Rafflecopter giveaways

areteus · Jul 21, 2013

It seems to be the 'in' thing these days. I have noticed a number of authors using it to manage giveaways.

As I have a prize I would like to giveaway as part of a promotion, I am wondering if anyone out there has any advice about how to use this tool best. What pitfalls have you experienced in using it? How would you overcome them if you did another? What sort of prizes worked best? Anything else I should be aware of before I make a start?

Any and all answers gratefully appreciated...

merrihiatt · Jul 21, 2013

I've never used it, so can't help. Good luck.

veinglory · Jul 21, 2013

Whenever I go as a participant it seems to require a dozen complicated actions to enter--so I don't bother

areteus · Jul 22, 2013

So I suppose keep it simple may be the way to go...

I mainly see it as a way to avoid the risk of inherent bias - an independent arbiter to decide who has won instead of me saying 'I have selected a winner by picking them out of a hat and it is a mate of mine...'

areteus · Jul 26, 2013

Well, I have set it up now. So I will report anything I learn from this process....

http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/dianna-hardy-giveaway/

Jess Haines · Jul 26, 2013

Rafflecopter is convenient since it automatically picks a random winner for you at the push of a button once the giveaway period expires.

Speaking from experience, it's an effective tool if you can get other authors or bloggers to join in with you and promote it--but not so much when you're only hosting it on your own blog/FB. Not going to link it (you can find it easily enough if you want) but as an example, I'm doing one right now with about 15 other authors. We all pitched in a few bucks and some books, and we're giving away a Kindle Fire. It's got over 40,000 entries right now and I've gained a bunch of followers on Twitter and Facebook from doing it.

It's a good way to get exposure and gain followers, but you should anticipate a drop-off after it's over from the people who only followed to win something. Still worth it, in my opinion.

areteus · Jul 28, 2013

I'll see how it turns out. The one I am doing at the moment is purely for a friend's release so she is providing all the prizes. Though I intend to run one of my own sometime soon too.

I may look into getting involved in one of these big ones you mention as I think it is clearly a big prize that draws in the most interest.

aimeeduffyx · Jul 28, 2013

I found it worked really well during my last tour. Though I had someone else set it all up (Rafflecopter hates me!). Plus I've noticed that giving away a gift card or swag has a better chance of getting sales than giving away the book. More likely to encourage impulse buys.

areteus · Jul 29, 2013

Yes, that seems to be the case - you need the good cash prizes (well, vouchers and electronic stuff like kindles) to get interest and new fans.

Rafflecopter giveaways

areteus

merrihiatt

Writing! Writing! Writing!

veinglory

volitare nequeo

areteus

areteus

Jess Haines

Boldly going nowhere in particular.

areteus

aimeeduffyx

areteus