From Amazon Cliffs to Hollywood Strikes: A Tale of Two Industries
Cliff Ahead
Ah, the dreaded "30-day cliff" on Amazon. You've probably heard the term if you're an author. It's that moment, about a month after your book launch when your once soaring sales suddenly start to dip. Why, you ask? Blame it on Amazon's ever-fickle algorithm that has the attention span of a goldfish. One minute you're the belle of the ball, and the next, you're old news. This is when Amazon ads, specifically AMS ads (Amazon Marketing Services), enter the picture.
Amazon Ads: AMS vs. AMG
Before you go, "Hold on! What about AMG ads?", let me stop you right there. Yes, AMG is another tier of Amazon advertising, but is usually reserved for more established authors with larger back catalogs because AMG requires a minimum monthly spend (usually around five figures a month). Unless you have enough books in your catalog to make the read-through factor work in your favor, AMS is the way to go after 30 days.
Pre and Post-Launch Strategies
Yes, it’s true that AMS ads can (and probably should) be used leading up to the launch of a book, and third-party promo sites like Bargain Books and Fussy Librarian (just to name two) are a must during the actual launch of your book. However, after your book has been on sale for a month, shouting about it via advertising becomes a must. As an indie author, advertising is a necessary part of the book-selling business. The same as it does for Random House or Harper Collins.
My Experience with AMS Ads
Understanding how to utilize AMS and FB ads. So, today’s post is about my experience with AMS ads on my book The Double, and some things I’ve learned thus far that hopefully will help make me (and you) more successful in utilizing AMS and Facebook ads.
The Art of Advertising
After the magical 30-day mark, you'll need ads. Sure, some people call it "pay-to-play," but I see it as I’m paying to find my readers. I’m no expert, of course, this is only my second book, but the way I see it is every company has to do marketing, but I've come to realize that marketing isn't just a necessary evil; it's an art form.
The Platform Wars: Facebook vs. Amazon vs. TikTok
Now, onto the platform wars: Facebook vs. Amazon vs. TikTok, the new kid on the block. The winner? Well, there's no unanimous champ, and different people find that different platforms work better for them. Which only proves that marketing truly is more art than science.
The goal is not to lose money.
It’s to make money.
I started running AMS ads a couple of weeks ago. I set up Sponsored Product Ads with Standard text, and manually selected targets, in this case, product targets (books) rather than keywords. My focus was targeting 5-10 authors who write in the same genre and whose audience might also enjoy my books. As an indie author, the strategy is to target other indie authors because the thinking is that those readers tend to be more willing to try new authors, and tend to be more voracious readers who are constantly in need of something new. What better audience to serve ads to for a new novel?
Targeting and Adjusting Your AMS Ads
My first week with a bid strategy of $1 per click yielded no results. And by no results, I mean none. Amazon did not spend a penny of my money. In other words, no one was seeing my ad, let alone clicking it. What this means is that other authors with the same strategy were bidding more to get their books better placement. So, I upped my bids. At this point, I started to see sales. Thing is, the cost of those sales was losing me money. Now, some of that loss can be chalked up to ‘customer-acquisition costs.’
Still, the goal is not to lose money. It’s to make money.
This meant some adjustments were in order. So, I went back to my ads and played with my audience targets, my bids, my ad copy, and even the images I used in the ads. Again, there is an art to the science. As for TikTok, that requires more creative videos to work as a platform, and this summer I’ve been a little too busy to get to it. However, the main appeal of TikTok right now is its organic, exponential growth. So, I do intend to up my TikTok game. I’ll keep you posted along the way.
Growing Your Mailing List
In addition to driving sales of my book on Amazon, I am also looking to grow my mailing list. My aim is simple: to expand my pool of potential readers for my upcoming book and to create a connection with my audience that extends beyond the books. So, whereas I’ve focused exclusively on AMS ads for selling my book(s) on Amazon, I’ve recently thrown my hat into the Facebook ad ring, shelling out five bucks a day on a couple of ads driving people to my Newsletter, “Elice Island,” which I publish weekly on Substack. I optimized my landing page to offer a free short story, "The Panama Deposit" (a crime story with a twist). All my platforms are linked up! BookFunnel, MailerLite, and Substack—I'm covering all my bases. Overkill? Maybe. But every step is a lesson learned.
Paying Attention to Data
After nearly a week of ads, I almost pulled the plug because I wasn't seeing any sign-ups. Despite following all these best practices, five days in I found I was failing to generate any sign-ups from the Facebook ad. At the same time, my cost per click was four dollars on one ad and two dollars on the other. Way too high. Especially for zero results. I couldn’t understand but but figured the data doesn’t lie. So, despite thinking the ads were pretty good, I checked my ego and hit pause on both. Right after I did, it occurred to me that I ought to check Book Funnel to see if there was any activity there.
Voila! Turns out I’d added sixteen new subscribers in just a handful of days! I immediately turned the ads back on.
I realized I was looking at the wrong metric. I was trying to track actual subscribers, whereas what I needed to pay attention to was CTR or click-through-rate. The subscriber sign-ups were happening on Book Funnel and the ad could not track those, (raising another optimization I need to incorporate: adding my Facebook pixel to my Book Funnel page; cue the YouTube “How To” videos) In the meantime, I’ve continued to see subscriber growth.
Switching Gears to Hollywood
Switching gears to Hollywood...sigh…unfortunately not much good news to report. The WGA-SAG strike is still dragging on (Day 127, but who's counting?). I feel a little like a man shipwrecked on a deserted island trying to keep track of the days he’s been stranded. People are sinking further into debt while studios squabble among themselves. It's a mess, and theories abound on how it'll all pan out.
I talk to writer friends who all have theories about what that’s about or what it will take to end the strike - some call for the heads of the CEOs at the AMTPT for the pain they’ve inflicted on writers and actors (“heads need to roll.”). Others await a federal mediator. Others fear that the studios will strike a side deal with the actors (SAG) as they did with the DGA (Directors Guild) which would pressure the writers into accepting a deal. The studios meanwhile cry poverty despite the fact it is on them that they squandered the golden age of TV, and broke the broadcast-basic-cable-model in their rush into streaming which they wildly overestimated and which they’ve yet to turn into a workable, profitable, business.
What we do know is that if the strike ends tomorrow, most new projects won't see a dime until 2024. How much longer can this go on? Your guess is as good as mine, but at this rate, it might stretch into the new year. If the last meeting between the Union and the AMTPT negotiators was any indication, the outlook is not good.
The Final Word
That’s all I got for now. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed their summer and is easing into Autumn, new school years for the kids, and the final quarter of 2023. Make each day count.