Boy, are they ever. I have been experimenting with Kindle Direct Publishing’s new Pay-per-click (PPC) ad platform for ebooks for only a few days, and all I can say is that they are an absolute bargain and a winner. Why?
Firstly, with any other PPC service, one would normally be conscious of the cost of clicks, plus the cost per thousand impressions. But Amazon does not charge for impressions, only clicks, so this is the difference, and what a huge difference this makes! My books are being seen by thousands of Amazon book buyers for free!
Quite honestly, the number of clicks and resulting sales is of secondary concern to me. What is most important is the number of times my books (and book covers in particular) have been in front of the eyes of potential book buyers. No one buys at first sight, so the ability to have my books appear thousands of times, and therefore build a ‘Hey, I’ve seen this book before’ mentality is a long-term winner. The other benefit is that these ads look like Amazon are promoting your books. Well, in fact, this is true, so it bodes well as a form of effective book promotion.
In only a few days, I have gained thousands of views. But because Amazon’s ad service is a bit slow in reporting, I am still waiting for sales data. But look at the page views for just a few of my books. This is the key winner for me – eyes! By the way, the graphic below is only for my first few days for two books, and the top line is for one day only!
While many may still be banging out ‘buy my books’ on social media, I really believe that the small investment that is required to use KDP Ad Campaigns is an absolute bargain, and in the long term, a big winner. Simply because my books are being seen by real book buyers, and not by thousands of people on social media who may not ever be interested in buying a book.
So ok, I need more time to evaluate KDP Ad Campaigns more thoroughly, particularly as far as real sales are concerned, but for the time being, I’m in, simply because this service puts my books in front of real buyers’ eyes. One couldn’t ask for much more than that.
