#101: Building A Reader Funnel

Read Time: 3.5 Minutes

Facebook Ads are, don't get me wrong, a superb way to sell books; I've been using them for the past 5 years (to the day actually - we published my wife's first book 5 years ago today).

But just as with everything in life, advertising platforms change.

Now, I'm not here to say stop running Facebook Ads.

I am here to say, Facebook Ads don't work like they used to.

Yes, they still work, but the way you use them has changed.

One of the biggest changes is targeting; no longer do you need to be ultra-specific with who you are targeting; you can leave that to Facebook's (Meta's) algorithm (and it does a far better job than we can do ourselves).

Something I've been testing recently with Facebook Ads are what I'm calling reader funnels.

With reader funnels, I'm using the Leads objective inside Facebook Ads rather than the Traffic objective. That's not because the Traffic objective doesn't work anymore; it does, and it can work incredibly well.

Using the Leads objective is just an alternative strategy to reach a different subset of your readers that you may not reach when using the Traffic objective.

Getting back on track...

You then deliver the book/sample chapters on the Thank You page after someone signs up.

I recommend using BookFunnel to allow readers to download your book/sample chapters and read it on their Kindle or other eReader, or even read it inside BookFunnel's own browser-based reading tool.

For sample chapters specifically, I'm testing a link on the Thank You page that sends readers over to the full book on Amazon (e.g. they've signed up for the first 3 chapters of Book 1 and I'm providing a link to the full version of Book 1 on Amazon).

On top of this, I have an autoresponder email welcome sequence in place that readers receive after they've opted-in and is delivered over the course of 5-7 days (you can change the number of emails and the cadence of these emails to however you see fit).

The autoresponder introduces readers to:

→ The author (location, hobbies, family, pets, etc.)

→ The characters (fiction)

→ Where the idea for the book/series came from

→ Products/services (non-fiction)

→ Other books in the series/catalog

In each of these emails, I'm subtly adding 1 or 2 links to the full book on Amazon (if a reader has downloaded sample chapters) or another book of the author's if they've downloaded a full book for free.

I'm using Amazon Attribution links for every link that is sending readers to Amazon so that I can track which emails in the welcome sequence are driving sales. I'm also using an Amazon Attribution link on the Thank You a new subscriber sees after they opt-in.

The beauty of this alternative strategy compared to sending people directly from Facebook Ads to a book on Amazon is two-fold:

→ Facebook can optimize better for leads (i.e. email subscribers) instead of just clicks, meaning higher-intent readers are seeing your books

→ You're building an asset (your email list) that will serve you for years to come

This strategy doesn't need to act as an alternative to what you're currently doing with Facebook Ads. 

It can act as an addition, if you have the budget, because you're going to reach a completely different audience by optimizing for leads instead of clicks.

This strategy allows you to have a lot more control over the reader journey; you can design (to an extent) the way in which readers discover your books, the order they discover them in and find out more about you as the author.

The other advantage I can see in today's online world and the way AI (Artificial Intelligence) is playing a bigger and bigger role in our day-today lives, is the human connection email offers.

When someone joins your email list, you have a direct line of communication to that reader. You can connect with them in your own words, in your own unique voice.

It's still early days for this new strategy I'm testing, but so far things are looking very promising:

→ Ads converting at 15% - 58% (not a typo)

→ Email open rates of 50% - 60%

→ Email click rates of 15% - 20%

I'm still waiting on the full Amazon Attribution data, but things are looking promising.

I'll keep you updated as time goes on because I still have a lot of ideas I'd like to test, such as:

→ A/B Testing Landing Pages

→ A/B Testing Thank You Pages

→ Different Ideas For The Ads

→ Alternative Messaging In Autoresponder Emails

One thing is for sure though... although the fundamentals of advertising haven't changed that much; what has changed is the way we use the advertising tools at our disposal.

Using Facebook Ads or any other ad platform for that matter, like you did 12-18+ months ago and expecting the same results just isn't going to happen. Even using the exact same ads that worked 6 months ago will likely not work today.

We have to change, adapt and evolve just as quickly as the ad platforms themselves, otherwise we'll be left behind.

And that's why I'm always testing new ideas, new strategies and new ways to build a sustainable author business.

But I'm leaning more and more into the reader journey and the experience a reader has when they discover a new author, rather than just running ads, because I believe that what we all crave today, more than ever before, is human connection and a personal touch.

And by using advertising strategically in a way that allows you to build that connection with your audience can only be a good thing.

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed this weeks newsletter; I'll keep you updated on all of this as I gather more data.

Have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for reading,

See you next Saturday.

To Your Success
- Matt