What would you do?

[idontknowyet]

Here's were I'm at.

I feel like i need to make a decision but I'm shooting in the dark. You all have way more experience than i do. Any thoughts or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

What do i do about my ads?
I'm currently for my budget spending a painful amount on ads around $400 a week. I can keep it going but I don't want to throw good money away if you think its just a waste. I could lower it down by half or quarters or even sixth it and still see some sales i think.

To date I've sold over 200 copies of book 1, 18 copies of book 2&3, 9 copies of book 4 and have 11 preorders for book 5 (which releases in a few days).
My page reads aren't anything to write home about but book 2 running about 1 week behind on book 1's reads and the same for book 3 and 4. I can see the lag but i can also see the read through. Most days i have at least the equivalent  of 10 books read in pages. Though thats not stable but i can follow the wave through the books.

At this point i think I'm releasing faster than most of my readers can rea with the exception of a few fast readers that burn through books the first day.

My rank has dropped dramatically from the 10k range to now im sitting between 20-45k with huge swings. In that range based on the calculators which i find to be radically off since when iwas sitting at 10k with 30 sales in one day they said 10k only gets 15 at that rank. That's not counting borrows at all.

Would you keep ad spend the same? Would you cut it in half? Quarter? 1/6th? Or cancel it all together?


 

[Post-Doctorate D]

What is your ROI on the ads?  You say the ad spend is "painful" but is that painful in that you're spending more on ads than you make in book sales or painful in that your profit margin is lower than you'd like?

[idontknowyet]

Im currently losing money (significant amount since most of my sales have been for book 1 which i only make like .33cents on), but according to everything i've read it can be three months or more before i see any return on my investment. Right now for me its all a guessing game.

[idontknowyet]

I guess what my question is... is what i'm spending decent or too much for the rank/sales I'm hitting as a beginning author or am i in line for growth and just need to shut up and handle the pain of spending money into the unknown?

[idontknowyet]

That's a tough question for anyone to answer unless they are launching new now themselves. People who launched in 2012 vs 2014 vs 2016 vs 2020 vs today have different experiences. Some of its luck. Some is genre or niche. Some is simply the state of the market at that time.

No matter how you cut this there is no guarantee, so you're gambling. The rules that apply at the table can be applied here -- don't bet more than you can afford (or are willing) to lose. Odds on you will win back a percentage of your stake and knowing when to walk away will save you losing your shirt.

Can you afford to lose what you're spending?
Could you use a cheaper tactic to run the same test or gain traction?
What's your bottom line? Why would you stop vs continue?

Can i afford to? yes.
I haven't found any other method that's successful. Amazon is still pretending i dont exist so ads there are useless. I'm trying to add in the cheap way social media, but in sweet clean thats a whole lot of getting to knwo you before people will let you share your book.
Why would i stop? If im spending way too much for what i'm getting. If i have no chance of recouping my investment.

[Post-Doctorate D]

Are you able to do any split testing to see if you can get better results from the ads?

And do you have a list?  Are you getting book buyers signing up?

[idontknowyet]

My list has been growing and shrinking.

Since the list is mainly from book funnel i lose a few every time i send out an email. I'm getting about 25% open rate 5 almost 6% click rate, but with ku i have no idea if people are buying the books or if they are clicking and going nah not for me.

I have been trying a/b but i dont know which clicks are actually resulting in sales and which are nope no thank yous.

[notthatamanda]

Ads - go through them with a fine tooth comb. Reduce the bids on the ones that are spending and not resulting in sales. Keep the ones that resulted sales. Do this by keyword, not by ad. To make it easy when you are in the keyword list sort by different things, impressions, clicks, CPC and sales.

With ads there is kind of this loose rule:
Impressions and no clicks need work on the cover and or ad copy.
Clicks and no sales need work on the blurb.

