The Ad Man Answers #49

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

Thanks again to everyone who participated in our Advertising Makeover series.  Over the past five columns, we discussed a variety of media tactics – streaming video players, guerrilla theater performances, demonic dating videos – effective ways to get the word out about your book launch.

 

One tactic mentioned in several of the makeovers is something Authorbuzz has already executed for many authors.  So to tell us more, the Ad Man interviewed MJ Rose herself:

 

How does Authorbuzz now reach beyond librarians, booksellers, readers and bookclub members?

We do blog ad campaigns. In fact we've gotten the highest click through rates ever at several big blogs including Huffington Post.  In general, our campaigns are in the top 10% of effectiveness because of our top NYC ad agency backgrounds.   We don't just put the book up in the ad, but actually craft a headline that will make people stop.

I can't make someone buy a book, but I can get them to stop and consider a book.  It’s the actual book in the store, or the descriptions at the online bookseller or author’s website that gets them to make the purchase.

How many people can be reached with these blog campaigns?

It depends on the book. But we have done campaigns that reached over 12 million people.

We don't buy ads just on blogs about books – quite the contrary.  We find the subject matters in each book that someone cares about, and find blogs on those subjects.  For instance – a novel about a Jewish woman who has an arranged marriage in 1860 and moves with her new husband to California during the gold rush – we'd buy blogs read by Jewish people, blogs for people interested in history, or interested in California history. We tailor every campaign. 

What authors have used this service?

We don’t say which authors have bought them versus which publishers have bought them, but we’ve done campaigns for over 200 books to date including books published by Perseus, Penguin, Hachette, SMP, Tor, Mira, Ballantine, Atria, HCI, Revell and for books written by Steve Berry, Linda Fairstein, Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, Nancy Horan, Joseph Finder, Vincent Bugliosi, Dr. Debra Condren, Eileen Gouge, Tess Gerritsen, Robert Alexander, Lisa Tucker, and many more.

Can you give an idea of what specific websites are part of your network?

No.  Each campaign is hand tailored.

What if I don't have an online banner ad?

We create all the ads.

Can you create Rich Media or flash-based banner ads?

We can, and depending on the blog/website, we do or don’t recommend it. Sometimes the cost of Flash isn't worth it – and a simple animated gif does just fine.

 

Let's say I want to target a specific niche, like fans of the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy,” can you help with that?

It really depends on the specific niche.

How do you price this service?

The price for a campaign on blogs starts at $1,500 for one week. Some authors buy as many as six weeks or more, but it’s fine to start with one week or two.  On average, we do more $3,000 campaigns than any other price point.

Can I cap my spending?

We only work with fixed budgets and fixed prices from the blogs/websites. So it is capped going in, yes.  We don't buy key words or pay for clicks.

Here are some example campaigns w/o the names of the books:

$4,500 campaign: We delivered 41 million impressions of the ad. And 3,938 people clicked though to the linked page. Based on direct marketing statistics, 1% to 1/2% of everyone who thinks about clicking actually does, which means 390,000 to 700,000 people stopped to read the ad.

$1,500 campaign:  We delivered 878,486 impressions of the ad. And 737 people clicked though to the linked page.  Based on direct marketing statistics, 1% to 1/2% of everyone who thinks about clicking actually does, which means 73,000 people stopped to read the ad.

$3,000 campaign:  We delivered 2.8 million impressions of the ad. And 1,722 people clicked though to the linked page.  Based on direct marketing statistics, 1% to 1/2% of everyone who thinks about clicking actually does, which means 170,000 to 340,000 people stopped to read the ad for the book.

What kind of post-performance reporting do you provide to the author after the campaign runs?

With blog ads I deliver the number of impressions we delivered, how many people clicked on the ad, and the estimated number of people who stopped and read the ad.

 

What role do these blog campaigns play in an overall book launch?

They are more and more the only way to reach millions of people in an affordable way. When you go back to that simple figure – one quarter page ad, running once in the NYT, reaching an audience of 1 million people who see the ad at best once for $20,000 vs. one ad running 24 hours a day for seven days at blogs delivering 20 million impressions delivered to three million people who see the add three times each for $5,000.

 

So how cool was it having THE MEMORIST named "Pick of the Week” by People Magazine?

Cooler than I could have guessed.  :)

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Thanks, MJ!

 

Be sure to tune in next time, as the Ad Man celebrates his big 5-0 (columns, that is).

 

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for the past decade, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, and the San Diego Padres. He recently finished his first mystery, KATZ CRADLE and is currently on submission. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

Comments

[Jessa Slade]

Congrats on the People plug! What a boost.