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Writing and Publishing

5 Benefits of Using Online Advertising to Sell Books

With an online ad, a book sale is one click away

I once shared columnist Andrew Brenneman’s thoughts on the benefits of print advertising. It is, by the way, a compelling list that includes things we take for granted or overlook. Print advertising is the medium of choice to meet certain marketing objectives.

Notwithstanding that list, he also shares the benefits of online advertising. Consider these when contemplating marketing your book online using paid advertising:

1) Dynamic: It is essentially immediate, and can be updated as needed. Test an ad, tweak it, analyze the results, and then make it even better.

2) Two-way: It facilitates easy interaction and dialogue. Answers and access are a click away when an ad is online.

3) Medium Resolution: Although online’s medium image resolution pales in comparison to print’s hi-rez capabilities, it also works nicely on mobile’s tiny displays.

4) Transaction-Enabled: A sale is but a click away. This allows for the easy tracking of ROI (return on investment). As long as an ad costs less than the profit on the sale of our book, we can run as many ads as we can afford.

5) Personalized: Offers can be tailored to the recipient and targeted to specific demographics.

Online advertising and marketing are getting all the attention and hype these days, in part because of these factors. If these are your goals (seriously, they must be your goals—not what you think your goals should be or what someone else told you), then embrace online book promotions and pursue them diligently. However, when doing this, don’t forget to consider the benefits of non-online advertising.

Book marketing success, as with most things in life, requires balance: online and offline promotions and marketing initiatives.

Have you thought about running online ads for your book? Where have you run book ads? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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By Peter Lyle DeHaan

Author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, publishes books about business, customer service, the call center industry, and business and writing.