It does take time to gather the data. Have you tested different hooks (Ad copy)? You can start more ads with more keywords on the ad copy that resulted in sales. If the ad copy is working you could start with a lower bid and a book with a higher rank and a good recent sales history may prove more relevant and result in good placement for less cost. You don't bid against yourself so feel free to try hooks out on the same keywords against each other.

Are you running the search term reports to make sure nothing funky is getting clicks? I found it easiest to do this daily and go in and add any negative keywords to campaigns as soon as something strange showed up. It didn't happen very often, but it's worth double checking.

I've literally sold 7 books on Amazon this month but this is what worked for me in 2019.

Edit - if you are running category ads you can use the keywords the algos place you in and try starting with lower bids. Maybe since the algos have already decided the book is relevant the lower bids will work. Just a theory, I haven't tried it.

[R. C.]

...

I've literally sold 7 books on Amazon this month but this is what worked for me in 2019.

Edit - if you are running category ads you can use the keywords the algos place you in and try starting with lower bids. Maybe since the algos have already decided the book is relevant the lower bids will work. Just a theory, I haven't tried it.

This is my observational opinion. However, I think it has merit.

As does Amanda, I watch the spend at the keyword level. Twice in 2021 I have noticed significant drops to the impression counts with no change on my part.

Empirical: This week with no changes to any of the six ADs currently running, impressions dropped from Wed to Tue by 90%.

More specifically, I tweaked keywords on Fri/Sat last week and started to see an increase in impressions (and orders). The trend peaked on Tue.  Then BAM, nada on Wed or Thu and Fri does not promising.

Having been a coder for over forty years, I can feel the change in their algorithm(s). Hence the observational nature of my opinion: 'Zon advertising and the whole K-D-P universe is starting to feel like a trend toward the Auderble debacle.

Cheers,
R.C.

P.S. Yes, the spelling error is intentional.

P.P.S. "Day-of-the-week" bias for impressions is a factor but, hopefully, it is not 90% day-over-day.

[notthatamanda]

What did you tweak? (If you don't mind my asking)

It could be that people are browsing on line more on the weekends now, as opposed to years past when we could go out and do stuff on the weekend.

I'm not getting what you're trying to say with the misspelling, sorry.

[R. C.]

What did you tweak? (If you don't mind my asking)

It could be that people are browsing on line more on the weekends now, as opposed to years past when we could go out and do stuff on the weekend.

I'm not getting what you're trying to say with the misspelling, sorry.

What did you tweak? (If you don't mind my asking) - I nudged high performing keywords up and poor performers down.  HOWEVER - Without the ability to target audience demographics, the entire K-D-P marketing effort using 'Zon Adverts is shooting in the dark. I TRUST my ADs are appearing correctly and not next to doggie diapers. Further, how do I know Bruno, the auto painter, who is looking for a book on how to create ghost images isn't seeing my YA trilogy about a girl ghost?

It could be that people are browsing on line more on the weekends now, as opposed to years past when we could go out and do stuff on the weekend. - Weekend bias for recreation spend is my current working theory.

I'm not getting what you're trying to say with the misspelling, sorry. - Auderble

Cheers,
R.C.

[idontknowyet]

May I ask what marketing tactic you're using?

I'm fiddling with ams. Getting like 2-6per 1k impressions on a couple of ads, but no actual sales or page reads listed.

My main spend is on facebook ads which are getting me lots of clicks. I'm guessing because i have no clue how many borrows im getting at about 20-30clicks per sale.

[idontknowyet]

Ads - go through them with a fine tooth comb. Reduce the bids on the ones that are spending and not resulting in sales. Keep the ones that resulted sales. Do this by keyword, not by ad. To make it easy when you are in the keyword list sort by different things, impressions, clicks, CPC and sales.

With ads there is kind of this loose rule:
Impressions and no clicks need work on the cover and or ad copy.
Clicks and no sales need work on the blurb.

