These are your most middling marketing options 😐

(A tepid round of applause for C-Tier...)  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hey, The days run away like wild horses on the hill - as Charles Bukowski once said. My own days seem to have caught a bullet train on the other side of that hill, but I can't complain. The beer is cold, the water is warm and there are plenty of sunlit hours in the day to catch up on everything - now that I'm not always packing and moving and figuring out my stupid itinerary! Today, we are diving back into my Book Marketing Tier List - which seemed to get a huge reaction from you guys. But before that, a quick note: I had quite a lot of replies about last week's offer - 100 Deposit Photos credits for $39 (affiliate link, deal still active). I've been answering those questions on my Facebook Page... Feel free to check if your question is answered there, or just ask your own. It's much quicker than getting an email response right now! I also talk about DepositPhoto alternatives (from more expensive all the way down to free) and their relative pros and cons - which many of you were curious about. We press on. There are marketing options to express mixed feelings about! The Book Marketing Tier List A few weeks ago, we introduced the idea of a Book Marketing Tier List... which confused lots of non-gamers! I think the concept originated in Japanese gaming circles - so don't worry if you didn't get the reference. It's basically a handy way of quickly classifying a bunch of different options. ​ So far, we have only covered F-Tier - which stands for fail, as many of you deduced. A, B, and C you can guess at, but S-Tier threw many of you; it basically means Superlative, also known as God-Tier. Today we'll look at the next one up the ladder: those middling marketing options, the ones you might use occasionally, perhaps on your biggest launches, or perhaps not at all - if you are starting out and want to focus your efforts on the marketing options with the best return. These are not yer marketing superstars but can have some very handy uses indeed. C- Tier There are those marketing options which come with caveats rather than glowing endorsements. Okay in certain circumstances, these options are mostly… fine - even if your time and dollars might often be better spent elsewhere. They are C-Tier: BookBub Ads Group Promos Social Media Bookbub Ads I always feel conflicted when I speak about BookBub Ads. I've met lots of the staff in person - they have always been big supporters of indie events and engaged in a lot of outreach. On the other hand, some policies feel less friendly over recent years. I don't think it's unfair to say that a view exists in Authorland that BookBub is more disposed towards books from the big publishers these days, after indies essentially helped build the site (cynics might suggest that was always the play). The popularity of that viewpoint is probably excarbated by a decline in effectiveness of the ad platform at the same time that coveted Featured Deals (still an S-Tier marketing option) are harder and harder to get. Nevertheless, BookBub is still the most effective promo site - by far - and remains one of only three viable platforms for advertising books. It also has some advantages over both Amazon Ads and Facebook Ads - leading to some rather unique uses of the platform. However, the platform has been on a slide: worsening performance, increased inconsistency, more expensive clicks, and wobbling conversion rates. At least in my experience and most of those I speak with (but not all, I should point out). To me, the platform feels a little stale - old bugs persist from five years ago, new initiatives have largely fallen flat, and improvements to the core offering have been minimal overall. Harsh? Perhaps. I still use BookBub Ads, and find value in them, because it's very good at two very specific things: Reaching non-Amazon users Reaching international readers Amazon Ads are obviously no good for driving sales at Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, or Google Play - and that's a non-trivial number of book buyers, especially in some international markets like Canada which are dominated instead by feral geese. In addition, Amazon Ads can be even more challenging in international markets even for those readers who do use a Kindle. Facebook Ads don't have that problem - you can reach anyone - but often the audiences for non-Amazon retailers can be too small to be effective when trying to hit readers of non-Amazon devices and/or those with the temerity to live outside of the USA. This is especially true if you are using interest targeting, rather than the dice roll that broad targeting can be. As luck would have it, BookBub Ads don't merely suffice for these readers - they shine. A well-optimized campaign can deliver very cheap clicks to otherwise-hard-to-reach readers, and that's an unqualified positive. Maybe the numbers won't be earth-shattering - even for thrillers and romance - but these are smaller markets where it doesn't take a huge amount to hit the charts. And if you have opted for wider distribution rather than Kindle-exclusivity, you should already be well versed in the philosophy of generating many small streams to match that mighty river. However, let me give it to you straight: Bookbub isn't what it was. Performance is highly variable in the primary sales sources like Amazon USA. It was always harder to dial in ads for that hyper-competitive and lucrative market, but once you had tested your way through that, it tended to be remarkably consistent. Now, inconsistency rules at Bookbub. Targets which have been well-tested historically can perform great... or terrible depending on nothing discernible. Images which have slayed before can fail terribly one day... and then generate stellar results the day after, rather inexplicably. Even advertising a new release to your own fans can result in rampaging hordes beating down your door, or crickets - with no obvious variable other than the time of day. The time of day. Maybe that's it. I'm serious! One of the reasons for BookBub Ads' seeming decline - IMO, just looking from the outside - is that they send lots more emails to readers these days. And readers don't seem to care for them; it's Featured Deals or nothing. (And as a reader: same.) Problem is we get charged the same regardless of whether our ad appears in the still-much-loved