I was recently invited to participate in a survey by Amazon Marketing Services (AMS). I was writing up the part where it said, “do you have any suggestions to make?” when it occurred to me that my suggestions would also be useful as a summary of my experience using the service.
So, how has AMS worked out for me so far?
Let me be clear about something: I love AMS and the best part of my advertising buck goes there nowadays, as AMS offers me the best return on my investment (ROI) of any advertising medium I’ve tried out so far (and, trust me, I’ve tried them all). For every $100 I spend, I make almost $200. So yes, AMS is at the top of my marketing efforts.
AMS Reporting Blues
However, AMS is still in dire need of better reporting. As I was explaining in my post, Don’t Advertise With Amazon Until You’ve Read This, the difference between reported sales and actual ones, as reported by KDP, is ridiculous. In my experience, no more than 60% of reported sales are actual ones. At the same time, campaigns that report no sales, do have actual ones, which adds to the confusion.
Dating in reports is another helpful tool that’s currently missing. I’d love to see how a campaign has performed during a specific time frame (say, since I last updated its keywords). I currently use the life-saving Machette app for this, but it would be great if AMS supported it natively.
Speaking of reporting, you can’t beat Book Report for ease-of-use and clarity. Like ReaderLinks before it, Book Report now has a new mode of operating, which lets you keep a browser window open at all times with your sales constantly updated–not in terms of units, but in terms of $$$. Selecting a time period is a breeze, as is choosing one of your books. KDP doesn’t even come close to that level of functionality and friendliness.
Once reporting problems are solved and guesswork is removed from our ads, AMS usefulness will increase exponentially. And scaling up, which so far has turned out to be the hardest part of using AMS, will be much, much easier.
Campaign Duplication
Also, it would be great if there was a better way to duplicate campaigns. For example, I’d love for my paused keywords to remain paused. Copying a campaign should mean that *all* of its properties are carried across the new one. Right now, you need to redo so much work that it’s actually faster if you simply start from scratch–at least when you edit your campaigns as much as I do.
Improved Targeting
It would be great if we could target readers more accurately. Facebook has the best targeting tool in the trade (no doubt because it knows so much about us), but Amazon also has a treasure trove of customer data. They know what interests each and every one of us. So, why are my interest options when setting up a campaign so limited? Why are there no demographic options? I know my audience. I just need AMS to let me reach it.
International Markets
A couple of days after I submitted the above, I had a lightbulb moment, thanks to a conversation I had: AMS is different for each of Amazon’s marketplaces. In other words, if you go to ams.amazon.com, you are only advertising in the US. To advertise in, say, the UK, you need to go to ams.amazon.co.uk. However, when I tried Australia and Canada, I saw no AMS was supported there (at least, not for authors), so how about Amazon opens up those marketplaces as well?
Anyway, if you haven’t tried out AMS, please don’t mistake the above for a gripe list. As I said, AMS is the best advertising tool on the market and I use it on a daily basis. I doubt I could get half as many sales for my books without it. And I’m grateful to Amazon for opening up both the publishing door and the marketing one to Indies. So, let’s file all that under “room for improvement,” shall we?
awkward brown guy said:
Thanks for sharing all of this, Nicholas 👌🏽
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks! I hope you find it useful 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
That lightbulb moment issue always gave me trouble when I tried. I’d mention the promo and get more complaints than sales. I tried everything, but never made my money back on these things, so I stopped. Just didn’t have the money to try another time.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean. I’m talking here about ads running on Amazon, not any promos. Is that what you had in mind?
