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AMS AD DEADLINE
When you create an advertisement for KDP Select books via AMS, you must choose an end date.
The end date must be within the next 6 months.
But suppose you have a successful advertisement running, but when the deadline approaches, you don’t want to stop your AMS ad campaign.
Especially, if you spent several hours handpicking books to target, and your ad is doing well; you don’t want to have to do that research again, and you might not choose such a good list next time.
Fortunately, you can extend the deadline of your KDP ad.
Extend the deadline before the ad runs its course.
When the deadline is near, simply view your AMS ad report.
Click the Edit button next to your ad.
Revise the end date. It will let you choose a date up to six months from today.
Click save.
Return to your ad report, just to check that the end date has properly updated.
When the new deadline comes up, you can repeat the process, if you want.
A FEW TIPS
The real trick is getting the AMS ad to work well enough that you actually want to extend the deadline when the time comes.
So here are a few tips:
- Don’t overbid. Most authors can’t afford to spend 50 cents or more per click. Start out very low. Wait three days (or more) because ad report data can be significantly delayed (if it seems like nothing’s happening, wait 3 days to find out if indeed nothing is happening, or if you’ve already spent a lot of money that just hasn’t posted to your report yet because of delays). If nothing happens after a few days, raise your bid just a little. Then wait a few more days. This strategy gets you affordable clicks. It won’t drive a ton of daily traffic to your book, but it will help you generate some interest without overspending. Time is on your side. Take what you can afford to get, even if it comes very slowly. Too many authors bid much higher than they should, blowing their budgets before they realize it with little to show for it. I have several ads that perform well, with very low bids, even though it may take weeks for them to deliver significant results. Personally, I prefer to be patient and get a good return on my investment.
- Test it out. I ran a few dozen tests in the first couple of months before I learned the most effective ways to make these ads work for my books. You’re not obligated to spend the entire $100 budget. You can pause or terminate your ad at any time. (But if you bid high, you can blow your budget without realizing it because there can be significant delays.) So you can try an ad over a short period, then cancel it and start a new ad. Maybe you try changing your targeting list, or maybe you try a different catch phrase. Some trial and error can help you learn more effective ways to use this advertising tool.
- Close the deal. If your sales to clicks ratio is 3% or less, this suggests that you could improve (A) your targeting or (B) your product page. Is your product page closing the deal as well as it could? Does the cover properly suggest what to expect? Does it achieve this goal in the tiny ad thumbnail, too? Does the book description arouse interest and curiosity without giving away too much? Does the Look Inside grab the reader right away? Does everything look professional? The great thing about AMS is that you can test out the performance of your product page. You can get two weeks of data, then revise your book description, get another two weeks of data, and compare. Did changing the product page actually make a difference, for better or for worse? Your AMS ad report can be a tool to help you perfect your product page. A closing rate of around 5% is reasonable achieve; a closing rate of 10% or more is rare, but it can be done. A closing rate of 1% or less isn’t good, but it happens.
Write happy, be happy. 🙂
Chris McMullen
Copyright © 2015
Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers
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chrismcmullen 
I am going to be one of those authors who don’t promote much – it seems to take a LOT of time and energy and watching the results and the ads and the ongoing campaigns with a hungry-hawk-like attention. If I had even two days of that kind of energy, I’d spend it on the big picture tasks for Book 2 (coming up) – to avoid the editing I had to do at the end of Book 1.
So it is especially nice to have people like you not only DO these things, but report back. It is amazing how many SP authors are generous even with their failures – they come back and tell the tale.
Which gives people like me some of the experience without all the cost (kind of like reading in general gives you vicarious lives). I have my own choices all mapped out – and they are probably very different from what most people would use – but based solely on letting all this data stew and percolate inside my brain, down deep in the subconscious. I’ll either get coal or diamonds eventually.
Thanks!
Hopefully, diamonds. 🙂
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
In case you need to know 😀
Thank you. 🙂
Welcome 😀
Chris, what did you mean by this statement: “if you spent several hours handpicking books to target” — How do you mean by targeting books? Thanks for this post.
With product targeting, you choose products to target for your campaign, as opposed to interest targeting, where you select a category. You can search for books, movies, or other products where you feel that your target audience is likely to appreciate both those products and your book.