If you are one of those writers who have watched with jealousy
while others have successfully navigated the PPC minefield and driven up
sales of their books, prepare to get excited by what I am about to
reveal.
Not long into 2015, Amazon began rolling out their very own PPC tool for advertising your Kindle book on its very own site. Imagine: advertising your book in the exact same virtual store where others are browsing for something to buy. They have already made the decision to buy, and you now have the ability to put a product right in front of them. What's more, many shoppers already have their credit card on file and with Amazon's "Buy now with 1-click" button, potential customers are a mere mouse click from buying your book.
Not everyone can make use of this new sales tool, as it is being made available to a few countries at a time. The requirements to participate are:
To ascertain whether or not your account is eligible for Amazon's PPC advertising, open your KDP dashboard and look under the KDP Select tab. You should see the words "Promote and Advertise."
Click that link and you will see your advertising options, which include running an ad campaign.
How PPC Works
Like any other form of PPC, ad campaigns consist of an auction, where advertisers bid for the cost of a click through their ad. A basic overview is this:
The advertiser bids a specific payment per day or number of views or clicks for a specified time period. For example, $5 per day for a week. She will also bid a certain amount she feels a click is worth. Let's say, 50c.
Based on the example above, the advertiser will pay 50c every time someone clicks on her ad, up to a value of $5 per day for seven days.
Amazon will suggest a CPC (cost-per-click) amount, but advertisers are free to choose their own. This is how it works: if Amazon suggests 50c and you decide to pay 10c, should another advertiser bid on the same advertising space as you, but their bid is 12c, they get the spot. If no other advertiser bids for the same virtual ad spot (or bids less than 10c), then it's all yours!
Where Do Ads Appear?
At present, ads will appear below the buy button for other products and above the most recent customer reviews. It's worth noting that when I mention "products" I don't mean just books. If you have a book about Martini recipes, it may well be worth advertising it on a page where Amazon sells Martini glasses.
Advertising on Amazon will definitely be an interesting topic to watch over the coming years, and now that you know about it and have a basic understanding of how it works, it may pay you to try it out.
Not long into 2015, Amazon began rolling out their very own PPC tool for advertising your Kindle book on its very own site. Imagine: advertising your book in the exact same virtual store where others are browsing for something to buy. They have already made the decision to buy, and you now have the ability to put a product right in front of them. What's more, many shoppers already have their credit card on file and with Amazon's "Buy now with 1-click" button, potential customers are a mere mouse click from buying your book.
Not everyone can make use of this new sales tool, as it is being made available to a few countries at a time. The requirements to participate are:
- your book must be written in English
- your book must be available on Amazon.com's KDP Select
- erotica is not allowed
To ascertain whether or not your account is eligible for Amazon's PPC advertising, open your KDP dashboard and look under the KDP Select tab. You should see the words "Promote and Advertise."
Click that link and you will see your advertising options, which include running an ad campaign.
How PPC Works
Like any other form of PPC, ad campaigns consist of an auction, where advertisers bid for the cost of a click through their ad. A basic overview is this:
The advertiser bids a specific payment per day or number of views or clicks for a specified time period. For example, $5 per day for a week. She will also bid a certain amount she feels a click is worth. Let's say, 50c.
Based on the example above, the advertiser will pay 50c every time someone clicks on her ad, up to a value of $5 per day for seven days.
Amazon will suggest a CPC (cost-per-click) amount, but advertisers are free to choose their own. This is how it works: if Amazon suggests 50c and you decide to pay 10c, should another advertiser bid on the same advertising space as you, but their bid is 12c, they get the spot. If no other advertiser bids for the same virtual ad spot (or bids less than 10c), then it's all yours!
Where Do Ads Appear?
At present, ads will appear below the buy button for other products and above the most recent customer reviews. It's worth noting that when I mention "products" I don't mean just books. If you have a book about Martini recipes, it may well be worth advertising it on a page where Amazon sells Martini glasses.
Advertising on Amazon will definitely be an interesting topic to watch over the coming years, and now that you know about it and have a basic understanding of how it works, it may pay you to try it out.
