#070: Amazon Ads: Kindle vs Paperback Format

Read Time: 3.5 Minutes

Amazon Ads can be challenging and frustrating. It can also be highly unprofitable, as many authors have experienced first-hand.

Out of the 300+ authors who have already signed up for the Amazon Ads Mastery For Authors wait list, more than 40% of people have said "I've tried Amazon Ads before and they didn't work for me".

And 29% of authors told me "I'm running Amazon Ads but they aren't profitable".

These are staggering numbers, but it doesn't surprise me. Amazon Ads is simple on the surface, but the more you get into it, it can certainly become complex (if you let it).

If you've been reading my newsletters for any length of time, you'll know how much I love simplicity. This is why my account structure and system for running Amazon Ads is as simple as I can possibly make it.

But that's a topic for another day.

Today, I'd like to discuss a supposedly simple topic, that may not have a simple answer (at least, it hasn't for us).

Paperback vs Kindle: Which One Should You Advertise?

15% of Lori's overall royalties come from paperbacks. 30% eBooks and 56% Kindle Unlimited. With these numbers, you'd think the answer to the question above was simple:

Advertise the bestselling format (clearly Kindle).

But, when I dug into the lifetime numbers earlier this week, 65% of total sales from the Amazon Ads were paperbacks.

Only 35% of total Amazon Ads sales came from eBooks and Kindle Unlimited.

This surprised me. But the data doesn't lie, so I'm following the data and focusing most of our spend on the paperbacks, with a smaller percentage going to the Kindle versions.

I've advertised the paperback books since 2020, just ticking along in the background, but putting most of my focus on advertising the Kindle versions.

And what do you know...

Paperback sales have outstripped sales of Kindle and Kindle Unlimited combined.

How I'm Doing It

We'll get into Account Structure in a future newsletter, but all I'm doing is focusing on paperback keywords, such as:

– fantasy books for adults paperback

– fantasy book series paperback

– historical fiction paperback

I'm using Publisher Rocket (affiliate link), and identifying relevant, high monthly search volume keywords (1,000+ searches) and targeting these aggressively with the aim of ranking for these keywords organically.

What Amazon Cares About

The Amazon Algorithm is looking for 2 things when deciding how to rank books for certain keywords:

– Conversion Rate

– Sales Velocity

If you can prove that the keywords you're targeting (with Amazon Ads) are relevant to your book (which you do with a good click-through rate, conversion rate and driving consistent sales), Amazon will look more favorably on you and show you organically for these keywords.

When you rank organically for relevant keywords, you don't need to pay for clicks on Ads. And that is where the profit really comes in.

In the beginning, though, you're training Amazon to learn about your book. And the best way to do this is through Amazon Ads (as well as the metadata of your books, such as categories, blurbs, KDP keywords, etc.).

The process of ranking takes time, so you'll need patience (unless you have deep pockets and can spend a lot of money on Amazon Ads in a short space of time).

Wrapping Up...

Amazon Ads is a completely different platform to Facebook Ads and buyer intent is very different on both.

So, although eBooks and Kindle Unlimited are our bestselling formats overall, paperbacks actually convert better from Amazon Ads than eBooks do.

We can make assumptions all day long, but until you look at the data, you're guessing (like we were).

If eBooks and Kindle Unlimited have historically converted best for you with Amazon Ads, run with it, double down on them.

But perhaps, like us, you've assumed eBooks and Kindle Unlimited are your bestselling format with Amazon Ads, but when you look at the data, you may find the opposite it true.

Double-check the data.

And if you've never run Amazon Ads before, start with your overall bestselling format and analyze the data after 1-2 months to see if this format is the best fit for Amazon Ads.

It may not be.

And remember, readers can always switch between Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audiobook formats when they land on your book product page.

But advertising the right format (for your Amazon Ads) will help Amazon find the right readers for that format (i.e. it will show eBook Ads to eBook readers and paperback Ads to paperback readers).

That's all for today. Hope this helps you move towards more profitable Amazon Ads.

Thank you so much for reading and see you next week.

To Your Success
– Matt