My ebook of The Left Turn: Two Lives, Worlds Apart was supposed to be free today, but it wasn’t. My apologies to those of you who went to get your free copy. FRIDAY through SUNDAY it WILL be FREE.
When Things Go Wrong with a Promotion Campaign
Even when it feels like we’re doing things “right,” there are so many little things that can go “wrong.” This is what happened this morning to me. With a full marketing campaign with scheduled social media posts and ads and an email blast, I went to bed last night feeling pretty ready for Day 1.
This morning, while testing a link I was testing, I discovered my ebook pricing was still showing at regular price. What?! Oh no! That panic lasted about 15 seconds then I regrouped and figured out what to do next.
Don’t Waste Time with Frustration
The promo I had set up had not activated. I did not linger on whether I should blame myself for not double checking this critical piece of the puzzle, I tried to see if I could set it up to start immediately. No, earliest start was for tomorrow. Dang. I got into a chat with KDP customer support, pleading that they activate the new promo I just set up. No go.
What else could I do? I asked about changing my regular price to $0 short-term. Not allowed. So I modified my royalty structure option short for now so I could drop the price to the lowest allowed: $0.99. Essentially free, but not quite. And all my promos promised free.
Finding Things to be Grateful For
Meanwhile, most of the ads I had set up thankfully checked price before launching their ads and emailed me to let me know and ask if I would like to reschedule. WHEW! Some could do tomorrow. Some not. So, a bit of a short term loss in some sense, and not bolstering the campaign as planned, but I was doing what was possible.
Communicate
I sent an OOPS email out to those who had opened my first scheduled email to let folks know what happened. And I rescheduled the remaining social posts to go Sunday since I had to shift from Thu-Sat to Fri-Sun. And I reached out to the folks that said they would post to their followers to let them know of the glitch. Some of their posts were able to be rescheduled, and for some it was too late.
Take-aways From the Blunder:
- If you are running a promo, double check that it is set up properly.
- When things go awry—which happens plenty of times for many reasons—skip over blame and frustration, and shift all that energy into problem-solving and action.
- Be honest about what happened with your followers. We get it. We’re all human.
- Communicate in a timely manner.
- Be kind to customer support people, even when they cannot resolve things. You’ll both feel better.
Yes, I think (hope!) everyone reading this understands. We’ve all felt the pressure of the hundreds of details that add up to a successful promotion, and many of us have had to send an “oops” email at least once in our careers. Best of luck with the promo!