Facebook Ads...Ad Copy? Image Opinions?

[WasAnn]

Hey ya'll. Confession: I hate marketing. OMG...hives, I tell ya, I will get hives.

But, I have to do it. So, I'm trying to learn.

My first promo on my latest is coming up fast. I'll be dropping from $4.99 to $0.99. It's in KU, so no bookbub, but I've got pretty much all the rest in the SF ad world lined up.

Need some help figuring out Facebook for it. Normally, I just boost a post, but I'm thinking I need to be more science-y about it.

Book Info:

Genre: YAFA (Young Adult for Adults) Science Fiction; First Contact, Galactic. (Protag is YA, but in all other respects, it's a grown up book.)

Stats: Launched in July to around #1100 in store, kept orange #1 NR tag in several big genres the entire time, and stayed in the top of those genres until the 60 day cliff. Great reviews. 83% read through rate.

Reader Profile: Both genders, all ages, mostly SF readers.

Here's the ad image (opinions please!):


As for copy...clueless! I know I have to put in that it's on sale and I'll shorten the blurb substantially as I do in AMS ads down to a tagline. Where I run into problems is targeting. Given that my readers seem to span all ages and both genders, I run into the issue of not knowing how to target them. Looking at other books they've reviewed, I see an astonishing spectrum.

My norm would be to target females 35-50 who like kindles and similar authors.

How would you approach this. Any advice most appreciated.

[Simon Haynes]

Apparently what works best is to target a very narrow group first, and then expand the audience.

If you can convince FB that your book is really relevant to the first group, when you expand the audience they'll know who to show it to.

BTW, I've never run an FB ad with text in the image. Apparently they prefer ads to not look like ads, so let me know if yours works!

[guest14]

Firstly, in my experience boosted posts are horrendously ineffective and very expensive.

I've done ads with text in, but they DO frown on too much (they like 20%). They seem to understand the issue far better than we do and I think their rule is aimed at visibility so trust them.

I also play around with the size of the ads, you get a frame that can show the advert on different devices in different places on the page and this means you can target specific types of user, devices or computers. Consider using the advert to hit more than just Amazon. I use Books2Read.com and you can generally see the results on the other platforms quite quickly.

That's about all I can add to the discussion at moment.

[WasAnn]

Apparently what works best is to target a very narrow group first, and then expand the audience.

If you can convince FB that your book is really relevant to the first group, when you expand the audience they'll know who to show it to.

BTW, I've never run an FB ad with text in the image. Apparently they prefer ads to not look like ads, so let me know if yours works!

What you mean by targeting my narrow group is to say, hit up females in a tight age range, who like one or two specific books? (Just an example).

Or do you mean tightly focused only to Kindle? Or only to Science Fiction? Or only Kindle Unlimited? That tight?

I have a hard time distinguishing what's tight and what's not.

As to the image: What would I put in there except words? Maybe just the artwork that the artist gave me? It's in KU, so I do want to make sure the KU users know at first glance that it's free for them.

[WasAnn]

Firstly, in my experience boosted posts are horrendously ineffective and very expensive.

I've done ads with text in, but they DO frown on too much (they like 20%). They seem to understand the issue far better than we do and I think their rule is aimed at visibility so trust them.

I also play around with the size of the ads, you get a frame that can show the advert on different devices in different places on the page and this means you can target specific types of user, devices or computers. Consider using the advert to hit more than just Amazon. I use Books2Read.com and you can generally see the results on the other platforms quite quickly.

That's about all I can add to the discussion at moment.

The book is in KU. Do you mean for paperback sales?

[Simon Haynes]

What you mean by targeting my narrow group is to say, hit up females in a tight age range, who like one or two specific books? (Just an example).

Yes to this part, although to be honest I've always used a wide age range to keep the targeted audience above the four digit range.

You'll need to add authors and books until you get enough of an audience that FB won't refuse to show the ad.

[WasAnn]

What you mean by targeting my narrow group is to say, hit up females in a tight age range, who like one or two specific books? (Just an example).

Yes to this part, although to be honest I've always used a wide age range to keep the targeted audience above the four digit range.

You'll need to add authors and books until you get enough of an audience that FB won't refuse to show the ad.

Okay, gotcha on the targeting! I usually do it that way, with a nice list next to me that I add to until I get the right numbers. (For boosted posts).

Any advice on what to do with the image instead of words?

[guest14]

The book is in KU. Do you mean for paperback sales?

Sorry Ann, I didn't realise you were in KU (just re-read it).  Forget that bit of advice (until you go wide).

[WasAnn]

The book is in KU. Do you mean for paperback sales?

Sorry Ann, I didn't realise you were in KU (just re-read it).  Forget that bit of advice (until you go wide).

Ah, okay. I have others wide, but this one is KU still.

