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After writing the book, creating of very first BookBub Ads is an enjoyable journey! But you don’t know how to do that? Don’t worry! I’m here for you!

In my previous post, I discussed the significance of BookBub and BookBub Ads, highlighting their usefulness for both readers and authors. If you haven’t had a chance to read that post yet, I highly recommend checking it out.

It provides valuable insights into how these platforms can benefit you in the world of books and publishing. To read the post, simply click here.

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What are BoobBub Ads?

BookBub Ads is a tool that lets authors, publishers, agents, and other publishing professionals advertise their books to a large group of avid readers through specially designated spaces in BookBub’s daily emails.

You can create an ad campaign for any book you want, whenever you want.

When you set up BookBub Ads, you get to choose the specific readers you want to reach and how much you’re willing to spend to reach them.

These spending amounts compete with other advertisers in an auction, which determines which ads are shown to our readers and when. So, when readers open an email from BookBub or visit BookBub.com, they will see the BookBub ads that have bid the highest to reach them at that exact moment.

Steps to Create BookBub Ads

Step 1: Log in to your dashboard

First, you need to log in to your Partner Dashboard, which is like a control center for all your BookBub ads promotions. It’s a website called partners.bookbub.com, where you can access and manage everything related to promoting your books on BookBub.

Step 2: Create A New Ad

To get started, you’ll need to click on the BookBub Ads tab located in the menu on the side of the screen. After that, look for the “Create an Ad” button and click on it. This will take you to the page where you can start creating your ad.

Right at the beginning of the BookBub ads creation process, you’ll be prompted to choose the specific group of readers you want to target. You have two options: you can either select ebook readers on BookBub or audiobook readers on Chirp.

This helps ensure that your BookBub ads reach the right audience based on their preferred format of reading.

For this BookBub ads blog, we’ll choose ebook readers here.

After that, you can search for the book that you plan to promote. This step is not mandatory but can save you time in a few ways.

Firstly, if BookBub has any information about your books stored in its system, such as the cover image and links to online stores, it will automatically fetch that data to expedite the form-filling process.

Secondly, by associating your BookBub ads campaign with a specific book title, you’ll be able to conveniently filter and manage your campaigns based on the book title in your Ads dashboard.

Step 3: Create Your Eye-catching BookBub ads

Now, you can either upload your custom BookBub ads design or use our built-in creative builder to make an image.

The ad creative is the picture that will be shown to readers, so it’s important to include the most compelling information about your book, such as its cover or price.

If you want to design the creative yourself, you can try using free graphic design tools like Canva or Book Brush. If you are going to design by yourself, the design size should be 300×250 pixels.

Alternatively, if you prefer to use our creative builder, all you need to do is upload your book cover and enter the text for your ad. If you selected a book in the previous step, the cover image will be added automatically.

Otherwise, you can click on “Select file” to upload a different image. Ensure your cover image is 115 pixels wide for the best quality. You can choose from four different layout options for your ad, and the preview image will update accordingly as you click through the options.

Step 4: Choose Where Readers Go When They Click On Your Ad

The click-through links in your ad determine the destination for readers when they click on it.

When readers join BookBub, they tell them their preferred regions and retailers for buying books. This means you can customize your ad to specifically target readers who prefer a particular retailer or are located in a specific region.

For example, if you want to reach Apple Books users in Australia, BookBub Ads is an excellent tool for such targeted promotions.

If you selected a book in Step 2, BookBub will automatically include the retailer links it has on file for that book. You can then make any necessary edits or add additional retailer links.

If you didn’t enter a book in Step 2, you can manually enter the URLs for your book’s specific retailer pages, one by one, in the “Custom link” field.

By entering a URL that directs to a retailer’s page for a particular region, your ad will automatically target readers in that region who prefer that specific retailer.

If you enter a URL that is not specific to any particular retailer, you have the flexibility to choose your own targeting options for regions and retailers.

Let’s say you want to reach readers who use Amazon Kindle in all the available regions, you can simply select “Amazon” as the retailer for each region.

This way, your ad will be shown to Amazon Kindle readers across different regions.

