

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #9 on: May 03, 2022, 11:38:51 AM »
Holler and ill get you an invite when you join fb!
 
The following users thanked this post: alhawke

writeway

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #10 on: June 08, 2022, 03:33:30 PM »
The big one is better if the promo fits your books. Bigger promo means more eyes on your work. A group promo is like a giant mailing list swap. If you're in a promo with 100 authors, that's a TON of readers you'll potentially be exposed to opposed to being in a tiny promo. Whether the promo fits your work is what's important. For example, I don't do multigenre promos. Those are often terrible. It's never a good idea to promote a bunch of different genres at once. You're just wasting your time. If you write romance, then stick with romance promos especially those that fit the tropes or subgenres you write. If you write mysteries, stick with mystery promos, etc. But the multigenre ones are the worst. Your books will be exposed to everyone including many people who might not read your genre.

I run a lot of BF promos and many of mine are large. Some have been very large. Some are smaller. I'm running promos now with over 80 authors. They just started the beginning of this month and already have almost 600 views and almost 700 clicks. This promo is a month-long and we're not even halfway into the month and it's doing fantastic. So you can see the potential of readers you can reach with a large promo. Some of the large promos on BF can be as good as Bookbub in terms of results. And these are SALES promos I am talking about, not free ones. So look at the amount of sales you have the potential to get with a large promo.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2022, 03:37:08 PM by writeway »
 
The following users thanked this post: idontknowyet, alhawke

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2022, 12:40:32 AM »
I'm in a small promo this week for $0.99 books because it's running with perfect timing for my sale. The result... the small promo is not getting me a ton of clicks compared to mega promos (makes sense)... but it could be getting good conversions because I'm running a sale (??).

I've seen many many more clicks with those romance promos of 300+ authors. Many of my books fit fantasy & romance and I totally agree with you regarding the importance of matching genre--one exception is a new release promotion. The balance, I suppose, is conversion versus eyeballs.
 
The following users thanked this post: idontknowyet

idontknowyet

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #12 on: June 09, 2022, 04:08:08 AM »
Just for stats.

Big promo i get close to 100 claims.
Small targeted i get 20 ish.

Now the quality of claims might be different. All twenty might stick from the smaller targeted. But still i won't complain about having my book in more peoples' hands.
 
The following users thanked this post: alhawke

LilyBLily

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #13 on: June 09, 2022, 07:07:35 AM »
You've reminded me to try again. A free promo is not a big risk, so why not?
 
The following users thanked this post: idontknowyet

alhawke

Re: Better to be involved in a big cross promo or smaller one?
« Reply #14 on: June 09, 2022, 01:04:00 PM »
Big promo i get close to 100 claims.
Small targeted i get 20 ish.
Don't need to give you my stats. It's about the same  Grin
You've reminded me to try again. A free promo is not a big risk, so why not?
I do one or two monthly. I think they're worth it.
 
The following users thanked this post: idontknowyet