Support for Indie Authors discussion

I'm just curious if anyone has some advice and information to share about running successful ads with goodreads.
I currently do Adwords and Facebook and have had better luck with Facebook ads than Adwords in terms of CPC.
Like many of you I'm on a DIY budget :)

A couple of years ago, I did an experiment with Goodreads PPC ads that ran for about 9 months. From my admittedly "quick and dirty" statistical analysis of the results, I found that the ads made no significant difference to sales.

I've had much better results with Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) ads. Unlike Goodreads, those ads can be linked directly to sales, which is a huge help. The reporting system leaves a lot to be desired, however.

Thanks Ken! That is super helpful :)

We have never tried ads on GR. Our feeling is that ads on Amazon are likely to work better as people are on Amazon to buy, while they are on GR for other reasons. Anecdotal reports suggests that GR perform poorly overall. However, this can be investigated: follow the sales ranking of books you see advertised here on GR and see how it behaves. This takes time but it will yield actually quantitative results.

My investigations along these lines (not terribly current) tend to support the notion that GR ads are not effective. The only truly effective paid advertising we are aware of are mailing-list services (the good ones).

Owen wrote: "We have never tried ads on GR. Our feeling is that ads on Amazon are likely to work better as people are on Amazon to buy, while they are on GR for other reasons. Anecdotal reports suggests that GR..."

Can only comment from people I know that have done them. Most have little result. A couple have said they sold some using GR ads. Many writers vouch for some effectiveness of mailing lists.

by mailing lists do you mean email lists?

Owen wrote: "We have never tried ads on GR. Our feeling is that ads on Amazon are likely to work better as people are on Amazon to buy, while they are on GR for other reasons. Anecdotal reports suggests that GR..."

I would echo what Owen has said, I ran a batch of GR ads and never noticed any change in sales. I played around with the cost per click and did not see ANY CLEAR BENEFIT.

Just my humble opinion.

I'm almost at my end of an ad run on Goodreads. I've used the same $50 ad campaign for two books. It was kind of effective for one book but not for the other. In part, it depends on the genre in which you are writing. If it's literary fiction, forget about it.

In short, I wouldn't choose GR ads again. The number of impressions you see in a day is typically low and click through rates seem to be bad, no matter what. On top of that, there is no way to tell the conversation rate.

I've run two different ads with AMS, If you have any adult-themed content, including philosophy that they disapprove of, then impressions will be difficult to come by. The other ad has had good success with a CTR of about 0.7%... I'm happy with that number. My bid is at 11 cents per click, so it's a pretty good deal too. I'm with Ken, though, their reporting is terrible (sorry, I mean something to be desired).

Dylan wrote: "I'm almost at my end of an ad run on Goodreads. I've used the same $50 ad campaign for two books. It was kind of effective for one book but not for the other. In part, it depends on the genre in wh..."

Has AMS changed the way the ads are set? Last year when I attempted it, it asked me to choose a max cpc and suggested £0.50 which I did. After a few impressions I had people click but not purchase and I was charged the max £0.50. I stopped the campaign after a few days as I thought it was too expensive

How were you able to get clicks for $0.11? Any other suggestions on setting a successful campaign on Amazon?

So far, I've been advised against using GR's ad campaign. No one seems to think that it does much good other than give GR your money. I'm running a giveaway right now and I've got several 'to-read' clicks on my book. I'll wait to see if this giveaway does good for my overall sales and report back.

Personally, I ignore the ads on GR. They're small and typically at the bottom of the page and out of the way. I'm used to ignoring the ads on the sides of web pages so on here it's no different. Most people are the same, unfortunately.

Nope! :(

Segilola wrote: "Has AMS changed the way the ads are set? "

It sounds the same... when it asks you to choose your CPC, you set he maximum. Don't go with 50 cents. You could go with 3 cents if you want. I'm not sure how many impressions that would net you...

I had an ad on for a limited period but didn't see any difference in sales. Mind you, I barely notice Goodreads ads, so it may be that other people screen them out too.

I really cant say it has worked for me either... I have been running it for over 3 months but nothing has happened really.

Same here - I have done two giveaways but really have no clue if they impacted my sale...

Dylan wrote: "Segilola wrote: "Has AMS changed the way the ads are set? "

It sounds the same... when it asks you to choose your CPC, you set he maximum. Don't go with 50 cents. You could go with 3 cents if you ..."

