|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
One of those ads that you see on websites could be advertising your book. My ad, showing the cover & two lines of ad copy is linked to the book's website. Over 15,000 people a month currently click on the ad and visit the website. Cost? $10 a day and I can change the amount, the ad or cancel it at anytime. Is it worth it? Well, I won't know until November 2015 when I see my first full quarter sales report. But I "think" my break-even is 100 books sold per month, so I am willing to keep this ad campaign going until I get my first check. Whatever the results, I will report them here on Book Country.
HOW TO
Once set up, ads run, reports are emailed to you, the cost is taken from your credit card - all automatically. To set up an ad, you will need a picture of your book cover, 2 lines of ad copy and a website that you want shoppers to click to. Detailed instruction are found from
http://www.google.com/ads/displaynetwork/
That's "Display Network" -it's the ad campaign type that I am referring to. Don't let Google overwhelm you with choices. KISS applies to your first ad. You can always tweak it after it is up and running.
ASSISTANCE
Call Google, 1-877-908-4179 (9am - 9pm ET, Mon - Fri) for free setup support from their AdWords team when you invest $10/day or more. Or contact sales:
https://www.google.com/appserve/fb/forms/displaynetworkleads/#utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=ww-ww-et-nelson_gdn
EASY
Nope. I had to learn things I don't want to know and it took time to get my ad tweaked into its present, satisfying campaign. But the Google people are absolutely great - courteous, professional, efficient and very very helpful. They know their stuff and the personal attention I received was astounding - especially considering my low budget.
And it was worth it because now I can focus on my next book without bothering to network socially 
STAY TUNED
By the end of this November, I will have the sales data to determine the effectiveness of this approach. Wish me luck. And if you want to try this approach, feel free to message me here on book country. I will be happy to answer any questions I can.
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
You can change the amount? What does $5 get you? What does $20 get you? You will be our ginny-pig. (I know that's not the spelling but my spelling in Word isn't helping me out) A two month trial would run $600. I hope it does good for you.
.
A cover and two lines. Strategic thinking vital. A good exercise for us here. Is there a character limit? Cover displays at what size? About what you see on Amazon? All factors to consider. An intriguing exercise indeed. What does your two lines say?
|
|
Joined: 6/7/2011
Posts: 467
|
Interesting. It's a pretty big initial outlay, but if you even break even, it'll be a good deal. Hopefully, as word of mouth spreads, and the search algorithms at Amazon kick in, you'll do better than just breaking even. I certainly wish you the best of luck, of course, and I'll be curious to hear whether you get results. (I already own the book, by the way. I'm only about halfway through it, but it's good reading.)
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
@ Mimi
The daily budget, whether $5, $10, or $20, is applied only to "click-throughs." That is, you pay only per click up to your daily budget. I'm currently paying 2 cents per click. Once that reaches $10, the ads stop for that day.
The ad I'm using changes size to fit space available on the website it appears on. It may be a wide banner across the top or a small rectangle along the side or something in between. It's what Google calls a "Responsive Ad."
Google has clear, useful explanations of graphic sizes, and everything else involved, for that matter.
@ Atthys
I don't understand Amazon's search algorithms but what you said sounds good. Well, whatever the end result, I will post it here on Book Country.
Like Mimi says I'm d'guinea pig.
(& thanks for reading my book, Atthys. I'd be interested in hearing what you think of its ideas on Life, The Universe and Everything.)
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
How and where can I see your ad? I can't figure this out.
.
Without any clues from you, I'll start working on a two sentence blurb, and we'll see how it compares to yours. This is a good game! Anyone want to join me?
--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/22/2015, 5:10 PM--
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
@Mimi
The ad appears only briefly on any given website, then if nobody clicks on it, it disappears. It's called an "impression." Last month, there were 875,000 impressions. That sounds like a lot but given the number of websites on the Internet, it is unlikely that you would happen to see it.
My 2 line of ad copy are:
Science Fiction Adventure
See the Science behind the Fiction
Clicking the ad takes you to ThePhoenixDiary.com which shows the scientific basis for the story.
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
Do you have an idea of the number of different sites it may appear on?
.
Was there a character limit? I see your two lines are very short.
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
SUPORTED AD SIZES:
250 x 250 square. This ad size can appear at the top, on the side, or on the bottom of the page.
200 x 200 small square. ...
468 x 60 banner. ...
728 x 90 leaderboard. ...
300 x 250 inline rectangle. ...
336 x 280 large rectangle. ...
120 x 600 skyscraper. ...
160 x 600 wide skyscraper.
Not sure what the copy limit is.
See here for more info:
https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1722096?hl=en
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
AD SITES
0 Mimi asked about sites, not size. Sorry -I just came from an eye exam & my sight is as blurry as Carl E Reed's after a night trapped in a liquor store.
Don't rightly know but Google claims access to 80% of the web.
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
I'm thinking along the lines of:
.
A smart-pants cat saves a bunch of asses in sixteenth century Europe.
I don't call him Sly for nothing.
.
Is that too many words?
--edited by Mimi Speike on 9/22/2015, 9:30 PM--
|
|
Joined: 6/7/2011
Posts: 467
|
Basically, the more you sell at Amazon (and the more reviews you get, the more clicks you get) the more Amazon notices you and encourages others to notice you as well ("People who bought this also bought this..." that sort of thing.) Success breeds success and screw the rest, a sort of dirty snowball effect,
|
|
Joined: 11/13/2014
Posts: 37
|
Definitely an interesting experiment, GD. Thanks for sharing, and the bottom line result when you get your sales figures will be the vital figure. 100 a month sounds quite a lot (well, everything's relative...), but then 15000 clicks is impressive, so that would be one sale per 150 clicks. Your landing page becomes crucial here. Personally I like the look of the Phoenix page, but then I went there fully intending to buy (and didn't regret it ). I don't know what motivates 'normal' clicking behaviour - I personally tend to avoid ads out of sheer cussedness. But presumably they like science fiction, and are intrigued by the science behind the fiction, so then it's just a matter of reeling them further in. Hopefully. Best of luck!
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
@Mimi
I don't know -you'd have to try it. 'Course, you could always edit it down to ad-speak:
"Smart-pants cat saves medieval asses."
@Atthys
That high tech explanation sounds old, as human behavior never changes.
TARGETED ADS
@Curtis
Thanks! & I'm with you on advertising. Fed up with it. Still, if I'm interested in something... that's different.
Placing ads according to interests is a Google forte. My ad only appears on websites where Google analytics have data showing that people who visit those sites also visit science fiction related sites. (sci-fi fan sites, etc.) Choosing the interest group most likely to want to read your book is part of the ad campaign set up process.
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
I have plenty of time to think about it. The novel won't be ready for months. I'm back on the poem. I hope to have the first three pages to show before too long. I have two intro pages of type with spot illustration, followed by the opening full page illustration
|
|
Joined: 8/22/2014
Posts: 9
|
Hi, I really like this idea of having professionals helping out to push an author's book. Sure, it cost money, but the benefits could out weight the headaches from self-promoting.
I can't wait to find out if this Google Ad works and to read the pros and cons of this marketing method.
Cheers,
Erik
|
|
Joined: 7/23/2014
Posts: 159
|
BOOK SALES REPORT
http://www.bookcountry.com/Community/Discussion/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=8589938235
|
|
|
|