It does take time to gather the data. Have you tested different hooks (Ad copy)? You can start more ads with more keywords on the ad copy that resulted in sales. If the ad copy is working you could start with a lower bid and a book with a higher rank and a good recent sales history may prove more relevant and result in good placement for less cost. You don't bid against yourself so feel free to try hooks out on the same keywords against each other.

Are you running the search term reports to make sure nothing funky is getting clicks? I found it easiest to do this daily and go in and add any negative keywords to campaigns as soon as something strange showed up. It didn't happen very often, but it's worth double checking.

I've literally sold 7 books on Amazon this month but this is what worked for me in 2019.

Edit - if you are running category ads you can use the keywords the algos place you in and try starting with lower bids. Maybe since the algos have already decided the book is relevant the lower bids will work. Just a theory, I haven't tried it.

I've shown zero sales and zero kenp yet, but my ads are getting lots of clicks. I do know there is a gap between borrows and page reads showing for actual sales so i hesitate to turn ads off that are getting me 6clicks per 1k impressions, but then it feels like i'm throwing money away because no actual sales are showing up.

I havent been really running keyword ads. So far with ams i've been trying to target specific authors in my genre.

[notthatamanda]

Ads - go through them with a fine tooth comb. Reduce the bids on the ones that are spending and not resulting in sales. Keep the ones that resulted sales. Do this by keyword, not by ad. To make it easy when you are in the keyword list sort by different things, impressions, clicks, CPC and sales.

With ads there is kind of this loose rule:
Impressions and no clicks need work on the cover and or ad copy.
Clicks and no sales need work on the blurb.

It does take time to gather the data. Have you tested different hooks (Ad copy)? You can start more ads with more keywords on the ad copy that resulted in sales. If the ad copy is working you could start with a lower bid and a book with a higher rank and a good recent sales history may prove more relevant and result in good placement for less cost. You don't bid against yourself so feel free to try hooks out on the same keywords against each other.

Are you running the search term reports to make sure nothing funky is getting clicks? I found it easiest to do this daily and go in and add any negative keywords to campaigns as soon as something strange showed up. It didn't happen very often, but it's worth double checking.

I've literally sold 7 books on Amazon this month but this is what worked for me in 2019.

Edit - if you are running category ads you can use the keywords the algos place you in and try starting with lower bids. Maybe since the algos have already decided the book is relevant the lower bids will work. Just a theory, I haven't tried it.

I've shown zero sales and zero kenp yet, but my ads are getting lots of clicks. I do know there is a gap between borrows and page reads showing for actual sales so i hesitate to turn ads off that are getting me 6clicks per 1k impressions, but then it feels like i'm throwing money away because no actual sales are showing up.

I havent been really running keyword ads. So far with ams i've been trying to target specific authors in my genre.

How many clicks total? Up to a hundred yet?

You are getting sales though? You must be with the ranks you are posting. Is it still profitable even if the sales aren't directly attributed to AMS?

[idontknowyet]

May I ask what marketing tactic you're using?

I'm fiddling with ams. Getting like 2-6per 1k impressions on a couple of ads, but no actual sales or page reads listed.

My main spend is on facebook ads which are getting me lots of clicks. I'm guessing because i have no clue how many borrows im getting at about 20-30clicks per sale.

The gap between clicks and sales/page reads showing up in reports (AMS and your book reports) doesn't take days, it's close to immediate or hours.

May I ask what you're paying per click on FB? And, again, you should see an immediate bump in sales/page reads from FB ads as well.

Although page reads can be delayed, if you're not seeing sales within 24 hours, then they're probably not happening.

It sounds like you're getting clicks and not conversions. That means your ads are getting attention, but potentially from the wrong people. It's also possible they're going to your page and the blurb is not convincing them to buy.

I would check my targeting and my marketing collateral to check I'm getting the potential buyers. Then I would check my blurb to make sure it's catchy enough.

17cents per click on facebook

most of my sales seem to be in borrows/pg reads not actual sales.

