![How an Author Doubled Exposure for a New Release [Case Study]](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=MjU1Nzo5Nzk=-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgNzUwIDM5NCIgd2lkdGg9Ijc1MCIgaGVpZ2h0PSIzOTQiIHhtbG5zPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8yMDAwL3N2ZyI+PC9zdmc+)
Today’s readers have an endless array of choices for entertainment. To cut through the noise, author Keira Andrews’s number one goal is always to get her books in front of readers as many times as possible. So, needless to say, Keira was excited to try the new ability to send two BookBub Preorder Alerts for her book Kiss and Cry, and found this strategy an easy way to multiply awareness of the book before it even hit the stores. Here’s how she used Preorder Alerts as part of the launch!
Goals
Kiss and Cry is a standalone sports romance. The main characters, Henry and Theo, first appeared in Keira’s holiday romance Only One Bed, which centers on Henry’s brother’s love story. She teased the potential of Henry and Theo’s enemies-to-lovers romance and added a preorder link in the back matter of Only One Bed when it was released about a month before Kiss and Cry, setting the stage for the book’s preorder campaign.
Keira’s goals for the campaign were to increase preorders and raise awareness that the book was coming soon. Even if readers didn’t end up preordering, she wanted to consistently put her book out there throughout the lead-up to release day to help with recognition.
My chief marketing goal is always to get my book in front of readers as many times as possible. There’s an old advertising maxim that a buyer needs to see a product seven times before they purchase. Obviously, that’s not always the case, but in today’s very cluttered media landscape, the more times a reader sees my book cover, the better.
Execution
With the option to send a second Preorder Alert to her BookBub followers, Keira saw a valuable opportunity to reach those readers twice before Kiss and Cry’s release.
I jumped at the chance to send two Preorder Alerts through BookBub. A reader might be too busy to look at the first email when it pops up in their inbox. Or they might click on it and not be convinced. Then when they receive a second Preorder Alert, they might think, ‘I saw something about this book before…’ Gaining that awareness is vital.
Keira chose to send the first alert on December 17, three weeks before launch day, because she wanted to get into readers’ inboxes before they logged off for the holidays. The second date, January 3, was three days before Kiss and Cry‘s release on January 6. She knew some readers don’t like to preorder a book too far in advance and hoped to grab some of those readers with the second alert, along with raising awareness that the book was coming out later that week.
For my next release, perhaps I’d have more time between the Preorder Alerts, depending on the length of the preorder period itself.
In addition to the Preorder Alerts, she also consistently promoted the book pre- and post-launch in her newsletter, on social media, and with Amazon Ads and BookBub Ads.
Keira runs ads for all her new releases, with the goal of gaining purchases, Kindle Unlimited borrows, awareness, and an algorithm boost — she says, “Of course Amazon’s algorithms are a mystery, but running ads certainly can’t hurt!” She hopes to reach new readers as well as existing readers who might not follow her or subscribe to her newsletter.
This particular BookBub Ad targets me and a big-name author in the M/M romance genre. I target myself so that readers who have shown previous interest in me will know this book is available. Again, it’s all about that awareness. The more times a reader sees a cover, the more likely they are to click and find out more. Targeting readers of fellow authors in my genre is a way to gain new readers. I focus on a popular genre trope in my ad headlines.
Results
Each of Keira’s Preorder Alerts reached 1,233 of her followers. On average, we’ve seen that sending two alerts garners 80% more clicks than sending just one, but Keira doubled clicks to her preorder by sending the second alert. 67 readers clicked on the December 17 email, and 69 clicked on the January 3 email. On launch day, her New Release Alert pulled in an additional 72 clicks.
It’s difficult to measure awareness among readers or the exact impact of these clicks on preorder sales, but Keira’s preorder numbers increased after the alerts went out. Her efforts to boost exposure paid off — she gained 24% more preorders for Kiss and Cry than for her previous book, Only One Bed.
I admit I’m not an author who religiously tracks ads vs. sales numbers — for me, if I continue to stay in the black and ad/marketing spend remains around a third of my sales income, it’s working. At only approximately $25 each, the two Preorder Alerts were money well spent. I will definitely be sending two Preorder Alerts in the future.
To date, the BookBub Ad campaign for Kiss and Cry, which has remained live since the launch, has received a total of 3,750 clicks.
The takeaway
I really do believe in the power of repetition. Competition for readers’ attention has never been fiercer, and BookBub Preorder Alerts are an affordable way of raising awareness for your upcoming release. Get your cover in front of readers as many times as you can. Even if you feel like you’re ‘spamming,’ you’re not. Whether it’s an ad, newsletter, social media post, or Preorder Alert, it only reaches part of your target audience in today’s busy, fast-paced world. Don’t be afraid to remind readers that your awesome new book is coming soon!
Want to share this post? Here are ready-made tweets:
Click to tweet: “Get your book cover in front of readers as many times as you can. Even if you feel like you’re ‘spamming,’ you’re not.”—@keiraandrews
See how Keira’s efforts to boost awareness of a recent launch paid off: #pubtip https://bit.ly/3gDky29
Click to tweet: The results from this preorder strategy really show the power of repetition! 📈 https://bit.ly/3gDky29 #bookmarketing
