[Jena H]

To clarify - you can ONLY get the sponsored ads on books that are in KDP Select. For a while, Amazon was testing it out and only some people had access to it, but now it's universal IF you're in Select. I find it needs a lot of tinkering with to hit the sweet spot, and (like all these pay-per-click types of ads) if you get things wrong it's a very quick way to burn through the budget.

The free $100 seemed to be offered for a while to anyone who dabbled with setting up an ad but then backed out. If you went ahead and set the ad up, there was no freebie.

Note: Clicking the Promote button for a book in Select, the two usual options are offered: run a price promotion, or run an ad campaign. It doesn't specify the Sponsored Ads option on that main promotion page.... you have to choose to run an ad campaign to bring up the option of a Sponsored Ad vs regular ad. (Just so people won't be confused why they're not 'seeing' an option to run a sponsored ad.)

 

[S.L.]

Applied for mine today. I will update as results come in.

 

[MajesticMonkey]

Note: Clicking the Promote button for a book in Select, the two usual options are offered: run a price promotion, or run an ad campaign. It doesn't specify the Sponsored Ads option on that main promotion page.... you have to choose to run an ad campaign to bring up the option of a Sponsored Ad vs regular ad. (Just so people won't be confused why they're not 'seeing' an option to run a sponsored ad.)

Thank You! Finally figured it out thanks to you. (So its only for Select books after all. Bummer.)

 

[amdonehere]

Thank You! Finally figured it out thanks to you. (So its only for Select books after all. Bummer.)

That settles it then.

Amazon really is continuing to find ways to nuetralize the advantages of going wide, and looks like this is yet another strike. So basically, it's you're with us or against us. If you're in not Select, you can't advertise on Amazon.

I had consider taking my series wide next year, and until this, had seen no good reasons why I should not. This is finally something that gives me pause and I'll have to reconsider.

I have to give it to them, this is pretty smart. It continues their policy of not trying to make money on vendors advertisement. The money they're charging on ad campaigns aren't even chump change to them. But they now found another reason for authors to go Select, and to let authors/publishers do part of the work to put the right books in front of the right target audience beyond the Also-Boughts. Good move.

 

[amdonehere]

My "sponsored ads" option says the ad will appear below search results. Does this mean my ads won't appear below the "also bought" section? I also have an option for "product display ads." Looks like it's the bigger box on the right side of the screen. That seems cool. I am really eager to try out amazon advertising so I am glad this thread popped up

I don't think you're looking at the Sponsored Ads we're talking about here. I think you're looking at that other ad, which as you said is the bigger box on the right. That's something entirely different and this thread won't help you with that.

We are talking about the list of books in smaller thumbnails that appear below the Also-Boughts.

 

[P.A. Woodburn]

Oh dear. I've been ignoring my novel completely trying to follow the advice that says don't bother advertising until you have two or three books out. Well I'm getting close to the end of book 2. I had never heard of this "Sponsored Products" thread. I have been so diligently not advertising book one.

Now I saw something today that says never advertise anything other than book one in a series. I went to Kindle Direct I'm still a member even though I haven't done anything with it for two years. I saw something on the right that said Sponsored products but this is the wrong one you say. I even bought a book called PPC Strategies for Amazon Sellers and now I think it has nothing to do with these Sponsored products in Kindle Select.

I don't know where this list is in smaller thumbnails that appears below the also -Boughts. I think I've let my novel sink so far that there aren't any longer any also- Boughts.
How do we find this sponsored products list?

 

[SomeoneElse]

Oh dear. I've been ignoring my novel completely trying to follow the advice that says don't bother advertising until you have two or three books out. Well I'm getting close to the end of book 2. I had never heard of this "Sponsored Products" thread. I have been so diligently not advertising book one.

Now I saw something today that says never advertise anything other than book one in a series. I went to Kindle Direct I'm still a member even though I haven't done anything with it for two years. I saw something on the right that said Sponsored products but this is the wrong one you say. I even bought a book called PPC Strategies for Amazon Sellers and now I think it has nothing to do with these Sponsored products in Kindle Select.

