On Advertising and CPC
This is a remake of the original Alpha Team trailer I designed when Species Seventeen first came out in October of 2024. I’ve since created many trailers, but none have even come close to the performance of this one in advertising campaigns.
Normally, trailers I’ve designed result in somewhere between 10-14 cents per click - meaning the number of clicks I get divided by the dollars of advertising spend I allocated to the ad, cost me somewhere between 10-14 cents. These are very good numbers to have, and I’m thrilled the trailers resonate with SciFi folks. But the Alpha Team promo (this one) gets somewhere around 4-5 cents, which is almost unheard of in the advertising space. Lower is better. Additionally, conversion (which is defined as “people clicking on the ad actually getting the book”) is really high as well.
Yes, the trailers are made with AI. Yes, there is an “anti-AI” movement out there where some folks love to find AI videos and post “AI slop” or some other rude commentary. I’ve grumbled about this before - I think AI has its uses, but with SciFi trailers, it’s almost mandatory. I attempted to engage one of these disgruntled posters once in order to understand his point of view. He told me that I should hire a real person to make my trailers, not use an AI to do it.
When I showed him some of the economics of independent publishing (and more directly, the costs) I asked why it would make sense to spend more thousands of dollars to hire someone who would likely use the very same tools to create these promos. Or, if they just used graphic design, they’d be able to create images, but certainly not videos of this nature.
I resigned myself to just accepting that some folks will gripe about AI trailers, but most of us who love SciFi will enjoy them. So far, the advertising metrics support my theory, and I’ll continue making the trailers. If some big publisher ever took interest in my work and gave me an advertising budget, then sure, maybe we’d go out and get a professional to do the ads. But, I have to say, the stuff that can be done with AI and video is downright stunning. See the trailer above, and let me know what you think.
Oh, and the final Severant teaser should be out in a week or so. It’s a delicate balance - writing, making promo videos, and being a finance nerd in real life.
-CS