Featured Deals email, or in one of the less popular ones where readers don't even scroll down far enough to see our ads. Bookbub is surely aware of this which makes the inaction rather disappointing. They are essentially charging us for lots of ads which readers don't see (in emails you could argue they didn't sign up for). At minimum, we should have placement options. There should be plenty of ways to address this issue but that seems the most straightforward to me. The way things are right now, I have trouble recommending what used to be my favorite ad platform. I has a sad about it. But what can you do? At least the Featured Deals are still an S-Tier marketing tool... if you can get one. Difficult even if you are well reviewed and well presented, even if you have opted for wider distribution, which BookBub clearly favors. If you are in Kindle Unlimited, you can struggle to get any deals, even if you have sold millions of copies. But the ad platform? For a KU author, you could make the argument that it isn't even C- Tier option anymore... and that's quite the fall. Resources: I have a book you can check out, but an even better investment might be a good alarm clock. Because, at the time of writing, you can kinda, maybe, sometimes force the serving of your ads into those coveted Featured Deals emails if you run them early and then manually stop them a few hours after the email goes out. It's a dice roll, though, so I save it for the biggest pushes, and don't really recommend it unless you are already good with BookBub Ads (and have an appetite for risk). And, really, should we have to mess around like this in 2024? Most days, I just don't. I can easily spend that money on Facebook Ads and get a far better return on it too. I haven't closed the door completely. It can still turn out good results, so I always do some test ads alongside any launch – and double down if the cards are hot. Plus, you can do some interesting things with BookBub Ads which can be surprisingly effective, like advertising certain types of group promos. Group Promos Okay, so, group promos are great but the way they are often used - or overused to be precise - can leave a terrible impression on readers. Scolding: incoming. There are a bunch of things which can fall under the "Group Promo" umbrella, from independently organizing, and perhaps hosting, your own 99c sale with a bunch of others in your genre, to participating in something more organized. Perhaps via a third-party like the list-building promos you can join at places like BookFunnel, where you often dangle a freebie in return for mailing list sign-ups. These promos can be great or terrible, depending. But the biggest problem is how indiscrete some authors can be with them. Much like email swaps. guys, you don't have to join every promo. For reader me, seeing promos in every single email is a turn-off. This might be obvious to some, but it clearly isn't obvious to everyone, so: there's a reason for that. Recommendations work because social proof is a powerful psychological force... but only if the recommendation is considered impartial. If you are swapping mentions and recommendations and promotions in every single email, readers will quickly realise you aren't being selective and will lose trust. This can also lead to them leaving your emails unopened, which means you have undermined the only S-Tier marketing option under your total control (your newsletter). Curate those recommendations instead - that's what gives them power. Only recommend books and authors you truly love (or you are otherwise sure your readers will love). That will boost your trustworthiness and in turn your open rates. Combined with the increased response from your recommendations, you will soon have a new level of author to swap mentions with, and then you can start really moving the needle. Social Media It seems like authors fall into two camps these days: either they think social media is largely dead - in terms of business, anyway. Or they go too far the other direction and put social at the very heart of their marketing strategy, building their platform somewhere they don't control. I take a middle view. Email marketing is the top dog but social beats it in three key ways. 1. Virality. Kind of hard for an email to go viral. Much easier to share a post on social media, where things can sometimes reach a huge audience organically. 2. Interactivity. Yes, you can encourage replies to an email, which can have multiple benefits, including increased reader engagement. But that will never be as engaging as the comments section on a post. 3. Ads. While advertising is a totally different ball game - and considered separately in this Tier List, you can get incredible synergy from ads and organic posted content working in tandem. Some might suggest that's the point, repeating the widely held belief that you can't get any organic traction on Facebook anymore. This is simply not true. With respect, I think many making this complaint are not seeing the organic reach they would like because they haven't kept up with the algorithms reward these days, or perhaps they are following outdated advice or posting the wrong content. Organic reach is reduced, but that's not only because Facebook wants to sell more ads. But reduced is different from dead. With a tight focus on the content that your niche audience uniquely enjoys, you can get great results - for free. That has marketing benefits all on its own, but also provides a great foundation for advertising - especially if your social platform of choice is Facebook and your ad platform of choice is Facebook Ads. Just don't spend too much time on social media. There is no need for it to be your priority and it can be a huge time sink if you aren't careful. There are better ways to spend your marketing time, and definitely better ways to spend your writing time! Besides, a little can go a long way, if you keep that focus tight. Make sure to check out my guide to organic reach on Facebook - which also has lots of ideas for keeping that content-focus nice and tight. Next time we'll start getting more serious because we are hitting the B-Tier: deal sites, email swaps, and BookSweeps – which is like a group promo... with a twist. Dave P.S. Writing music this week is Willie Nelson with a cover of The Scientist. Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. 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