I don't know where this list is in smaller thumbnails that appears below the also -Boughts. I think I've let my novel sink so far that there aren't any longer any also- Boughts.
How do we find this sponsored products list?

It's hit or miss for me whether it's on a page or not. Even the same book can sometimes have them and sometimes not for me, but if you browse books on Amazon you should see it soon enough. It seems to be on most pages most of the time.

If you don't ever see it on your book's page it might be that there aren't enough people using related keywords.

 

[......~......]

My "sponsored ads" option says the ad will appear below search results. Does this mean my ads won't appear below the "also bought" section? I also have an option for "product display ads." Looks like it's the bigger box on the right side of the screen. That seems cool. I am really eager to try out amazon advertising so I am glad this thread popped up

"Sponsored Products" is the ad this thread is about. It does appear in search results but it's also below the also-boughts. It's a bit confusing because it only says "Target by keyword, appear below search results" under it. I haven't heard of anyone having good results with the "Product Display Ads" option. I know I tend to block those out while I deifnitely pay attention to the ones below the also-boughts.

 

[FMH]

Oh dear. I've been ignoring my novel completely trying to follow the advice that says don't bother advertising until you have two or three books out. Well I'm getting close to the end of book 2. I had never heard of this "Sponsored Products" thread. I have been so diligently not advertising book one.

Now I saw something today that says never advertise anything other than book one in a series. I went to Kindle Direct I'm still a member even though I haven't done anything with it for two years. I saw something on the right that said Sponsored products but this is the wrong one you say. I even bought a book called PPC Strategies for Amazon Sellers and now I think it has nothing to do with these Sponsored products in Kindle Select.

I don't know where this list is in smaller thumbnails that appears below the also -Boughts. I think I've let my novel sink so far that there aren't any longer any also- Boughts.
How do we find this sponsored products list?

Okay, I have to help.

First - you can promote book 2. I've done it. It works. People will get book 1.

However - if you're going to do this Sponsored Ad promo - promote the book you have, put a link to your mailing list in the back so readers can sign up to know when book 2 launches. MAILING LISTS WILL MAKE YOU. Le Seriously. (french for seriously.)

Re: Sponsored ads.

eg: Click on the page of your book where you see your reviews and glorious description etc. THAT is where the 'also-boughts' and below them the 'sponsored books.'

These are NOT the Sponsored ads we are talking about. We are discussing the ones when you're searching books in general (and by in general I mean in genres) and at the bottom of THAT (THOSE) page (s) you see a book listed after the Amazon suggestions, where in it states: "Sponsored Ad" ...in nice pale grey lettering.

Promote your book, lovely. Especially with book 2 coming out soon. ORRRRR wait for book 2 THEN promote.

But I'd promote now and start that mailing list.

 

[P.A. Woodburn]

Thanks to Need Want and LS May I was able to find the sponsored links under the also boughts.

 

[P.A. Woodburn]

Okay, I have to help.

First - you can promote book 2. I've done it. It works. People will get book 1.

However - if you're going to do this Sponsored Ad promo - promote the book you have, put a link to your mailing list in the back so readers can sign up to know when book 2 launches. MAILING LISTS WILL MAKE YOU. Le Seriously. (french for seriously.)

Re: Sponsored ads.

eg: Click on the page of your book where you see your reviews and glorious description etc. THAT is where the 'also-boughts' and below them the 'sponsored books.'

These are NOT the Sponsored ads we are talking about. We are discussing the ones when you're searching books in general (and by in general I mean in genres) and at the bottom of THAT (THOSE) page (s) you see a book listed after the Amazon suggestions, where in it states: "Sponsored Ad" ...in nice pale grey lettering.

Promote your book, lovely. Especially with book 2 coming out soon. ORRRRR wait for book 2 THEN promote.

