How Amazon Lock Screen Ads Can Help Authors Boost Book Sales
Publishing your book should be the highlight of your authorship but marketing your book in today’s publishing landscape will be the difference between a flop story and a renowned novel. Amazon lock screen ads are one of the most powerful tools you can use for marketing when it comes to reaching Kindle readers directly. Find out what Amazon lock screen ads are, how they work, and how authors can use them to increase their book sales.
What Are Amazon Lock Screen Ads?
Amazon lock screen ads are advertisements on Kindle devices and apps that appear when users first pick up their device and unlock their screen. These ads are unique from other types of ads because they have an eye-catching, unignorable, placement directly on the reading device of active readers using their Kindle or Kindle app. Amazon lock screen ads have very little competition compared to other ad types and can be used purposefully to interest readers who are already looking for a book like yours. These ads stand out in the publishing world because it is easy to be overlooked or under viewed using traditional advertising efforts. Let’s explore the top 5 benefits of using lock screen ads to boost your book sales.
Top 5 Benefits of Using Lock Screen Ads
There are many unique ways to use advertising when selling your self-published book but if another author was raving about Amazon lock screen ads, would you try them? Here are the top 5 benefits of using lock screen ads to boost your book sales.
- Highly Targeted & Specific Audience: Reach your readers based on genres they like to read, authors they follow, or past book purchases on Amazon. Amazon uses these audience demographics to narrow your audience to who might enjoy your book but not too narrow that no one sees your ads.
- Increased Visibility: Your book cover is displayed on the front of readers’ devices which gives your book an extra level of visibility as well as reputation built behind your brand.
- Cost-Effective for Testing: Setting your budget based on your advertising spend is easy with Amazon lock screen ads because you can set your budget as low as $5/day. This is an advanced, wallet friendly way to boost your book sales.
- Boosts Credibility: Being featured on Amazon’s platform can give your book a professional edge. With Amazon being one of the most recognizable platforms for all purchases, even people who don’t spend time reading will see your book as elegant, sleek and professional.
- Easy to Use: The Amazon Advertising Dashboard is easy to navigate and has little to no learning curve, especially if you have experience in other types of social media ads.
There are tons of ways to advertise your book, but lock screen ads have been used by many authors to get their book into the hands of readers and make sales. We covered the top 5 benefits of using Amazon lock screen ads, let’s walk through how to create an Amazon lock screen ad for your book!
How to Create Amazon Lock Screen Ads
When creating an Amazon lock screen ad, you are going to visit the Amazon Advertising Website. Next, click “sign in” in the top right corner. Use the same Amazon account credentials you use to manage your books on your KDP or Kindle Direct Publishing account.
Step 1: Log in to the Amazon Advertising Dashboard.
Step 2: Choose “Create Campaign.”
- Select Sponsored Display Ads as your campaign type.
Step 3: Set Up Your Campaign:
- Campaign Name: Use something descriptive!
- Budget: Start small, like $5-$10/day.
- Duration: Run ad for 1-2 weeks to gather data.
Step 4: Define Targeting Options:
- Target by genre, audience segments, or readers of similar authors.
Step 5: Create the Ad:
- Upload your high-quality book cover.
- Write a catchy headline for your book ad.
- Then submit your ad for review.
Step 6: Launch the Campaign!
Once you have your ads up and running, your Amazon lock screen ads will begin to populate on Kindle products. After Amazon approves your ad, monitor your campaign performance in the dashboard. Now it is a waiting game but let’s go over some of the best tips and practices for using lock screen ads while we wait.
Best Practices
Before designing your ad remember that your cover will be the first thing potential buyers see. An engaging, interesting, and professional book cover is the key to catching attention. When you set us your ad’s targeting, be sure you are focusing on the readers who would be interested in your genre or similar authors. Targeting can be one of the most important aspects of setting up your ad because you are determining who will see your ad but more importantly who won’t see your ad.
After your campaign is running for a week or two and you notice it is getting less views than other ads you’ve created before in the past, try experimenting with different eye-catching headlines and other targeting to reveal what works best for boosting your sales with Amazon lock screen ads. Over time watch your CTR or click-through rates and compare them with the sales you make on the ads or the ROI to determine if continuing the ads are worth the spend.
Potential Drawbacks
When running ads for any campaign there is never guaranteed sales. Ads can boost visibility, but they don’t always result in an immediate purchase from the user. Setting up and checking your campaign regularly will give you a good idea of what ads work and what don’t. Over time, use this to your advantage! Creating multiple ads and running A/B tests across them is one way to experiment with your sales boosting strategy but this can add up. Stay mindful of the budget so to not overspend when creating multiple ads that run over many days.
Start Using Amazon Lock Screen Ads Today!
When it comes to advertising your book to boost sales and reputation, Amazon lock screen ads work great for authors. If you are looking for a budget-friendly, new way to get your book into the hands of eager readers, give Amazon lock screen ads a try for your book!
