Prepare Your Author Website for the New Year: Day 8
What’s one way to increase your author website traffic and email subscribers in the new year? Plan a giveaway.
Giveaways can generate engagement on social media, and grow your list and they don’t usually require much preparation time on your part. So, how can you run a solid giveaway plan?
Set up a prize that will appear to your reader persona. Require visitors to sign-up for your email list to receive the prize. People love to win shit.
Of course, the prize is the most crucial part of this plan and requires some consideration:
Is the prize relevant to your viewers?
The more relevant the prize is to your audience, the subscribers you’ll attract. Generic prizes (Amazon gift certificates, restaurant vouchers, etc.) attract random audiences, even if they attract more visitors. You don’t want a lot of odd slapdash subscribers. You want to attract people who will buy your books and recommend your books to others.
Is the prize desirable?
The prize must be something people will want.
How many prizes do you want to offer?
The importance of this decision is variable and up for debate. Some say that the more chances someone has to win, the more likely they are to enter the “contest.” Some say one prize is enough.
How valuable is the prize?
Sure, the more valuable the prize, the better. But no need to go overboard here. Be generous but don’t go over your entire marketing budget.
Wait. You don’t want to spend money on a prize? You don’t have a marketing budget? Don’t worry. You can do this for free or at a very low-cost.
The most obvious giveaway choice is a copy of your new book or a bundle of all your books, courses, or other content. Other options are:
A framed poster of your cover art.
An e-reader loaded with your books.
A prize package with all your promo swag; t-shirts, buttons, pencils, books, posters, calendars, etc.
Bonus content such as short stories associated with your book or deleted scenes from your book. You could create an ebook specifically for this purpose.
Consider reaching out to other authors with similar books and inviting them to partner with you on the giveaway. You can create a book or course bundle. In exchange for the partnership, you will share the leads with the authors. (Make sure this is explicit in your contest rules.)
Consider approaching businesses and explaining that if they contribute a prize to your giveaway, it will benefit their brand via increased visibility. Agree to set additional entry guidelines that will allow you to share the leads with the donating business.
Remember, as a reader incentive, the perception of the value of the prize is what counts.
A couple of ways to increase the perceived value of your prize are:
Make the prize instant. Getting a prize delivered to one’s inbox, the moment of production or release, increases the desirability of the prize. Immediacy can be used for many different types of products.
Personalize the prize. Some ideas include custom edited or signed content or a private conversation with the writer.
Once you set up your giveaway, you’ll want to register it with some of the big giveaway directories like GiveawayPromote.com. That will get your giveaway exposure to a wider audience.
THAT’S IT FOR DAY 8!
Now you have an idea of how to create a giveaway as a promotional tool. Next up in this series on preparing your author website for the new year, we’re looking at learning a new skill to increase your revenue.
If you know you need to tackle your marketing to sell more books AND you want some guidance in doing it as effectively and painlessly as possible, then you'll want to take a look at our monthly membership group for authors serious about doing their marketing and growing their audience.
It’s called the Happily Ever Author Club, and it’s designed to help you finish your book, find your audience, and build the author life you’ve always dreamed of.