OK thanks

It seems the general consensus is to not bother much with AMS or GRs ads

Segilola wrote: "
It seems the general consensus is to not bother much with AMS or GRs ads
..."

The key to success with AMS, at least in my experience, is to start with the lowest possible CPC bid, wait a few days, increase slightly, wait a few days, and continue on until you reach the optimal point. This is necessary because the reports are so far behind--you can get clicks and sales showing up several weeks after terminating a campaign.

Don't try it just yet, however--the reporting system is broken and won't be fixed until May 27, according to Amazon.

Ken wrote: "Don't try it just yet, however--the reporting system is broken and won't be fixed until May 27, according to Amazon.
"

Hahaha... for some reason, I feel that's optimistic!

Thank goodness for that! I haven't received any payments for the past fortnight; I thought maybe they'd changed the system.

Put in my GR ad about two months ago with a $100 budget and it has used maybe $7 dollars. The marketing just isn't there. I never even notice ads on this site which is probably why no one else does either. Honestly the best places I have had luck advertising are Twitter and Facebook.

I wrote a blog about my experiences with a couple of site, check it out if you want.

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Thanks for the information. I never know if I should do ads...if they are worth the money spent. It is helpful to hear what all of you have to say about them.

The only way to make an impact now days is through influencers. The marketing landscape has changed and that is the way it is moving. Major influencer marketing budgets will run you around 20k to be effective. Other than that you have to work in with the influencers yourself. That can take a lot of time but it is well worth it.

I just started a Goodreads ad, and so far I'm disappointed.

I've had moderate success with Amazon ads, so I thought adding Goodreads in the mix would give me more exposure. After a week, I'm sitting at 400 views and 0 clicks, and that's after I increased my cpc bid to a ridiculous $0.60.

One major difference from Amazon is that Goodreads charges your full campaign amount up front, instead of only charging you click costs as you go. So, I kind of feel like I just threw away $100 . . . . but I could probably look at it as, at this rate (0 clicks), I'll forever be able to have *something* going on Goodreads.

Granted, impressions do spread awareness of your brand, and it seems an impression on Goodreads is a lot more valuable than on the circus show of an Amazon page.

I've done it and had no success whatsoever.. I think it's a waste of money.

They have hundreds of pages and people don't have the time or patience to go through them all.

Dora wrote: "I've done it and had no success whatsoever.. I think it's a waste of money.

They have hundreds of pages and people don't have the time or patience to go through them all."

I paused the campaign and sent a request to support asking for a refund. Even after boosting the cpc bid up to $1.05, I had minimal views and 0 clicks. (can you imagine paying $1 for someone to click on your book?)

If they don't refund the money, I will certainly strongly discourage people from trying the ads on Goodreads.

I tried it and found it to be no help at all. Won't be doing it again.

I must report, they did refund my remaining, unused amount when asked, so I have to give Goodreads a big kudos. The ads didn't work well for me, but maybe they do for some genres.

Well, I was going to try my hand at a goodreads add, but this thread has made me reconsider it. Thank you for that.

I have been running goodreads ad for about 6 weeks. I have CTR (click thru rate) of 0.04% which is very low. One of the reasons is that prime spots of goodreads are taken by google adwords. Goodreads shows text ads in the remaining spots, that too in the bottom right where everyone will just ignore it. As a reader, I like the web pages not getting cluttered with ads. As an advertiser, I would prefer more space for the ads :-)

I can vouch that GR ads do not work. You get a lot of views, but no sales.

I've heard the same. That they do not work. If you're spending your money on ads there are better places to do it. Amazon marketplace is a way to get direct buys, but they can be expensive and you may spend more than you make - I haven't done one of those in a while though.
There are also sites out there - make sure they're legit - that offer direct advertising to specific audiences.

Groovy wrote: "I can vouch that GR ads do not work. You get a lot of views, but no sales."

I would argue that if you get views, that it does work. What might not be working is the blurb or something else that turns off sales. But if an ad is bringing you lots of views, it is doing its main job. In my opinion.

Alexis wrote: "Groovy wrote: "I can vouch that GR ads do not work. You get a lot of views, but no sales."

I would argue that if you get views, that it does work. What might not be working is the blurb or somethi..."

I have to agree, though I have yet to try Google ads. If you can honestly say that an ad brings you a substantial number of views, but few sales, it means your landing page isn't doing its job.

