Marketing books is hard. There is so much to do. Book Promotions, Newsletters, Author Swaps, Social Media… The list goes on and on.
But not all book promotions need to be hard. There are 2 simple ads you can start running today in order to start selling books right away.
AMS Ads!
What are AMS Ads?
Amazon marketing services (AMS), now called Advertising Console is a collection of effective tools to help vendors drive traffic to their products and sell more.
For authors, this means AMS is a hub for increasing low book sales and maintaining a steady income with their books.
Setting up your AMS Account:
If you have a KDP account (and we’re assuming you do, given you’re here), then you automatically have access to Amazon’s AMS Ads program. See this simple video to show you where to access it:
The 2 Kinds of ‘Low-Hanging Fruit’ AMS Ads
There are 2 kinds of done-for-you AMS Ads: AMS Auto Ads and AMS Suggested Keyword Ads. Below are 2 Videos that will walk you through the Step-by-Step Process of Creating each ad.
But first – a brief overview of the 2 kinds of Ads.
AMS Suggested Keyword Ads
In this one, AMS is curating a list of keywords it thinks will work best to market your book. Again, it is looking at your Keywords, Categories and Age/Grade Ranges, as well as previous buying history. But unlike your Auto-Ads which are dynamic and constantly evolving based on performance, Suggested Keyword Ads are static.
This could be a good thing. It’s a snapshot of your book and, provided your feeding AMS the right kind of data, could result into some sales and finds.
Check out this simple video on how to set up an AMS Suggest Keyword Ad:
PRO-TIP #1: Use Broad, Phrase and Exact for each suggested Keyword.
PRO-TIP #2: Consider making a new Suggested Keyword Ad every month to six weeks to see if new suggested keywords have populated.
AMS Auto Ads:
They’re exactly what they sound like. Set them up (see the video below) and let them run. Amazon will automatically try to figure out who to serve your ads to based on the metadata you provided when uploading your books (this includes, but isn’t limited to: Keywords, Categories and Age/Grade Ranges, as well as previous buying history)
It will work hard on your behalf trying to find that ideal reader. And the best part, once its starts to figure out who your readers are, it will optimize the ads to target them.
Now, it’s not all roses. AMS Auto Ads can be finnicky. They’re not a guaranteed homerun, but they’re a good start when you want to do something simple and straightforward when marketing your books.
PRO-TIP #1: Use suggested bids and slowly turn down the tap as it starts to spend. We recommend lowering your bid by 5c every day until it stops spending. Then keep it there.
PRO-TIP #2: Set an AMS Auto Ad is NOT just for book 1 in a series. Consider doing an auto ad for every book in your series.
PRO-TIP #3: If you want to go deeper with AMS ads, check out this kick-ass article from Self-Publishing School.
Heads up!
Disclaimer: This post was written by a best-selling full-time fiction author, who also happens to be one of our amazing book coaches here at Self-Publishing School!
If you’re looking to do more with your book or book idea, like develop it into an income stream, we can help!
Check out the free training below for fiction authors with tips from best-selling author, Ramy Vance, on how to create raving fiction fans, the replicable process that full-time fiction authors use to write and publish books (and you can use it, too).
PLUS Ramy and team will gift you a copy of our Full-Time Fiction Writer Resources Bundle – full of templates, guides, and more – when you join Ramy on the training!
Want to chat with one of our Book Publishing Strategists to learn more about Self-Publishing School and our selection of courses and resources? We’d love to help you on your author journey!