FREE CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Notes: this is my first book and it just launched on Jan 31st. My goal was to get exposure, my story out there, to drive interest, hopefully get them back to read book 2 (soon to be released), and reviews.
I looked at this as an experiment to help branding and awareness – and also learn how to use Amazon, Facebook, 3rd party ads, and other items
Feb 10 – 13
Amazon KDP – book listed for FREE for 4 days.
Amazon ad Lock Screen (kindle) 21 cents per click
Facebook ad 9-12th
Fussy Librarian Feb 12th
Free Downloads total: 1854
Ad spend: $41.05
Amazon Ad $1.05
Facebook $40
Fussy Librarian $0
Revenue: $9.71
Paperback $8.84
eBook $0
Ku Readers $.87
Downloads: 1854
2/10 = 69 (Facebook ad started)
2/11 = 699 (Facebook ad)
2/12 = 936 (Fussy Librarian email – face book ad ends)
2/13 = 174 (no marketing)
Sales:
2/10 = 0
2/11 = 0
2/12 = 171 pages read / 0 eBooks / 0 paperbacks
2/13 = 327 pages read / 0 eBooks / 2 paper backs
Cost Data
Ad spend / downloads = (.022) per download
(Rev – Ad Spend) / downloads = (.016) per download
Facebook data:
Impressions 4,915
Clicks 356
CPC .11
Amazon Ad data:
Impression 1261
Clicks 5
CPC .21
Orders 0
Rankings achieved:
Notes - I had dismal ranking – as it is a new book. Sales ranking was 1m+ and I was ranked in the 1000s for any category. This free download sent my book to the top very fast!
Amazon.com
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
• #1 in Historical Middle Eastern Fiction
• #1 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
• #2 in Alternative History
Amazon.ca
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #52 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
• #2 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
• #1 in Alternative History (Kindle Store)
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #258 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
• #2 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
• #1 in Alternative History
Amazon.au
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #115 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
• #2 in Historical Fantasy (Kindle Store)
• #1 in Alternative History (Kindle Store)
Amazon.de
Amazon Bestseller-Rang: #346 Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop (Siehe Top 100 - Kostenfrei in Kindle-Shop)
• Nr. 2 in Historische Fantasy-Romane
• Nr. 11 in Fantasy (englischsprachig)
• Nr. 42 in Fremdsprachige Fantasy & Science Fiction
Conclusions:
First – without gauging if my results were good, bad, or inline – my personal conclusions are that for a net $31 spend, I got my book out to 1800 people, received some new Facebook followers, had a couple of sales. As per accomplishing the task of getting some awareness, it seems to have worked well and the spend was not that much. If 2 cents cost to obtain brand awareness is in line – then that data can be extrapolated when book 2, 3, and the series gets underway as to whether the first book free offer for sell through is worth it. As I do not have book 2 out, the sell through is unknown.
Sales – some page reads and 2 paper back sales, that is not great. It did cover 23% of my ad spend. However, I did not expect much in sales. $9.71 in total sales.
Facebook – the timing was not great, the ad got approved later the 10th which accounts for only 69 sales and few clicks and impressions that day. It picked up on the 11th and with only the Facebook ad running, had 669 downloads. However, with only a total of 356 clicks on Facebook – this is NOT all Facebook. I am guessing that I am getting about 50 – 100 downloads a day from Facebook and no more than 356 (since that was the max clicks).
Fussy – it certainly gave me a pop, but because the Facebook ad was running, how much from fussy and how much from Facebook is unknown. However, it certainly saw a good increase and I hit 936 downloads. Again, I would only give Facebook about 100 of these downloads.
Rankings? – My rankings rocketed quickly, I noticed on the 11th I was in the top 50 in each category by early morning. The question I am wondering is how many of my downloads came from people searching for FREE books in those categories? It seems like this maybe a huge contributing factor – but I cannot be sure.
Amazon Lock screen Ad – 5 clicks – I do not think this was a good use of my time. Lots of impressions and who knows – they could have logged in via a computer or phone, but clicks from the kindle – only 5.
Goodreads – I picked up 11 people (1 rated already, 6 currently reading, 3 marked to read, 1 added it)
Other channels – I did tweet it, mention it on Goodreads, and posted it on my Facebook page. However, my following is so small (under a 100 people) that it may have driven 20-50 downloads.
What would I do again?
Facebook – YES - I would do it again. You can target demographics, you will pick-up some likes and contacts, to help build your fan base. I think some A/B testing.
Fussy Librarian – YES - certainly – it definitely drove traffic, but I was unable to get the exact numbers. I think the single day free promo is at least good for 300+ downloads.
Amazon Lock screen Ad – NO - – nope, it results in nothing so far.
Posting to Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook – is free and should always be included.
Thoughts?
I think the FREE ranking is a key driver to more free downloads and getting your book/name out there. I think making sure to get the categories you want to be in listed, adding extra categories (which I am told you can do) – is very important to get your book title out there. How the top 100 free convert over to the top 100 paid, that is probably not a good translation, but I am sure it does help.
Questions:
How many of the 1800+ downloads will read it? I am guessing it is very low, perhaps 5% or 10% - if lucky.
Did this help with future follow-through KU sales?
Will I get some post sales (eBook, paperback, KU)?
Will this translate into reviews, if so – how many (I only have 4 on Amazon)?
As I watch over the next few days and week – I will let you know what, if anything changes.
Closing
It was a good experiment; however my controls, timing, and monitoring could have been better. I muddied the data between Fussy / Facebook / and my few mentions in the universe. Next time – better controls and better data management.
I welcome thoughts, suggestions, and of course criticism.