Step 5: Fine-tune Who Sees Your Ad

When it comes to a successful ad campaign, targeting the right audience is crucial. It allows you to reach people who are genuinely interested and engaged, which is essential for driving clicks, and sales, and keeping your advertising costs in check.

You’ll find two options for targeting your audience in the ad creation form. The first option is author targeting, which focuses on reaching readers who are fans of specific authors.

BookBub readers show interest in an author by following them on BookBub, clicking on their Featured Deals, or adding their books to their wishlists. You can choose as many or as few authors as you want to target.

If you select multiple authors, your ad will be shown to any reader who is a fan of any of those authors.

To help you gauge your potential reach, keep an eye on the audience dial on the right side of the screen. It will provide an estimate of the maximum number of readers you could reach each day based on your targeting choices.

After you have chosen at least one author to target, it will generate a list of additional authors who have readers in common with the author(s) you have already selected.

This can be a helpful method for discovering new authors who have similar audiences that you can also target with your ad. It’s an effective way to expand your reach and potentially connect with readers who are interested in similar types of books.

You have the option to create and save groups of targets, which allows you to conveniently add or remove multiple authors targets all at once. This feature helps you organize and manage your targeting preferences more efficiently.

Instead of individually selecting or deselecting each author, you can select a pre-saved group and simultaneously change multiple author targets. It saves you time and makes adjusting your targeting strategy as needed easier.

Category targeting aims to reach readers who have an interest in specific book categories and genres. This targeting option allows you to connect with a broader audience who enjoy particular types of books.

By selecting relevant categories and genres, you can ensure that your ad reaches readers who are likely to have an interest in the type of book you are promoting.

It’s a way to reach a wide range of readers who share a common taste in book genres and categories.

NOTE: It’s important to note that when you target based on category interests alone, the audience you reach may be quite large and diverse. As a result, the engagement rates, such as clicks or interactions with your ad, may not be as high as you would like.

This is because the audience is not specifically narrowed down based on other factors like author preferences or specific book titles.

Therefore, it’s advisable to consider using additional targeting options along with category interests to ensure better engagement and reach a more relevant audience for your ad campaign.

By combining author and category targeting, you can narrow down your audience to readers who have shown interest in both specific authors and certain book categories.

This strategy is beneficial when you want to focus on fans of authors who write in multiple genres. It helps ensure that your ad reaches a more specific and relevant audience, consisting of readers who enjoy both the selected author’s work and the chosen book categories.

It allows you to target a group of readers who have demonstrated an interest in a particular author and are also drawn to the types of books within the selected categories.

Tip: How you choose to target your audience depends on the goals you have for your ad campaign. If your main aim is to achieve a high return on investment (ROI), it is advisable to use author targeting. This allows you to reach a specific audience of readers who are likely to be highly interested in your book, leading to increased click-through rates and optimizing your budget for better results. On the other hand, if your goals are more focused on gaining exposure and reaching a larger audience, category targeting can be a good option.

This allows your ad to be seen by readers who have a general interest in the book categories you select, helping you increase your campaign’s overall visibility and reach.

Step 6: Plan Your Ad Schedule & Budget

The schedule and budget you set determine when your ad will be active and how much you’re willing to invest in it.

You have two options to choose from:

First, you can set a specific start and end date for your ad campaign, along with a total budget. This means your ad will start on the chosen date and stop participating in the ad auction either on the end date or when the allocated budget is exhausted.

Secondly, you can opt for a continuous campaign that runs starting from the current moment. With a continuous campaign, you can set a daily budget, and your ad will keep running and spending up to that daily budget each day until you pause it.

Please note that the minimum budget for a BookBub Ads campaign, both for the total and daily budget, is $1.

Step 7: Choose How You Want to Bid

Now it’s time to decide how you want to compete with other advertisers who are targeting the same readers as you.

There are two bidding strategies available for BookBub Ads: cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM).

