We\u2019re going to focus on Amazon\u2019s German market in this article. Germany has a very high English-speaking population, making it the perfect starting point if you want to branch out into another market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best news is this–I\u2019ve found that my average cost per lead is nearly half what it is in the American market<\/a>. Where I\u2019m spending somewhere around $4.27 to get a book sold in the US, my Germany spend is more like $2.16. This means more sales for fewer advertising dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If that sounds interesting to you, let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, you will learn:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of you who are Amazon savvy already know this header is misleading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Because whenever you self-publish with KDP, they distribute your book across all of their platforms in every country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find your book in a different market, all you have to do is change the URL a little bit. Instead of going to \u201cAmazon.com,\u201d I\u2019m going to head over to \u201cAmazon.de.\u201d Once there, I\u2019ll search for my book. Just like magic, there it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far, so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, by default, the German market will place your book in the categories you\u2019ve already selected in the English market. There\u2019s no problem with staying in those same categories, of course, but there\u2019s also potential upside if you look a little deeper\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Amazon market has become somewhat flooded with self-published books. Even if you find a pretty niche category<\/a>, it can still be difficult to find a category with low enough competition where you can grab and hold that top spot. However, the German market still has opportunities all over the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Because in addition to all the general categories, Amazon.de also has categories specific to foreign language books. Not only that, but those categories are broken down by language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More categories mean more opportunities. As a matter of fact, in some cases, you can niche so far down that the bestseller list doesn\u2019t even exist yet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What does that mean? That means if your book fits in one of those empty or near-empty categories, you might be an instant bestseller<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Head to Amazon.de and start browsing. Don\u2019t forget, you can place your book in up to 10 categories! Be sure to search the category lists for both books and eBooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the way, unless you speak German, I\u2019d suggest using Google Chrome (which can translate the page for you). Otherwise, make sure to have a translator pulled up so you can figure out which category is best for your book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can change your categories in the German version of your KDP dashboard (kdp.amazon.de), or you can call Amazon customer service. If you make the call, be prepared with the full string of your categories. Be patient on the phone! The person at Amazon HQ will likely have to translate on their end to make sure you get in the right category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a full overview of category mastery, check out this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (PS \u2013 Publisher Rocket<\/a> is a tool that can help you identify categories quickly and easily. It can also signal which categories you can choose to move into the top 10 immediately)<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n See the Publisher Rocket effect, when you use the right keywords and categories to help get your book seen more on Amazon.<\/p>\n Get Publisher Rocket Now!<\/a> <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n This was easily the most difficult part of writing this tutorial. You\u2019ll be hard-pressed to find information on Google for how to get into your German advertising dashboard. Luckily for you, I like to poke around and figure things out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, simply head to \u201cadvertising.amazon.com.\u201d Once you\u2019re there, look up in the top right corner. If you click on the American flag, you\u2019ll see a drop-down where you can pick any of Amazon\u2019s marketplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, you\u2019ll be able to choose not only the marketplace you wish to target but also the language you\u2019d like to use. I chose \u201cGermany\u201d and \u201cEnglish” for this experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you do that, you\u2019ll be asked how you want to log in. Your best option is to login through your existing KDP account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Login like you normally would, and you\u2019ll be re-routed to your KDP Dashboard. (Notice the \u201c.de\u201d on the logo, which confirms you\u2019re in the right place.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019re in your German KDP account, click \u201cswitch advertising\u201d next to your book. This will bring up a screen with various promotion options. On the right side of the screen, you\u2019ll see a section labeled \u201cplace an ad campaign.\u201d Choose \u201camazon.de,\u201d and then click \u201cCreate an Ad Campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phew! We\u2019re finally in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The good news is, you won\u2019t have to go through that winding path every time. Once done the steps above, you can simply return to \u201cadvertising.amazon.de\u201d and access all your campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s start our first ad. If you\u2019re used to running ads for your book in Amazon\u2019s US market, you should be able to navigate this part even in German.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll go ahead and set the campaign name, start date, daily budget, and targeting type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can see I\u2019ve chosen 4 euros as my daily budget. For reasons a little outside the scope of this article, I do not for a second believe Amazon is going to spend the entire 4 euros on ONE ad in ONE day. Nevertheless, this amount should get me some data to start with, especially when I combine it with the other ads I\u2019m going to run here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll also keep my bidding strategy on \u201cfixed bids\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n German ads have an extra step called \u201cad groups.\u201d If you\u2019re like me and run hundreds of these things every single month, it will be useful to go back later and find these groups. I\u2019ll probably run advertisements based around the keyword \u201ccreativity,\u201d so I\u2019ll give it that generic name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, I\u2019ll add my book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike the US market, German market advertisements are allowing me to add both versions of my book at the same time to a sponsored ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, I\u2019ll choose \u201ckeyword targeting.\u201d I have a few existing ones in English. Since the German market might give me different keywords, I\u2019ll go ahead and do some research around the site to figure out some new keywords. My book is in English (for now), but I\u2019m still using a mix of German and English words to advertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (PS \u2013 I generated a TON of extra keywords automatically by using the German version of Publisher Rocket<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n After I\u2019ve got my keyword list, it\u2019s time to select a bid. Again, this is outside our scope for this article, but DON\u2019T blindly choose Amazon\u2019s suggested bid. This is a great way to lose your shirt, your pants, and probably at least one shoelace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I changed \u201csuggested bid\u201d to \u201cdefault bid.