[guest120]

I know next to nothing about this - haven't even bought an ad myself on any platform (YET!), so, keep that in mind...

BUT this wouldn't be the internet if someone who didn't know what they were talking about didn't come in here to give their opinion anyway. 

That said, I think the imagery in your ad is pretty striking, but I would change the ad copy itself to something more in the storytelling vein away from something that sounds salesy, if you get what I mean by that.

Maybe a compelling hook-line from the blurb, or something that grabs on an emotional level. Together with Simon's advice on targeting, that might help.

Just my two cents. Good luck with it!  :clap

[WasAnn]

I know next to nothing about this - haven't even bought an ad myself on any platform (YET!), so, keep that in mind...

BUT this wouldn't be the internet if someone who didn't know what they were talking about didn't come in here to give their opinion anyway. 

That said, I think the imagery in your ad is pretty striking, but I would change the ad copy itself to something more in the storytelling vein away from something that sounds salesy, if you get what I mean by that.

Maybe a compelling hook-line from the blurb, or something that grabs on an emotional level. Together with Simon's advice on targeting, that might help.

Just my two cents. Good luck with it!  :clap

Nothing at all wrong with chiming in! Honestly, if someone who isn't in my brain doesn't chime up, how will my brain ever know? LOL

I gotcha on this, and I'm now pretty committed to doing some testing. I'll create three ads (unless someone talks me down off this ledge!):

1) Above
2) Just the art panel
3) Above, with story words

That covers three facets of book buying. Let's see if there are more opinions.

[Jack Krenneck]

I haven't advertised on Facebook, so bear that in mind.

The image looks good to me. The background ties in well with the books, and it all looks slick enough.

The "And loosing sleep..." part is too small to be read/noticed at a glance. I'd drop it. You don't want too much text anyway.

The call to action tab is critical. It prompts browsers into the next action. Blue is a common color for this because it gives vibes of trust. But in this case it blends with the background and loses visibility. I would try another color -- possibly red. It will make it stand out, which is what you want. Bookbub favor red for the CTA button, and I'm guessing they have research behind it. Or you could spit test that point.

Hope that helps!

[guest120]

Or you could spit test that point.

Gross! 

[Jack Krenneck]

Yikes! Some typos are worse than others!

[guest14]

Or you could spit test that point.

Gross! 

It's not a Gross it's a llama

[Lex]

I gotcha on this, and I'm now pretty committed to doing some testing. I'll create three ads (unless someone talks me down off this ledge!):

1) Above
2) Just the art panel
3) Above, with story words

That covers three facets of book buying. Let's see if there are more opinions.

Definitely test a variety of different ads. It's been a while since I did much FB advertising, but I was often surprised at which ads took off and which didn't.

I abandoned text or anything that looked like an ad early on, because image-only always performed better, but YMMV. I usually did a few versions with the art from the cover, often messing with the scale. So maybe try one with your portal girl as is and another where she's a smaller figure on a wide open space background.

If you really want to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks, grab a few stock images that fit the book's mood/genre and test those as well.

[JamesBierce]

I run Facebook ads with a limited amount of text, usually just the title of the book. In the past I've used enough text to get warned about it though, and I've never found that it affected the ad performance in any way. This is one that I'm running right now.

[WasAnn]

I gotcha on this, and I'm now pretty committed to doing some testing. I'll create three ads (unless someone talks me down off this ledge!):

1) Above
2) Just the art panel
3) Above, with story words

That covers three facets of book buying. Let's see if there are more opinions.

Definitely test a variety of different ads. It's been a while since I did much FB advertising, but I was often surprised at which ads took off and which didn't.

I abandoned text or anything that looked like an ad early on, because image-only always performed better, but YMMV. I usually did a few versions with the art from the cover, often messing with the scale. So maybe try one with your portal girl as is and another where she's a smaller figure on a wide open space background.

If you really want to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks, grab a few stock images that fit the book's mood/genre and test those as well.

Thanks! I've heard that now for a few people, so we'll see what clicks!

The cover is all original art, so I have the entire panel with the girl, the portal, and the giant space station over a starry background. It's stunning, so I'll use that and much about with how much of what I show. No words on that one.

[R. C.]

Apparently what works best is to target a very narrow group first, and then expand the audience.

If you can convince FB that your book is really relevant to the first group, when you expand the audience they'll know who to show it to.

BTW, I've never run an FB ad with text in the image. Apparently they prefer ads to not look like ads, so let me know if yours works!

Simon is spot-on.   I have had success with FB through actively managing the results.   Every couple of days I will look at where the ads are being placed and to whom.   One or all of: A tweak to the geography, a narrowing/expanding of the audience, increase/decrease the bid amount, and I receive positive results. 

Is it work?  Yes.  Is it a lot of work?  Not really.   For me, building an audience is paramount so I spend a few minutes every couple of days tuning.

Cheers,
Ruairí