BookBub’s power readers are always on the hunt for new content, and with BookBub Ads, authors and publishers can easily promote their books to this engaged audience. BookBub Ads give advertisers control over every element of their campaign — targeting, scheduling, budget, bidding strategy, and ad creative — so they have the flexibility they need to reach the readers most likely to purchase with the right messaging at the right time.
While this flexibility allows advertisers to run highly customized campaigns, it can be tough to know what to adjust if a campaign isn’t delivering the results you’re looking for. But we’re here to help.
There are a few different ways to measure the success of BookBub Ads campaigns (e.g. ROI, conversion rate, total impressions), but one metric many advertisers focus on is click-through rate (CTR). Below, you’ll find tips on how to adjust your ad campaigns to get more of the right readers clicking on your books.
Why is it important to increase your click-through rate?
- A higher CTR means more readers are landing on your retailer product page or website, which will hopefully lead to more sales. If potential readers make it to your book’s page on a retailer, the description, book cover, reviews, and other product page elements can help convert that click into a sale.
- Our auction system takes CTR into account when serving CPC (cost per click) campaigns. It prioritizes ads with higher CTRs to ensure we’re showing engaging ads to our readers. If you’re using CPC bidding and your ad isn’t winning as many impressions as you want, you may need to increase your CTR in order to reach readers.
What can you do to generate more clicks?
Narrow your targeting
To increase the chance that readers click on your ad, you want to make sure you’re reaching the most relevant audience possible. Targeting by author interest gives you the most control over which readers see your ad and the best chance of reaching readers who are likely to want to read the book you’re promoting.
How should you choose which authors to target? We recommend looking at the authors who appear in the book’s “also bought” sections on retailers as well as the top sellers of similar books in the genre. You can also check BookBub’s “Discover Authors” page to find popular authors in the genre on our site. Keep in mind that while it may be tempting to target the biggest authors in the book’s genre, you may have more success finding new readers among the audiences of authors with smaller followings but more directly relevant books.
To further hone in on the right readers, you can combine author targeting with category targeting. This is a particularly useful strategy if you’re targeting authors who write in multiple genres. Targeting by category alone is a great way to increase the exposure of your ad, but it can make it harder to generate a high CTR, since the audience is much broader. However, using both types of targeting will narrow your audience to any readers who are subscribed to a category and ALSO a fan of any of the authors you’re targeting.
Design more engaging creative
In addition to reaching the right readers, you also have to craft the right message that will convince those readers to click on your ad. You only have a small amount of space in your ad to make a case for a book, so use it wisely! Here are a few tips for designing your ads:
1. Clearly communicate the book’s genre and mood.
Is it a dark, suspenseful thriller? A science fiction adventure with a sense of humor? A sweet romance set in a small town? Readers know what they want, and after one glance at your ad, they should be able to understand what kind of book you’re promoting. The images, colors, fonts, and language you use in your ad can all help set the right tone and get your message across.
2. Use the book’s cover in your ad creative.
Many advertisers either include a full book cover in the ad image or use visual elements from the cover as the background. A book cover is a powerful marketing tool, and should do some of the work of letting potential readers know what they’ll get out of the book. Ask yourself whether the book’s genre is immediately clear from looking at the cover. If not, you may want to consider a redesign to attract the right audience.
3. Include a short, snappy blurb designed to hook readers.
This could be a catchy phrase or tagline, or a quote from another author, publication, trade review, or reader review. If you don’t know where to start, your reader reviews can be an excellent source of inspiration — which elements of your book do readers talk about, and what words do they use to describe it? You can also find tips and insights from our own Featured Deal blurb tests here.
4. Keep it simple and legible.
A cluttered ad with too many elements can look unprofessional and distract from your message, so make sure your ad design is clean and your blurb is easy to read.
Test different targeting and creative
Testing different combinations of targeting and ad creative is the best way to figure out what’s working for your ads and what isn’t. And running tests doesn’t have to be expensive — a $10 budget can be sufficient to generate results! Set up two versions of the same ad campaign, each with a low budget, and change just one element in one of the ads to test its impact. After the ads use up their budget, compare the results to see which version drove a higher CTR. Keep running tests until you reach a CTR you’re happy with!
These are general tips for all advertisers, but if you have any particular questions or concerns about the performance of your own ad campaigns, please get in touch! A member of our partners team will be happy to chat with you and offer advice to help you meet your advertising goals.
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