Authors and Publishers Beware: TV Ads Don't Lead to Online Sales for Books, Says Internet Marketing Expert Joel Comm, Author of 'KaChing'

LOVELAND, Colo., Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Authors and Publishers shouldn't believe all the hype about how TV advertising can lead to an avalanche of sales online, says Joel Comm, author of the Amazon best-selling book, KaChing: How to Run an Online Business that Pays and Pays (Wiley, 2010).

The book reached at high as #35 on Amazon's Best-Seller List with the help of online marketing and social media -- but it didn't sell more than a handful of copies despite spending $10,000 on commercials on top-rated TV shows recently.

The ad, created by Comm's firm, InfoMedia Inc. (http://www.InfoMediaInc.com), ran over a 10-day period. The ad appeared 230 times on such top-rated shows as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Fast Money, Man vs. Food, Mad Men, and Wall Street Journal Report. The ads ran in October.

The ad (http://www.thekachingsecret.com) asked people to go to a website to receive two free chapters of his book in exchange for their name and email address. It did not ask for the order and it did not ask people to call a toll-free number to buy the book. The objective of the ad was to build a mailing list of interested buyers and to provide them real value with information from the book.

While the long-term affects of the branding from the ad have yet to be measured, the conversion rates were a disaster. The commercials created a total of 8.3 million impressions but led to only 112 website visits, a conversion rate of less than 0.001 percent, way below industry norms. Even worse, a mere 40 people filled in the non-threatening, two-line form requesting name and email to receive the two free chapters.

"This is a massive failure. This is proof that old media calls to action do not translate to sales on new media. People who watch TV rarely take note of the ad and they aren't motivated to go online as a result," Comm said. "TV is about branding and keeping a brand in the forefront of a consumer's mind."

The quality of the ad is not in question, because an online campaign for the ad pulled well.

The ad ran on YouTube and received 5,000 views. That led to 1,375 visits to KaChing's website. That's a conversion rate of nearly 33 percent. Of those visitors, more than half -- 753 people -- opted in for the two free chapters. Comm drove traffic to the YouTube site without spending a penny. The glowing results came from an online marketing campaign in which Comm sent emails to his subscribers and posted the information on his blog. He also enlisted the aid of his marketing colleagues who promoted the ad to their lists.

"This proves that the ad works," said Comm, a masterful marketer with a proven track record of success that includes promoting his other book, The AdSense Code (Morgan James Publishing, 2006), to the New York Times best-selling book list and his book Twitter Power (Wiley, 2009) to multiple international translations.

"I haven't had one person give negative feedback about the ad and I've asked people to be brutal. It grabs attention," said Comm. To see the ad, go to http://www.thekachingsecret.com

These startling statistics show that online marketing is the best way to sell books, he said.

"If I took that $10,000 and put that into ad buys on the Internet, there's no question we'd have massive conversions. We'd see thousands of opt-ins," he said. "Online media works better."

"Joel Comm has built a solid reputation online by telling the truth, even if it hurts," says Dan Janal, founder of PRLEADS PLUS.

"If I can help other online marketers, merchants, authors and consultants as a result of my TV commercial experiment, then I'll consider this money well spent," said Comm.

This case study proves several key points Comm teaches in Ka-Ching:

• It is important to build a large list of followers who know, like and trust you.
• Form alliances with other like-minded businesses who have followers in similar niches and markets.
• Make a compelling offer that provides real value to the prospect before asking that person for the order.

About Joel Comm

Joel Comm is an entrepreneur, NY Times bestselling author, and new media innovator. An expert on harnessing the power of social media and mobile applications to expand your brand's reach and engage in active relationship marketing, Joel is a sought-after public speaker who leaves his audience inspired, entertained, and armed with strategic tools to create a new media campaign that will explode their business.

SOURCE InfoMedia, Inc.