[idontknowyet]

Ads - go through them with a fine tooth comb. Reduce the bids on the ones that are spending and not resulting in sales. Keep the ones that resulted sales. Do this by keyword, not by ad. To make it easy when you are in the keyword list sort by different things, impressions, clicks, CPC and sales.

With ads there is kind of this loose rule:
Impressions and no clicks need work on the cover and or ad copy.
Clicks and no sales need work on the blurb.

It does take time to gather the data. Have you tested different hooks (Ad copy)? You can start more ads with more keywords on the ad copy that resulted in sales. If the ad copy is working you could start with a lower bid and a book with a higher rank and a good recent sales history may prove more relevant and result in good placement for less cost. You don't bid against yourself so feel free to try hooks out on the same keywords against each other.

Are you running the search term reports to make sure nothing funky is getting clicks? I found it easiest to do this daily and go in and add any negative keywords to campaigns as soon as something strange showed up. It didn't happen very often, but it's worth double checking.

I've literally sold 7 books on Amazon this month but this is what worked for me in 2019.

Edit - if you are running category ads you can use the keywords the algos place you in and try starting with lower bids. Maybe since the algos have already decided the book is relevant the lower bids will work. Just a theory, I haven't tried it.

I've shown zero sales and zero kenp yet, but my ads are getting lots of clicks. I do know there is a gap between borrows and page reads showing for actual sales so i hesitate to turn ads off that are getting me 6clicks per 1k impressions, but then it feels like i'm throwing money away because no actual sales are showing up.

I havent been really running keyword ads. So far with ams i've been trying to target specific authors in my genre.

How many clicks total? Up to a hundred yet?

You are getting sales though? You must be with the ranks you are posting. Is it still profitable even if the sales aren't directly attributed to AMS?

My highest ad has 20 on them but most ads are in the 5-7 range.

[alhawke]

What do i do about my ads?
I'm currently for my budget spending a painful amount on ads around $400 a week. I can keep it going but I don't want to throw good money away if you think its just a waste. I could lower it down by half or quarters or even sixth it and still see some sales i think.

$400 a week is a lot of money. I think you need to cut back.

But as I say this, I worry about my advice dropping your sales too. No one can ultimately answer this but yourself. You need to look at your ROI and decide based on that.

Ads are like gambling. You sell a book you jump for joy. But you can lose a lot of your savings in exchange for that happiness. Be very careful. I lost way too much money when I first started ads. Now I run $15/day through BookBub and break even from those ads. I've completely given up with AMS (for now).

[alhawke]

OP, I want to add:
If you don't already know, when you advertise, focus on the 1st book of your series only. I wouldn't be running ads on the other books in the series much at all.

[idontknowyet]

So far all the ads are focused on book 1. Then hoping for read through.

My read through on the .99cent purchases are currently at around  10%. That is good right?
My page reads arent at a profitable point at all.
I do have an incredibly long series of interwoven stories with lots of hard cliffs which i hope leads to a good read through. I've gotten a bunch of i hate cliffhangers but i need to read what happens next reviews.

I think i have a conversion issue. I'm not sure if its the blurb or the fact that i have cliff hangers though which puts people off.

[alhawke]

It's hard to get conversion but the follow through to the other books in my series tends to garner good reviews and new fans.

One thing I see is people buying my series in bundles all at once. A three in one sale is always nice. You figure with Indie, three of my books at 3.99 is like one trad ebook cost.

[idontknowyet]

It's hard to get conversion but the follow through to the other books in my series tends to garner good reviews and new fans.

One thing I see is people buying my series in bundles all at once. A three in one sale is always nice. You figure with Indie, three of my books at 3.99 is like one trad ebook cost.

That's what i see. When they get to the end or a certain point in book one they buy all the rest of the series and usually pre order the next one thats available. I make more on those 4 books than like 15sales of the .99cent book