So, I’ve been working hard on Kid Sensation #8 (working title: Isolation), and I’m happy to report that the writing is going well. However, I recently took a short break to deal with one of the many issues that go hand-in-glove with being an indie author: marketing.
Sadly, advertising/marketing is a necessary evil in the world of indie publishing. Simply put, you have to make an effort to get your book in front of audiences. Of course, some people will get very lucky and strike literary gold without having to do much in that regard, but most of us will have to put in a fair amount of effort.
In addition, book marketing really isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it type of endeavor. You have to regularly look at your ads, try to figure out what’s working, tweak bids, add keywords, etc. Needless to say, it has the ability to be a time-consuming process – especially when you have multiple books and series.
Like a number of other authors, I advertise my books on Amazon via Amazon Marketing Services (AMS). With AMS, you can create ad campaigns that – either manually or automatically – target keywords and products related to your book. As implied, manual selection means that you personally select up to 1000 keywords or products to focus on. (And just to be clear, “product” targeting actually encompasses products, categories, brands and other product features.) On the other hand, with automatic campaigns, Amazon will automatically target products and keywords for the ad.
Anyway, during the aforementioned break, I was just looking at the data of an ad campaign and trying to figure out how to get more bang for my marketing buck. I have both automatic and manual ads, but of course, it’s the manual ones that generally need attention. For instance, a keyword that had generated impressions before maybe isn’t doing as well now. Perhaps a previously successful bid amount wasn’t getting the job done any more. And so on… In short, considering that you can have 1000 keywords/products for each ad, just analyzing the data can be exhausting.
In comparing the ads, I noticed that those with automatic targeting, on average, tended to do as well or better than those with manual targeting. It made me pause for a moment and think: Do I honestly believe that I have better advertising/marketing data than Amazon (especially with respect to Amazon’s own website)? Do I truly believe I can analyze that data better than a trillion-dollar company that is highly focused on customer engagement and satisfaction? The answer to these and a thousand similar questions was a resounding “No.”
Bearing all that in mind, I made the decision to step away from manual ads. I shut them all down and instead initiated automatic ads for everything. (So, in that sense, the title to my post is a little misleading, since I’m only abandoning manual advertising.) Of course, there are those who will say that I’m giving up too much control: I’m no longer picking the keywords, the products, etc. to focus on. That’s undoubtedly true, but again, I don’t believe I have better data or resources than Amazon, so it’s not like I’ve got the recipe for the advertising secret sauce but refuse to use it. Moreover, people are likely to point out that Amazon isn’t infallible and is likely to make some auto-selections that have nothing to do with my books. True again, but I have to plug in a ton of keywords and products in order to figure out what works and what doesn’t, so it’s inevitable that – like Amazon’s auto-picks – some of my selections will be duds. In fact, I know they are, which is why I have to continually tweak and modify ads.
More than anything else, however, dealing with manual ads is an incredible time-suck. You’re looking at keywords, products, impressions, bids, click-through rates, conversions, and so on. Plainly speaking, it’s time I would rather spend writing. And, as I keep saying, do I truly believe I’m better at analyzing that data than Amazon? I certainly care about the data more than Amazon does and agonize over what it means to a greater extent, but taking the emotion out of it, who’s more likely to do the better job here? I have to admit that the answer is Amazon.
In short, I realize I’m rolling the dice, but I think it’s the better option at the moment. In addition, I’m curious as to what the outcome will be. Needless to say, going this route doesn’t give me the freedom to simply ignore marketing beyond this point – even with automatic ads you still have to monitor and make adjustments – but it will cost me far, far less in terms of time and attention, which means I’ll be able to focus more on writing books. And if it allows me to write more, even if the ads aren’t quite as successful as the manual ads were in the past, I think it’ll still be worth it.
Yay can’t wait for the next Kid Sensation book!
Good to hear – I’m going to try to finish it soon.
I’m am also excited for the next Kid Sensation novel. However, I wonder if Amazon is intentionally sabotaging the manual ad system so that you have to use the automatic one. Either by boosting the automatic system so that it reaches more clientele, or by shorting the reach that the manual ads receive. Does Manual or Automatic cost more? Does Amazon receive a higher cut if they do the advertising? All these questions and no answers.
It’s always a pleasure to hear that people are eager for the next book, so thanks – you’ve made my day! As to advertising, I don’t think Amazon is sabotaging the system; it’s just a very competitive environment. I actually started typing out a more detailed response on that issue, but after the fourth paragraph I realized that it would probably work better as a blog post (which I will publish soon). However, the short answer to your question regarding cost is that you decide how much you want to pay for ads, so in that sense neither manual nor automatic ads necessarily cost more. And all of the money paid for ads goes to Amazon, so they don’t make more for automatic ads per se. That said, I think I tend to spend more per click for automatic advertising, but I believe those ads get better engagement.
Hey… i have to say that the kid sensation books are my favorite series. And i read alot. The moment Kid hit paramount with that folding chair had me hooked forever. Who hasnt wanted to do that to a bully. Good luck with the advertising. I plan on seeking your books out reguardless.
Thanks for the compliment; it’s always a thrill for me when people say they like my work. The scene you mention is actually one of my favorites, but was probably the toughest for me to write because I had to do it twice. When I was working on the first manuscript, I lost a chunk of pages. I don’t know how it happened – I wrote as usual, saved as usual, etc. – but when I tried to pick up where I’d left off, the previous day’s work was just…gone. I wanted to cry. It was like being punched in the gut. In fact every time I think about that now, I immediately save whatever I’m working on. (Just did it now, in fact…) Eventually, I just threw in the towel on locating the missing pages, rewrote them, and the rest is history.
As to the advertising, it’s just one of those things you have to do these days unless you get extraordinarily lucky. That said, I appreciate the fact that there are people out there who like my books well enough to look for me – even if I don’t do any marketing – so thanks.