But I'd promote now and start that mailing list.

FHM thanks for your reply will have to wait until I come out with book 2 because to make some changes to the back of book 1 at the same time. But this has been very helpful information.

 

[FMH]

 

[amdonehere]

For the sake of clarifying what we are discussing, here's a screenshot of the page of the #1 best seller in the Kindle Store right now:

The Sponsored Products under the Also-Boughts. We are talking about those Sponsored Product Ads.

 

[CassieL]

Anyone see the thread that just got started that said the Zon may be showing sales on the advertising dashboard that aren't even of the book being advertised? http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,240368.0.html

 

[S.L.]

I got rejected because one of my characters is holding a gun...

 

[karenchester]

Anyone see the thread that just got started that said the Zon may be showing sales on the advertising dashboard that aren't even of the book being advertised? http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,240368.0.html

Yes, I've read it. Seems like we can't trust the sales figures from the AMS dashboard and should rather use the KDP sales figures to gauge the effectiveness of our ads.

 

[amdonehere]

Yes, I've read it. Seems like we can't trust the sales figures from the AMS dashboard and should rather use the KDP sales figures to gauge the effectiveness of our ads.

I saw the other thread too but I agree with Karen. I don't know what mess is happening with Amazon as describe in that thread, but looking at my own results, I actually agree with the poster who said Amazon actually deflated the sales results, not falsely inflating it. I guess for me, going into it, the ACoS and Total Sales as shown on the Campaign report never meant that much to me, because I was promoting the first book in a series and looking at sell-thous as well. I've had a very good sell-thru rate with this series in the last few months, so what I needed was people buying Book 1.

Anyhow, all I can say is, I had one of my best sales days ever without a stack promo during the week run of Sponsored Products campaign last week. Excluding the times when I did paid promos like GenrePusle, etc, all week long last week my ranking stayed higher than it ordinarily would be when I didn't promote. And the results also spoke for itself. The week before my Sponsored Products campaign, I did a 99cents promo with FussyLibrarian (paid), Bookoftheday.org (paid), and The New Book Pebble. Total cost about $40. Compare that to the week I ran the Sponsored Products, I paid $2.86 and sold my book at full price ($2.99). The Ad Campaign report said I sold 1 book -- sounds pretty shabby, except my sales report showed I sold as high as 50% of the total sales as my 99cents promo (both including sell-thrus.) So for me at least, the AMS report may not be correct, but that's actually because it's way under-reporting the real effect of the campaign.

My campaign ended 2 days ago, and I saw an immediate dip in rankings. I submitted another one again that started yesterday, and a few sales started to come in plus new KENP reads.

So what I'm seeing is, if you have only one book to sell, you might lose a few dollars. If you have a series and expect sell-throughs, this is still a good option.

It's also interesting to see the keyword click report, to find out where Amazon's Algo steer your book. That to me is pretty useful data.

 

[dragontucker]

I don't understand. How do keywords allow your book to appear below the "also bought" section? I am entering a bunch of keywords, but how does that determine placement on another book's page?

 

[......~......]

I don't understand. How do keywords allow your book to appear below the "also bought" section? I am entering a bunch of keywords, but how does that determine placement on another book's page?

If they're in the same category as your book. You can also use author names and book titles as keywords if you want to target popular authors in your genre. If you want your book to appear under the also-boughts and be visible, you'll have to have a higher cost per click. You'll most likely pay less but if you bid higher you get better visibility.

 

[dragontucker]

If they're in the same category as your book. You can also use author names and book titles as keywords if you want to target popular authors in your genre. If you want your book to appear under the also-boughts and be visible, you'll have to have a higher cost per click. You'll most likely pay less but if you bid higher you get better visibility.

Thanks. I am talking about the "Sponsored Products" ad. So, I can target authors and books with the keywords? I should just type in a book name if I wanted my ad listed on that book's page? I already submitted my ad, but I will for sure target certain books if this is the case. Is it pretty accurate if so? Thanks