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Charles Yallowitz said:
That’s what I was talking about. I’ve tried those ads time and again until last summer. Did categories, key products, bought with books, top sellers in genre, and I got maybe $10 from them. Never made the $100 back on any of the attempts. Can’t figure out why either.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I only use Sponsored Products, as they have worked out best for me. So far, I’ve almost always had a positive ROI. I’d be happy to help you out, if you wish.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Honestly, my funds have shrunk too much for me to try something that never seems to work. Maybe when the new book comes out. I’m probably missing the term, but Sponsored Products are which ones?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
The row of “suggested products” toward the end of your book page.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I used that on the last one I did. Though I thought it was called ‘Recommended’. Spent $33.50 and made $2.99 before it was done. The setup does look different with the keyword search, but it’s one of those 5 times burned things with me.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol-I hear you. I, too, suffered several losses before figuring it out. Like I said, I’d be happy to help you out if you wish. Just email me and we can discuss it.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I’ll send an email in a little bit or over the weekend. Two snow days in a row has me scrambling to get back on track today. 1.5 chapters away from finishing this book.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m here for you, you know that. Just let me know if you need any help 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
One question: do you think it’s harder to promote a series? Going for the last book of my series doesn’t seem like it would work and the first is perma-free. This is why I’m thinking of trying again with my next series.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
My best-sellers are the Pearseus bundle and Emotional Beats. I’m not sure what that tells you 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
One is a bundle, which means most/all of the series. The other is a stand-alone. Promoting Book 13 of 15 probably wouldn’t help as much. I have my bundles too, so that could be something if I figure out the system.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I agree. Bundles are a much safer bet.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
That or the first of a series. Stand alones would work out too.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Bundles offer a better ROI, as they’re more expensive and represent better value-for-money in the reader’s mind. So, it’s much more likely your ad will be a success. My ads for Rise have been meh in terms of returns.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
What about new releases?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’ve had mixed results with those. Part of the problem is that they often sell for 99c.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I’m not going to do that with this one. I figure I have a perma-free book in my other series and I’ve established enough of a reputation. This is another Windemere cornerstone series unlike Ichabod and Bedlam, so I need to treat it as such.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Wait. Do your campaigns fall under Sponsored Products (keywords) or Product Display Ads?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
The former (keywords). Product Display has never worked for me.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I remember a few years back the PD was considered the way to go. How do you pick the keywords off the sponsored stuff since you can’t see them?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I use KDP Rocket.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Never heard of it.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It’s a piece of software written by Dave Chesson (aka Kindlepreneur). It allows you to research keywords — fast. I’ve often posted about it here, for example on http://nicholasrossis.me/2017/06/23/review-kindlepreneurs-free-ams-tutorial-kdp-rocket/
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Charles Yallowitz said:
How much does it run?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It costs some $90 to buy.
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Ouch. At least for me.
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The Owl Lady said:
Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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The Owl Lady said:
This is a fabulous post, Nicholas! I’m part of AMS and didn’t know how much more it can help. I also signed up for two of the sites you wrote about. @v@ ❤
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that, Viv 😀
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gibsonauthor said:
Reblogged this on s a gibson.
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Billy Ray Chitwood said:
Informative post! Even gleaned a bit from your chat with Charles. Have a great weekend! Best wishes… ♥
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, you too 🙂
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Kaustav Ray said:
Thought provoking!
Check out my new post
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks. I’m not sure what it has to do with Indian Indie musicians, though!
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amreade said:
This was really helpful. I haven’t used AMS, but I expect to wade into those waters this year. I am trying to gather all the information I can before actually getting started.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Good idea!
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kimwrtr said:
Reblogged this on Kim's Author Support Blog.
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Linda Mims said:
Hi Nicholas. I went all the way back to your first article to learn as much as I could about AMS. Thanks for your generosity!🤗
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
A pleasure! I hope AMS works out for you as well as it has for me 🙂
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Anna Dobritt said:
Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
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V.M.Sang said:
Thank you for that, Nicholas. I’ve not tried ams, but will certainly look into it..
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Do your homework and it should be fine 🙂
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Don Massenzio said:
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this informative post from Nichola Rossis’ blog with his take on the Amazon Marketing Service
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tracikenworth said:
Thanks for this info, Nicholas!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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