1. CPM bidding: When using CPM bidding, you specify the highest amount you’re willing to pay for every 1,000 times your ad is displayed to readers. Each time your ad appears on an opened email or website page, it counts as an impression. You will win those impressions if your bid is the highest for the targeted audience. CPM bidding is often chosen by advertisers who want to ensure a specific reach or increase the visibility of their book to a particular audience. It can be useful for branding purposes or to create awareness about a book.
2. CPC bidding: With CPC bidding, you set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each click your ad receives. Unlike CPM bidding, where you pay for impressions, CPC bidding charges you only when someone actually clicks on your ad. This strategy carries less risk because you’re only paying for the clicks you receive. CPC bidding is often preferred by advertisers who want to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI), as they pay only for the clicks that potentially lead to reader engagement or book sales.

Your bid plays a role in how well your ad performs in the auction. The higher your bid, the greater your chances of winning more opportunities to display your ad to readers. You have the flexibility to decide how much you want to bid for each click or per thousand impressions.

While the final decision is up to you, BoobBub provides an average range of what other advertisers are currently bidding to give you some guidance on what is typically competitive in the auction. This information can help you make an informed decision about the amount you choose to bid for your ad campaign.

Step 8: Give Your Ad A Name

Finally, choose a name for your ad.

The name you assign to your ad will only be visible to you in your dashboard. It’s important to come up with a name that helps you differentiate between similar campaigns.

For example, a clear naming convention can be helpful if you’re running two ads that target the same audience but have different ad creatives. It allows you to search for specific campaigns in your dashboard easily.

One suggestion for naming your ads could be to include the book title, the retailer you’re targeting, and the date. This way, you can easily identify and keep track of your campaigns based on their specific details.

Once you have finished creating your ad, you have two options. You can save it as a draft to make changes later or click on “Continue” to proceed to the next step. The next step involves entering your payment information and choosing to either launch your ad immediately or schedule it for a specific time. BookBub Ads are updated almost instantly, so you have the flexibility to start your ad whenever you’re ready, regardless of the time.

Step 9: Keep An Eye On Your Campaign & Make Changes If Needed

Go back to the BookBub Ads section of your dashboard to access the reporting for your ads. In this section, you can search for specific ad names or use filters to view the status of your campaigns, such as live, completed, or scheduled campaigns.

This allows you to easily track the performance of your ads and make any necessary adjustments to optimize their effectiveness.

1. Impressions served: This shows you the number of times readers have viewed your ad. It counts how many times your ad has been shown to people.
2. Click-through rate (CTR): The CTR is the percentage of people who clicked on your ad out of the total number of times it was shown. It gives you an idea of your target audience’s interest in your ad and whether they are taking action by clicking on it.
3. Effective CPM and Effective CPC: These metrics calculate the average cost you’re paying for every 1,000 impressions (eCPM) or each click (eCPC) on your ad. They help you understand the cost-effectiveness of your ad campaign, allowing you to assess whether you’re getting a good return on your investment.
4. Budget Spent: This indicates the total amount of money you have spent on your campaign so far. It gives you an overview of how much you have allocated and used from your budget.
5. Remaining Budget: This shows how much money is left from your allocated budget for the campaign. It lets you know how much more you can spend on this specific campaign based on the maximum or daily budget you set in Step #6.
6. Additionally, you can see the total amount you have spent on the BookBub Ads platform across all campaigns on the Aggregate Stats tab of your dashboard. This section also allows you to view stats by book, providing a comprehensive overview of your spending and performance on the platform.

Your impression and click counts are updated every hour, so you can keep track of how many times your ad has been viewed and how many clicks it has received. You have the flexibility to make changes to your campaigns whenever you want and create new ads at any time.

To view the details of a specific campaign, simply click on its name or select “View Details” from the action dropdown. This will provide you with the Ad Details, including a daily stats view that shows how your results have changed over time. If you have targeted multiple authors in your campaign, you can also see individual stats for each author target.

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Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog until this point. I hope that it has provided you with valuable information and insights. If you found this blog helpful and it has added value to your understanding, I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Please feel free to leave a comment below to share your thoughts and let me know how this content has benefited you. Your feedback is valuable to me and helps to create content that meets your needs.