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Looking at any page on Amazon that shows a list of products, it’s clear that sponsored products on Amazon matter. They show up first and often. And that means that authors should consider Amazon ads for books as well.
That’s the topic I discuss in this article, including:
- What are Amazon ads for books?
- How to launch sponsored products on Amazon
- What kind of budget should you start with?
- Other resources to make Amazon ads for books work for you
What are Amazon ads for books?
Ads for books are just sponsored products on Amazon, and they show up first and often in product page listings. Here’s one example where I searched for marketing career books.
These sponsored products have a “sponsored” tag to inform consumers that those spots were paid for.
Read next: Is marketing a good career?
How to launch sponsored products on Amazon
To launch your book ad, go to advertising.amazon.com, once signed in click “opportunities,” and “create a new campaign.
You can create a custom product ad or use the book listing as is.
I prefer to promote the actual book listing as it’s just like all the other listings.
From there, set your budget per day, how long you want to run the ad, and submit it for approval. Mine has been approved in a few hours, but it could take three days.
Read next: How to write business books using your blog as the foundation
What kind of budget should you start with?
I like to keep an eye on things and check-in, so I set a $15 daily budget for a week and then set myself a reminder to check performance as the week is close to being done. If performance is acceptable (i.e., sales align with cost), I will extend it. On the other hand, I may consider a different strategy if performance is lacking.
Read next: How to run sponsored content successfully and correctly
Other resources to make Amazon ads for books work for you
You certainly could consider working with somebody who can run these ads for you. But make sure the costs and revenue line up. Personally, I think the Amazon advertising system is easy enough to get started, set a relatively small budget for a week or two and see how things look. Then extend it from there.
Ricardo Fayet’s book “Amazon Ads for Authors” is also a great step-by-step resource.
Writing a book is hard work and selling enough copies is even more work. So why not use some low-cost paid strategies like these to try to drive up sales? I’m a fan of this strategy, how easy it is, and how cost-efficient it can be run.
At the end of the day, it gets my book in front of more people searching for related topics on Amazon.