Hang On To Your Wallet – by Brinda Berry
We talked a little about marketing and book swag last time. I chose one of the least expensive items in marketing when I went with my romance trading cards for a giveaway item. As a reminder, I paid $59.10 total for 2000 cards from http://www.gotprint.com. I’ve used them for giveaways and sent them to two author/reader conference for bags.
I’ve given away larger items for marketing purposes. During my blog tour in April, I offered a grand prize of a Kindle Touch eReader or Nook Simple Touch (approx. $100) . I also offered romance trading cards from my books to 20 winners. Using the Rafflecopter widget, I was able to track my return on investment (ROI) of this giveaway.
I had a dozen friends help roll-out the blog tour with an announcement the week my book released mid-March and some put the contest info with Rafflecopter on the blog post. Then in April, I had a blog tour at twenty book blogger/review sites where the Rafflecopter and contest were displayed.
I had the following results:
- 146 people ENTERED the contest in total. Multiple entries were accepted by the methods listed below.
- 93 of the 146 entered by LIKING me on Facebook
- 89 entered by LIKING the blog post
- 102 entered by COMMENTING on the blog post
- 10 entered by PURCHASING a book from the Whispering Woods series (extra points awarded for this type of entry)
- 104 entered by FOLLOWING me on Twitter
- 79 entered by TWEETING about the Whisper of Memory giveaway
Was this worth the cost of the eReader? It’s hard to say. I did get some good exposure that I probably would not have without a prize. Let’s face it. We all like to win things. Even when I open a fortune cookie, I secretly wish for a good one like, “You will have the best day of your life very soon.” Instead I usually get the fortune that says, “Your luck will change tomorrow.” How cryptic is that? Back on track… I do believe my prize could have been smaller with some of the same results.
I recently had a contest to win a paperback book from a list of my favorites reads (approx. $12 value). This contest has given me the same number of results on Facebook and Twitter as the one for the eReader mentioned above. Of the results for the eReader giveaway, I’m most pleased that some folks purchased my books to enter. I didn’t know if that would actually work or not. And honestly, I hope some purchased my books later only because of the exposure to the blurb and cover.
Let’s look at some other choices for book swag. The things I’m showing you would be considered larger prizes (unless you have a lot more in your marketing budget than I do). Word of mouth is a great tool. If you give away items that will be seen and become conversation pieces, you generate word of mouth advertising. Since my books are YA, imagine a student using certain items at school. The marketing team for the Twilight series has done a great job of making T-shirts, journals, and posters available for their fans. These are things I considered:
Let’s get back to the discussion of my Whisper of Memory eReader giveaway in April results and word of mouth. When Rafflecopter chose Justin Bieber as the winner and he tweeted about it and wrote a song….Okay. That’s a lie. Justin didn’t win. Sher A. Hart, a YA author won the contest as chosen by the Rafflecopter widget. She asked me if she could get a gift credit and make a decision about an upgrade. I agreed. Then Sher blogged about eReaders and winning HERE. It’s a terrific post if you are trying to decide which eReader to purchase. She thanked me and referred to my book at the beginning of the post. I’m not sure of how many readers subscribe to her blog, but Sher has 665 friends on Google friend connect alone and is active on multiple types of social media like Facebook (262 fans) and Twitter (2,310 followers). This is great exposure (AKA word of mouth) for me via Sher A. Hart.
This post is not to convince you that I know all the answers. I’m only sharing my experiences this year with my marketing adventures. I listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point on audiobook several times last year and believe that everyone should read it. If you can’t read it, check out this Wikipedia summary. Gladwell postulates that there is a stickiness factor (making it memorable) for certain products. He also talks about the virility of certain ideas and products. Our goal as a marketer is to have people talking about our books. All the information is compelling and food for thought.
Any thoughts to share? Read any good marketing books lately? Wish you had an iPhone cover with a book image on the back?
BIO: Brinda lives in the southern US with her family and two spunky cairn terriers. She’s terribly fond of chocolate, coffee, and books that take her away from reality.
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Thanks for filling in for me (again!) Brin. Never, ever leave your regular every-odd-Wednesday guest spot on my glob.
[That kind of sounds like water-restricted yard maintenance schedules, doesn’t it?]
Do you suppose guest bloggers would be offended if I ‘themed’ Wednesday posts Odd Wednesday Guest Glob?
Get back to me soonest. Before it becomes a theme I can’t live without. Whoop! Too late. Sorry.
Glob followers, I continue to write like the wild woman I am on the first draft of my WIP. But, Great News (?), I plan to write a post of my own in the near future. Yes. It will be this month. Yes. The day will still be in the teens.
Oh! Oh! I so want a journal with Whisper of Memory on the cover. Go forth and order them, Brinda. I’ll wait.
[Clicking pen until you get so annoyed you do this for me.]
Okay, readers, you know the drill. Please leave a comment, so I can write a novella disguised as a comment in reply. Brinda is in charge of the sane and informative comments every this week.
Its hard to tell what works best isn’t it? It’s a luck of the draw. I think ppl like to win period! Great post Brinda. Hi Gloria!
Hi, Hildie, most recent
cover artistguest blogger.I finally fixed the titles and pictures for your recent release Desperate Betrayal.
When my brain is properly caffeinated, and I’m certain I won’t wipe out Brinda’s post when I add a link to yours, I’ll be back.
