I am writing this in the hopes that it helps anyone who has limited funds and is trying to figure out how best to use their resources to promote their book. I want to share my experiences advertising my novel, Confessions of an Internet Pornographer, on Facebook and Goodreads.com. First of all, if you do not want to read any further, I believe Goodreads.com was the best promotional tool of the two, read-on to learn why.
The key is "targeted traffic," which is really just a modern version of what sales people have always referred to as "shoppers vs. buyers." Think of shoppers as people walking through a mall casually looking at store displays and shelves. They'll see something that interests them, pick it up, stare at it and then put it back and keep going to the next store. Buyers are people with money in hand eager to buy exactly what you are selling. A guy wants a new shirt, guy sees shirt, guy tries on shirt - it fit! - guy buys shirt. Done. Targeted traffic refers to buying advertising that will reach buyers, not shoppers.
I began advertising my book on Facebook in January. I ran four ads, and constantly tweaked them in order to improve my click-though-rate. A pretty good indicator of how your ads are doing. It was my only method of promotion at the time. My ads generated constant "likes" for my Facebook page, but they did not generate any sales. Discouraged I learned about Goodreads on absolutewrite.com and spent $100 to run a campaign using the very same ads I perfected on Facebook (after all they were proven traffic generators.) Here are my stats for Goodreads vs. Facebook.
Facebook stats from January 2012.
Spent $200.00
Impressions 1,262,341
total Clicks 446
CTR 0.035% (click though rate)
CPC$0.45 (Cents per click)
SALES: 1 book
Goodreads stats from July 2012 (same ads, same targeted audience)
spent: $200.00
total impressions 691,399
total clicks 682
ctr for all time 0.1%
cpc for all time $0.50
Sales: 3 on Amazon, 1 on Createspace
As you can see, I was much more successful advertising on Goodreads than on Facebook. I spent almost equal amounts of money, over a shorter period of time, less people looked at my ads, and yet I still received more clicks and my sales were better with Goodreads. Why? I believe the answer is targeted traffic. With Goodereads I reached book buyers, not shoppers. Your FB ad might be read by 1 billion people, but more READERS with cash in hand are on Goodreads.
Another thing I like about Goodreads is that ability to track your book, to a certain degree. On Facebook you'll see your ads reach, your click-through-rate, and the number of clicks your novel got, but that's it. Sales will tell you if your ads are really doing anything. But Goodreads gives you an author dashboard that gives you everything Facebook does, and more.
It looks like this:
number of works: 1
added by unique users: 19
fans: 0
ratings: 3 ratings (4.00 avg)
text reviews: 1
to-read: 1 person
currently-reading: 2 people
That kind of information is not only valuable for advertising and other decision making. It's also exhilarating and may be the only light during those dark times when you wonder if your book is lost in cyber-space. I hope this helps anyone trying to promote their book on a limited budget. Good luck.
Luis Mario
http://www.writerinwind.blogspot.com
The key is "targeted traffic," which is really just a modern version of what sales people have always referred to as "shoppers vs. buyers." Think of shoppers as people walking through a mall casually looking at store displays and shelves. They'll see something that interests them, pick it up, stare at it and then put it back and keep going to the next store. Buyers are people with money in hand eager to buy exactly what you are selling. A guy wants a new shirt, guy sees shirt, guy tries on shirt - it fit! - guy buys shirt. Done. Targeted traffic refers to buying advertising that will reach buyers, not shoppers.
I began advertising my book on Facebook in January. I ran four ads, and constantly tweaked them in order to improve my click-though-rate. A pretty good indicator of how your ads are doing. It was my only method of promotion at the time. My ads generated constant "likes" for my Facebook page, but they did not generate any sales. Discouraged I learned about Goodreads on absolutewrite.com and spent $100 to run a campaign using the very same ads I perfected on Facebook (after all they were proven traffic generators.) Here are my stats for Goodreads vs. Facebook.
Facebook stats from January 2012.
Spent $200.00
Impressions 1,262,341
total Clicks 446
CTR 0.035% (click though rate)
CPC$0.45 (Cents per click)
SALES: 1 book
Goodreads stats from July 2012 (same ads, same targeted audience)
spent: $200.00
total impressions 691,399
total clicks 682
ctr for all time 0.1%
cpc for all time $0.50
Sales: 3 on Amazon, 1 on Createspace
As you can see, I was much more successful advertising on Goodreads than on Facebook. I spent almost equal amounts of money, over a shorter period of time, less people looked at my ads, and yet I still received more clicks and my sales were better with Goodreads. Why? I believe the answer is targeted traffic. With Goodereads I reached book buyers, not shoppers. Your FB ad might be read by 1 billion people, but more READERS with cash in hand are on Goodreads.
Another thing I like about Goodreads is that ability to track your book, to a certain degree. On Facebook you'll see your ads reach, your click-through-rate, and the number of clicks your novel got, but that's it. Sales will tell you if your ads are really doing anything. But Goodreads gives you an author dashboard that gives you everything Facebook does, and more.
It looks like this:
number of works: 1
added by unique users: 19
fans: 0
ratings: 3 ratings (4.00 avg)
text reviews: 1
to-read: 1 person
currently-reading: 2 people
That kind of information is not only valuable for advertising and other decision making. It's also exhilarating and may be the only light during those dark times when you wonder if your book is lost in cyber-space. I hope this helps anyone trying to promote their book on a limited budget. Good luck.
Luis Mario
http://www.writerinwind.blogspot.com
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