\u201d This allows me to put the same amount for hundreds of keywords. (Unless you are on a desert island and have nothing better to do than guess at the prices of thousands of keywords, I\u2019d suggest this method).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What price should you pick? Good question. Bid pricing varies in effectiveness depending on your book genre. You may be able to get by with a few cents in \u201cUnicorn Adventure Party\u201d books, but you\u2019ll have to shell out more if you\u2019d like to target a more generic keyword like \u201cself-help\u201d or \u201cmoney management.\u201d My advice is to start small and test your book description<\/a> and cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experience with the US market tells me a good bid for \u201ccreativity\u201d words might be somewhere around .15. I\u2019ll set that as the default for the entire list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now we\u2019re done!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wait, we shouldn\u2019t be done… What about writing the blurb for the advertisement?? Turns out, this is not yet an option with the German market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we get to the data, I also want to show you how to set up the other type of advertisement: the product advertisement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything at the top is the same. Note that I\u2019m using the same naming convention (minus the \u201chook\u201d this time since I don\u2019t have one). You don\u2019t have to use my naming convention, but it does help to keep things standard for when you\u2019re analyzing later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference comes toward the bottom of the page in the \u201cTargeting\u201d section. I\u2019ll click \u201cProduct Targeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you scroll down, you\u2019ll see suggested categories from Amazon. Now, there is a slight problem here because\u2026 well, I don\u2019t speak German at all. Other than \u201cKreativit\u00e4t.\u201d I could throw caution to the wind and select these all. However, it\u2019s been my experience that my ads work best when they are positioned next to books (as opposed to other products on Amazon). I\u2019ll at least do some google translate work to make sure I\u2019m either running ads next to books or ebooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looks like the word \u201cB\u00fccher\u201d means \u201cbook.\u201d I\u2019ll feel pretty confident running ads in categories where I see that word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re feeling particularly German, you could also go to the \u201csearch\u201d function for categories and dig for a potential diamond in the rough. For now, I\u2019ll just stick with the Amazon suggested categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t forget to change the default bid!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, all I have to do now is start a few more of these ads, hop in my time machine, and then see how it went!<\/p>\n\n\n\n (DeLorean sounds roar\u2026 two weeks pass\u2026 I sit and stare at data)<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n Check out my full free video course that will teach you how to make effective Ads to increase your book sales<\/p>\n Sign Up Now<\/a> <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\n Whenever you start a new project like this, there are always some nerves. But three days in, I made my first sale in the German market! Woohoo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was VERY conservative with my advertising in the German market. Since I don\u2019t really like wasting money, I wanted to take some time and test for ideal bids. However, I was still able to generate some pretty decent sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTable of contents<\/h2>
How to Get Your Book on the German Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image1-1024x589.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGetting Your Book in German Categories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"german](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image3.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"book](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image2.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"german-vs-american-categories\"](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/german-vs-american-categories.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIncrease Your Book Marketing<\/h3>\r\n <\/a>\r\n \r\n
![\"Publisher](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/graph-sml.png\")
\r\n \r\n <\/a> <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\n\n\nHow to Run Ads in the German Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"choosing](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image7.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"logging](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image6.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"running](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image10.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"choosing](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image8.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"create-ad-campaign-germany-2\"](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image15.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe First Step \u2013 Running a Sponsored Keyword Advertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"ad](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image11.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"ad](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image13.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"fixed](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image16.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"ad](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image18.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"adding](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image19.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"german](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image20.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"suggested](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image21.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"bid-price\"](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image22.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"ad](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image23-1024x442.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Next Option \u2013 Advertise by Category<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"product](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image24.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Amazon-german-books\"](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image9.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/amazon-ads-laptop-1.png\")
\r\n \r\n <\/a> <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n Learn Amazon Ads for Free<\/h3>\r\n <\/a>\r\n \r\n
How Do Ads Perform on the German Market?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"first](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image12.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"german](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image14-1024x244.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"german-market\"](\"https:\/\/kindlepreneur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image17-1024x552.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n