Tweak, tweak, tweak author ads #WriterWednesday #BookMarketing #WritersLife

I hate failing. Doesn’t everybody? So, every time I tried a new marketing strategy (Facebook ad, Bookbub ad, etc.), and it didn’t give me the results I wanted, I gave up. Gave up is a nice way of saying ~ I bitched the platform was rubbish and not worth an author’s time. Surprisingly, this strategy didn’t lead to many success stories. *Sarcasm intended*

And then, something strange happened. I did an Amazon ad for Fat Girl Begone! and it was successful. Not only that, it continues to be successful. *Insert squealing here*

Since Fat Girl Begone! is a romcom, I decided to replicate the ad for my other romcom Molly’s Misadventures.

Well, guess what? The ad flopped. WHAT? Both novels are romcoms, what could the problem possibly be? I tried everything. I changed the ad copy, I even got a new cover design. While these changes helped somewhat, the ad still wasn’t anywhere near as successful as the ad for Fat Girl Begone! I was frustrated. Very frustrated. Throw-my-phone-across-the-room-frustrated. What was I doing wrong?

I started to listen to podcasts and read more book marketing ads. I kind of drove myself crazy. It took a while, but I finally learned something. Authors who are successful with book marketing don’t quit after one ad is unsuccessful. They keep trying. No, not trying the same exact thing over and over again. Instead, they tweak their marketing tactics until they find success.

What do I mean with tweaking? Make one small change to an ad at a time to determine what the problem is. Are you bidding too low? Increase your bid. Not getting impressions? Change the audience (keywords) or try a new ad graphic. Not getting sales? Check your cover, blurb, price, number of reviews.

It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But it took me awhile to figure it. I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong with Bookbub ads – one small tweak at a time.