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 gives 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. 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?
- More clicks means more readers are landing on your retailer product page or website. If potential readers make it to your book’s product page, the description, book cover, reviews, and other information can help convert those clicks into sales.
- Our auction takes the CTR into account for ads using cost-per-click (CPC) bidding when determining the winning ad for each impression. This means that CPC ads are rewarded for being more engaging: Ads with above-average CTRs are more likely to continue winning impressions for their target audience. On the flip side, 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 to reach more 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 best chance of reaching readers who are likely to want to read the book you’re promoting.
Here are our top tips for selecting author targets:
- Avoid the most popular authors in your genre. Ads targeting individual authors with 25k or fewer targetable readers have nearly 2x higher average CTRs than ads targeting authors with larger audiences.
- Identify authors writing very similar books. Check your also-boughts on retailers and the top sellers in your subgenre to find authors writing books with similar tropes, themes, and cover designs.
- Keep an eye on Featured Deals in your category. Targeting BookBub Ads by author interest includes any readers who follow an author or have engaged with their books on our platform, like by clicking on a Featured Deal. Authors with recent Featured Deals should have large, engaged audiences for you to target.
- Use the Related Authors tool in the ad form. After you’ve added an author target to a campaign, we’ll generate a list of other authors on BookBub with similar audiences of readers.
- Test rigorously. Learn how one author tests different author targets to identify winning audiences.
To further hone in on the right readers, you can combine author targeting with category targeting. 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. This is a particularly useful strategy if you’re targeting authors who write in multiple genres.
Finally, if your books are widely available, consider focusing on particular regions or retailers. Amazon US readers are usually the most competitive audience to reach, and many advertisers find they can generate much higher CTRs if they target readers who use Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Google, or Amazon readers in Canada, the UK, or Australia.
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 engaging ads:
1. Call attention to a deal price or sale
BookBub readers love a deal, and including a low price in an ad image can significantly increase clicks. If the book you’re advertising is free or $0.99, that should be front and center in your ad image.
2. 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. If you choose to include your book cover, it should clearly signal your genre. The other images, colors, fonts, and language you use in your ad can also help set the right tone and get your message across.
3. Highlight popular tropes
Another way to tell readers what they can expect from your book is to mention tropes. Tropes are a shorthand for communicating certain plot elements or emotional beats, and can be very effective at hooking the right readers.
4. Make comparisons to similar books or media
Similarly to tropes, comparisons can help set reader expectations and signal that your book will match their interests. If you use this strategy, make sure your comparisons are accurate — you may risk negative reviews if you mislead or disappoint readers.
5. Include a quote from another author or publication
Our readers put a lot of trust in the authors they love to recommend books, so if you have a stellar quote from another author in your genre, use it in your ad image! Quotes from recognizable publications can also be effective.
6. Include social proof
BookBub readers love to see that other readers have enjoyed a book — including high review counts in our Featured Deal blurbs consistently increases clicks! Consider adding star ratings or glowing reader reviews to your ad image.
7. 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 audience 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 with our team! 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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This post was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with new examples.
