Master Amazon Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide to Boost Your Book Sales
Master Amazon Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide to Boost Your Book Sales
Chapter of Dam the Amazon: How to Self-Publish Your Book and Generate Demand for Your Business Using the Largest Bookstore in the World
This is a chapter from my upcoming book Dam the Amazon: How to Self-Publish Your Book and Generate Demand for Your Business Using the Largest Bookstore in the World which is available for pre-order
Now that you’ve published, it's time to find some readers for your newly published book.
I'll walk you through how to set up an Amazon Ad in the Marketing section of your KDP Dashboard. Once on the Marketing page, choose the country where you want to run your ads. Next, click on the 'Go to Ads Console' button located on the page.
This is where you'll set up your ads and campaigns.
Navigation
The ads console is easy to navigate, though some of the terminology may be confusing. The system is primarily structured into three levels: campaigns, ad groups, and ads. I’m going to focus on creating your first ads, not on all the features, but it’s essential to understand this hierarchy.
Campaigns = a notebook Imagine campaigns as a notebook: they hold your overall marketing plan or goal. Each campaign will have its own settings like budget, start and end dates, and targeting type.
Ad Groups = a chapter Ad groups are like chapters in your marketing notebook. Each ad group can have different keywords, bids, and target different segments of readers.
Ads = the pages in the chapter The ads display images, headlines, and text aimed at enticing readers to click and buy your book.
How Amazon Ads Work
Amazon ads, like most online advertisements, operate on a bid-based system.
This means that whenever a potential reader browses Amazon, the system holds bids for each 'sponsored product' being shown. The person with the highest bid is placed in the first position, the second in the second position, and so on. As an author, you can automatically participate in these auctions by running an Amazon ad, and the system will include you according to your specified parameters.
Your targets and bid largely determine your participation.
Targets
Targets are the products or keywords you want your book to show up for.
For example, if someone searches 'self publishing' and you want your book to rank higher than it naturally does, you’ll need to pay for a top spot. You can have other kinds of targets as well. By entering the ASIN, you can instruct Amazon Ads to target only these specific books or products.
This strategy often works far better than targeting keywords.
Bid Types
There are two bid types: CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mille/1,000 Impressions).
Cost Per Click
With CPC ads, you only pay if someone clicks your ad.
The disadvantage is that each click typically costs $1 or more. If your ad doesn’t receive clicks, Amazon will lower your ranking because it’s not making them money.
Cost Per Mille
With CPM ads, you are paying for impressions, not clicks.
Your bid amount is calculated based on your ad being shown 1,000 times to viewers. This can be great because if you get 100 clicks when your book is shown 1,000 times, you’re likely paying way less than you would per click. The downside is there’s no guarantee of anyone clicking your book when you spend money.
Each bid type is useful, but it’s important to know what you are paying for.
Creating Your First Ad
Click "Create Campaign".
Now the Ads dashboard will ask you to choose the campaign type you are setting up. Choose "Sponsored Products." Sponsored Brands is for setting up sponsoring more than one product at a time. Sponsored brands is a more advanced strategy for book series.
Ad Format
Here, you can choose to include custom text rather than the default Amazon book description. You can use special copy here if you want, but for this example, I’m sticking with the standard ad.
The next thing you’ll need to do is locate your ASIN from your Amazon book page so the system knows what book you want to promote. Head to your Amazon listings page, scroll down to the product details, and the first line is the ASIN.
Enter your ASIN in the ads console search box and click the magnifying glass. You should see your book come up in the search. Click "Add" to the right of the book listing to choose it as the product to advertise.
Targeting
Once you’ve added your book to the list for advertising, scroll to the "Targeting" section.
This is where we’ll select what keywords and/or products we want Amazon to advertise our book to. Keywords are search terms that you’ll show up in the search results for. Product targets will show your book as a sponsored product on the products.
You must choose between targeting keywords or specific products/categories for each ad you create.
You’ll see some suggestions from the Amazon Ads platform in the Product Targeting section. Be careful listening to their suggestions, because they may not always get it right. If you want to include any of the suggested categories or products in your target list, click the 'Add' button next to the listing.
These will be the items targeted by your ad when it is active.
You can find and select products using four different methods:
Suggested (by Amazon)
Search (using book title or ASIN)
Enter a List (of ASIN)
Upload (an excel sheet of ASIN)
In this example, I’ll find the ASINs for the books I want to target and paste them into the product targeting box using the 'Enter List' method.
Once you’ve added one or more ASINs, click the "Target" button to add them.
Now you’ll see the product added, and you can modify your bid amount to show up in that product's listing.
Campaign Bidding Strategy
You’ve added products to target, so now you must choose how to bid. The next section of the Amazon Ads platform, as you scroll down, is the Campaign Bidding Strategy.
You can decide to maintain a fixed bid or have Amazon’s algorithm adjust your bid dynamically.
I have found that this is a matter of personal preference, but I prefer using the dynamic feature to help win more bids. You can decide how much more you’re willing to pay, in percentage terms, to have your bid show up at the top of a listing page or on product pages. You can spend quite a bit on these ads, so be careful.
That said, my general ads strategy is to go all in if I’m participating.
I typically place my bid at the top of the suggested range, or higher, to see if my book gets clicks, and then adjust the bid accordingly.
Amazon Ads Settings
The final section is the "Settings" section.
Here, you’ll name your Campaign, select if it belongs in a particular portfolio, a start and end date, and most importantly, a daily budget. You must select a daily budget. I like to structure my campaign and ad names hierarchically:
NAME of BOOK – TARGET – TEXT – PRICE (if unique) – ETC.
In this case, I named the campaign after my book, noted the targeted author’s books, and mentioned that I’m using standard text. You don’t need to add any special pricing or other notes, so I’m clicking 'Launch Campaign' to go live.
That’s the process for setting up your first Amazon Ad.
It’s simple to get started, though you can delve into more complex strategies. David Gaughran’s content and books are excellent resources for learning more about Amazon Ads. Many authors have explored Amazon Ads extensively and written books on the subject. You can make this process as complex or as simple as you prefer.
Be sure to monitor your ads daily to avoid unnecessary losses.