Until then…
Happy writing (and selling).
Great info on SWAG, Brinda. I so want a journal with Whisper of Memory on the cover.
Winning is fun!
Hey, Brinda! And hello, Gloria!
IMHO, the audience determines which swag will garner the most attention. Wouldn’t surprise me if stores had carried Twilight underwear!
For your YA audience, a journal is right on target, and I never would have thought of an iPhone cover. Brilliant!
Hello, Sherry! Funny, I seem to find you all over comments today. Oh, wait! That’s because you have a new post up today.
The days of the week have their own undies. Why not Twilights of the week?
Teen or no…in my case, um, no…I would love to have a journal with the words Whisper of Memory on it. The picture reminding me I no longer have a teeny waist? Not so much.
I agree. Cater to your market. I received the funniest promo one time from an author of steamy romance. It was a horn (as in bicycle horn) that said,”Honk if you’re horny.” That wouldn’t work for YA, but it was a real conversation starter.
It takes a lot of practice to make things work. Those are some cool items by the way..I’m still building my shop…Another fantastic post…
Shop? Did someone say “shop?”
I love the handmade bookmarks you give away on your website. That is such a personal touch.
Brinda, thanks for sharing your results. I won your trading cards and did appreciate winning. I’m sending your book to my neice for her birthday next month.
I can’t decide to have bookmarks or trading cards made for my upcoming book release. I like bookmarks, but they don’t make much sense with an e-book.
I love your book image on the journal and phone cover. Great advertising!
Brin’s trading cards are tres cool, eh?
See? I can speak Canadian like a native. I’ll fit right in when I get there.
Okay. Sharon. In the interest of friendship and helping a fellow author, I offer the following:
I will test a variety of products for your book promo and report back to you. Let’s start with an e-book reader. I think we should test two of them. Might I suggest a Color Kindle and an iPad. With me so far?
Okay. Good. The iPhone cover is great, as is a journal or notebook of any type (so long as it has nifty dividers and at least one pocket).
How about a cover for the iPad? (SQUEE! I knew you’d choose that one!) And, one of those nifty stylus pens with your trading card attached to the end? Do they make them so they’ll stick to the e-reader screen?
Ooooh! A personalized double-walled travel tumbler — a la Tervis Tumbler. With the image of your cover on the interior wall — where I can proudly display it as I sit at SBUX to write. When people ask about it, I’ll let them scan the code to purchase one of your books. Brilliant! Simply brilliant!
Phew! This marketing is exhausting. Let me know when to expect shipment. Worst case scenario, I’ll plan to pick them up when I see you in Toronto.
I love the travel tumblr idea. You are a born marketer!
Thanks, Sharon. Here’s something alarming I read yesterday. One conference is going “green” and not accepting ANY paper promo except for paper books for goodie bags. The other choices for buying promo could get expensive if more go in this direction.
Is there a Brinda Berry fan club? If not, I’m starting one! Who’s in?
One day I’ll get to the point where I need book swag and I’ll visit this and other BB posts again and again. But even now word of mouth is key to growing a following. Thanks, Gloria, for hosting!
Hey, Megan! Yes, there is a Brinda Berry fan club and I am the President.
Membership costs only 1,236,987 kernels of kettle corn. We offer convenient monthly payment plans, but are diligent with our accounts receivable inventory tally. Don’t try to pull a sneaky short-pay of us.
I agree with you. One day you will be at the point where SWAG is an important, immediate decision.
Okay! Off to write, write, write now! Thanks for being such a faithful follower.
Thanks for cheering on my post! We writers are like one big street team for each other. :)
All fantastic ideas and I’ll bookmark this post for when the times comes…squee!
Tks to you both for the fab info. :-)
Thanks Natalie! I’ll see you on Twitter now that we are following each other. :)
Like Natalie, I’m bookmarking this post for future reference. I don’t currently have a book to market, but this is going to be really helpful for when I do.
I hope you need all this information very soon. :)
Sher A. Hart looks a lot like Justin Bieber…not lol That kid has got some social media power though!
Wish we all had a tenth of the social media power he does…
Hi, Brinda and Gloria :) Thanks for this post. I’ve seen such giveaways in my bloggy wanderings and was wanting to know more about them, so it’s rather timely.
Glad to be of service!
Great post, Brinda! Thanks for sharing your marketing experience. I do agree that maybe a lesser prize could do the same job, but who knows? Winning an e-reader is sweet.
Winning books or ebook gift card, is also sweet. I just won a few and I was please as punch.
Hi Carole *virtual wave*,
I’ll admit that sometimes I give away a Starbucks coffee card or something just for fun because I really like my online friends.
Brinda … I think the reason Gloria does these posts is to get free tutoring :) Okay, what do you have to say about that??
Each time I read you newest marketing strategy I understand that you are raising the bar, providing a standard for all of us …
Me? I am so techie-challenged I struggle with the basics … what you do so well is hardly “basic.”
Oh….Florence. I’ll give Gloria all the tutoring she wants because she gives it back ten-fold in laughs. Do you read this stuff she ADDS to my posts while I’m not looking? She’s a hoot.
Yes, I look forward to them :)
I saw that promo about the conference going green. I’ve heard that a lot of paper products are thrown away after the RWA conference.
Hi Shelley,
Hopefully, the paper trash gets recycled at conferences. I try to skip taking things I know I will throw out.