I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that GR ads just does not work, because I have yet to hear anyone say that it does.

I agree Alexis. Blog ads may be the TV ad equivalent for us indies.

Ha ha....I have one actively going right now that I started for $20. Let's just say they could probably get an award for "longest running ad money" :)

Goodreads is as good an ad platform as any. I've seen solid sales from my campaign, and slumps with clicks that cost but no buys. I'd say, to run a successful Goodreads ad, you need to streamline your initial ad text and blurb, as well as keep on top of the whole affair to see what works. Change it up if need be when sales slump.

I've never tried it as I never understood it and I feel like I could better make an impact for my books then any ad on here can.

Views and clicks are entirely different things.

Views is when your book shows up on a person's page as it loads. Clicks is when someone actually goes to your book's page from that ad.

If you have a high number of views, it just means your ad ran (showed up) many times. That doesn't really do anything to boost sales if people see it then forget about it (or ignore it entirely like I usually do when ads pop up on my pages).

But if you're getting a lot of "clicks" and no sales then yes, perhaps something is wrong with your landing page.

One way to approach this question is consider how many books you've bought through a Goodreads ad. If you are on Goodreads often, a very large number of ads have been displayed to you. If you have not yet bought a book in all the time you've been on Goodreads, that gives you an idea of how effective they are.

Dawn wrote: "Views and clicks are entirely different things.

Views is when your book shows up on a person's page as it loads. Clicks is when someone actually goes to your book's page from that ad.

If you have..."

Thank you for that, Dawn. I knew there was a difference, just couldn't explain it. A lot of views and no sales doesn't mean something is wrong with your blurb or landing page, it's when you get a lot of clicks and no sales that maybe you should think of revising.

Owen makes a good point, also. I see the ads all the time, but I'm not interested in clicking on any of them. And I really can't explain why.

I've never clicked on an ad for a book on GR. I pretty much tune them out. My own ads didn't go well at all. I don't know if I had a single sale, though I changed the ads often including changing books. I think there are better ways to spend your advertising $.

K.A. wrote: "Goodreads is as good an ad platform as any. I've seen solid sales from my campaign, and slumps with clicks that cost but no buys. I'd say, to run a successful Goodreads ad, you need to streamline y..."

The problem, though, is how do you know the sales resulted specifically from your GR ads? There's no tracking mechanism for sales, unlike with AMS.

I have clicked on ads, and sometimes I don't click on the ad but go straight to Amazon to check it out and buy. I do think an ad helps get your books out in front of readers who might not otherwise see it. Also, people not interested may take note and tell friends who read in the genre, and they in turn *might* go to Amazon, etc to check it out. Like I said, it's a way of getting the book out there. If it results in sales, it's hard to tell. But then, any promo is a gamble. That's just my POV.

I have regretted handing over money for Goodreads advertising - most of it is still sitting there unused because I find people are not really clicking on my ads, no matter how I change them up. I'm certainly not an expert in this area, but advertising with Amazon does seem to generate better results. That being said, when you're self-publishing and trying to do everything in your power to get your work noticed, sometimes you just have to try everything that's available to you and hope for the best.

I don't think I had one single sale from GR ads that ran for months. I changed the ad and the books. For me it was wasted $.

Ken wrote: "The problem, though, is how do you know the sales resulted specifically from your GR ads?..."

I run only one ad from the one company when testing new advertisement venues. Once in motion, I closely monitor the campaign throughout its' short duration. If nothing happens, I pause my campaign and retool where I believe I see an issue. For example, no clicks may mean that my ad text isn't resonating with the target market, or that I chose too many genres in which to list my book.

K.A. wrote: "Ken wrote: "The problem, though, is how do you know the sales resulted specifically from your GR ads?..."

I run only one ad from the one company when testing new advertisement venues. Once in moti..."

I used similar approaches with my campaigns, but again, there's no way to *prove* that a sale on Amazon actually originated from a Goodreads ad (unlike with AMS, which gives you sales data).

Those clicks on Goodreads are indistinguishable from (for example) someone clicking through from your website, or Facebook page, or from an "Also Bought" link on Amazon, and then buying the book.

In my opinion a GR ad is a complete waste of money. Organizing a giveaway gives you a much better exposure.

interesting post. what's SIAFBB stand for?