Outsourcing Promotion

I've been Youtubing around a bit for how-to stuff on ads and whatnot, and I will keep on doing so for a while, but at the moment it looks like I want to outsource it.
In part because I'm simply a lazy bastard, but also because I look at what mostly seems like gaming the system, and I figure there's someone who can do that better.
Plus, I don't really see Amazon ads working in my favor right now. I've got no reviews, and no clue. I don't even know what genre my book is. I'm told it's urban fantasy, but I kinda don't think so.

Anyway, long story short:
Anybody here outsource their promotion work?
If yes, what are the pitfalls, the scam-traps?
And feel free to have me check out your "promotor." If it's against the rules to post here, I will be accepting DMs.

It's about time I start getting eyes on the book(s).

 

I wouldn't.

Google in particular have altered their algorithms precisely to stop people doing this. Facebook have also put a lot of restrictions on how ads and suchlike appear in people's feeds to the point where businesses have lost a lot of their advertising effectiveness. Most of these "experts" are relying on old, outdated - and blackhat - techniques such as keyword stuffing, guest posting and backlinks which no longer work, or never did work in the first place.

Self promotion is hard, but if you produce something people will genuinely be interested in and doesn't look like marketing, and you know your audience and target them properly, it can be very effective.

Speaking here from a business point of view, as someone who gets bombarded by people offering these services daily.

 

I've arrived at the point where I agree.

And again I would agree. Which is actually part of my problem. I hate ads. Never liked them, but there was one time where Youtube interrupted Judas Priest's Painkiller and that wound never healed. Plus, I've been teaching my mother "if it says sponsored on it, don't click it."
It's a bit of an adjustment to become one of "them."

At the moment, profits aren't a factor. I keep a little excel file and it's readily apparent I'm not gonna be in the black any time soon anyway. The goal now is just getting read and I figure worrying about money will not work in my favor.
Obviously I'm not just opening the tap and draining my accounts dry. I'm not Elon Musk... but, you know, if Elon's reading this...

 

Instead of paying someone to market for you, I would focus more on sites like goodreads and getting reviews there. You can always do a giveaway of the book on KDP, aimed at people on the review sites.

Consider sites like Royalroad or patreon where you can build a reader base.

 

This is an interesting discussion because I don't think I've ever discovered books through ads. Generally, I hate ads with a passion, and I've made it a personal aim to not buy anything on an ad. Listening to songs on YouTube and having the mood they create ruined by the absolutely obnoxious ads is an experience I now refuse to tolerate. NewPipe is a great Youtube client.

The way I've always discovered books is either through reviews, browsing, or word of mouth—meaning discussions on good books that I read online.

I could be unique in that regard. Does anyone here discover their books through ads?

 

I've considered Patreon once or twice, but I have no clue how that would work for books. I don't have something extra to give for people in, say, the Sterling tier.
And the way I thought Patreon worked it would mean that I'm now stuck with the book, while I prefer the option to go work on something else for a bit.

As well you should. I do the same. It's a bit petty, maybe, and on my end, not very effective. The algorithm is so confused with me that it's just blindly firing ads at me now.
I don't really need wholesale deals on tampons.

I will get downright murderous when they fire an ad through the music, and I think Google has listened to me through my phone when that happened because it hasn't happened since. They still do ads, obviously, but never in the middle of a song.
But I'm gonna have a look at NewPipe nonetheless.

By the way, there might be this book you like. Maybe you know the author...

I just went "fukkit" and started an ad campaign on Amazon yesterday. Set the whole thing on automatic for starters. Currently my views are zero anyway, so the only way is up... or sideways, perhaps.

 

This is a great question. Understanding your target customer—their reading habits and how they discover new books—is helpful. However, when your intended audience is unclear, promotional efforts may not be effective. In such cases, "effectual" marketing techniques should be employed. Think of these as experiments to help identify your audience rather than to sell books directly.