Tips for a successful giveaway hop

ramblings12

Tis’ the season for a lot of giveaway hops. Actually, the season has already started. Which is why I’m writing this post. There have been some things I’ve noticed when it comes to blog hop stops. I want everyone to have a successful giveaway stop. Not to mention, when I’m hopping, I want to have a fun time doing so. So, below are just some of my tips for blog hops.

 

 

Unless you are giving away a gift card, include the book cover and synopsis to the book that you are giving away.

I was hopping around quite a few different Halloween themed hops when I noticed a trend. There are a lot of bloggers and authors who give away a book and don’t post anything about the book. When I’m hopping though a ton of blogs, I don’t want to take the time out to then pull up Goodreads, search for the book, and then read the synopsis. Usually, what I end up doing, is clicking out of the page and going to the next stop. There were a few giveaways that only had about 15 entries on the day the giveaway ended. I have a feeling that was because there was no information about the book they were giving away. One book I actually did pop on over to Goodreads to look up because the title sounded interesting and it actually sounded like a great romance.. and it was for a signed copy! I was floored that it had under 30 entries. So, please, if you are going to give away a book make sure to include the cover and blurb so those swinging by on a hop can see what’s up for grabs. Trust me, visualization is key. 😉

 

Giving away a bookish item or some awesome swag? Include a picture!

Same rules apply as above. There have been hops that I’ve stopped at where the person talks about the awesome items they are giving away and how they relate to whatever theme or books they love but don’t include a picture of them. I’m all for awesome swag. I love the mugs, nail polish, bookmarks, and shirts. The only problem is, I want to SEE what all the goodies look like. Unless it’s a mystery pack–because let’s be honest, those are always fun– I want to know what’s up for grabs. I once entered a giveaway that an author was hosting and whom I’d never heard of before, and did the various entry requirements, all because they had a shirt in the package that I really wanted. I never did win that shirt. 🙁 LoL But that’s my point! You really need to include a picture of what you’re giving away.

 

Make sure the giveaway is easily found.

When it comes to themed giveaways, people love to talk about something related to said theme. Hey, thumbs up to you. I love reading some of the things people talk about. However, I get annoyed when I cannot for the life of me figure out where the giveaway is. Whether it’s a “comment below” or “click the link to be taken to the Rafflecopter giveaway” it needs to be easily seen. Jumbling it up into your long post is not good. There have been quite a handful of giveaways I’ve passed up on because I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do to enter the giveaway. If you aren’t able to have a physical widget on your site for the giveaway make sure you have something that stands out indicating where people can go to enter the giveaway. Make the font larger and in a different color saying “enter the giveaway” or make a little graphic saying “giveaway!” and then including the instructions on how to enter below it.

 

If you have a sidebar, use it to direct viewers to your giveaway.

Some hop hosts are really good about updating your giveaway link to the line-up so that people hopping don’t have to search for your giveaway post on your site. However, sometimes that’s not always the case for various reasons. So, to ensure that hoppers can find your giveaway, include the hop’s giveaway graphic on the sidebar. That way, when people hop to your site, they don’t have to scroll through pages of posts to find the hop post. If we are being honest here, if I can’t find the giveaway hop graphic in the sidebar, I just close out of the site. I’m not going to spend time scrolling through pages of posts just to get to that one hop post.

 

Keep the entry requirements to a minimum.

I know I will be in the minority here but when it comes to hops, I can’t stand it when it’s required to sign up for newsletters or follow in another fashion. I’m all for having extra entries for your dedicated blog followers but for a hop, it shouldn’t be a mandatory thing to follow to enter the giveaway. I think those requirements should be saved for when you are hosting a giveaway on your own time. If I hop on over to a site and the first thing I have to do is sign-up for something, I move on to the next stop on the hop. However, if there are free entries or leave a comment entries available–thus not forcing me to follow you to enter the giveaway–I tend to follow the blog in some fashion if it’s a blog that I would be interested in reading. If you force people to follow you to enter the hop giveaway, you’re going to get a ton of fake followers who will unfollow and unsubscribe the second the giveaway is over. Going along with all the follows and subscriptions, keep them to a minimum when you’re part of a hop. It’s called a hop, not a stop and plop for 20 minutes while you follow the author and blogger on twitter and Facebook, subscribe to the author’s and blogger’s newsletters, tweet about the giveaway, leave a comment, post a picture on instagram, write a review on Amazon, follow/like the author and blogger on Amazon, add the book to Goodreads…. you get the point. I got exhausted just thinking of all the hoops some sites make you do just to enter a giveaway. Again, this is all fine and dandy–in my opinion–when you are hosting a giveaway on your own time. However, when it’s part of a hop it should be short, sweet, and nothing should be mandatory.

 

The whole point of a hop is to bring new readers to your site and ensnare them with your awesomeness while thanking them by offering up a prize for “hopping by”. Of course, these are not the rules to participating in blog hops, they are just my opinions on the matter.

 

What are some of your tips for a successful hop post?

kRISTIN

8 Thoughts on “Tips for a successful giveaway hop

  1. That bottom reason is exactly why I don’t make anything mandatory on my giveaways. They can enter the giveaway in which ever way they want to 🙂 Great topic!

    • I still offer extra entries for anyone who follows the blog in some way but I don’t make it mandatory in order to enter the giveaway. That way, those who already follow or would like to follow get a point, but otherwise you can still enter in a different way. 🙂

  2. Ahhh yes! I did a Blog Hop FAQ during Blog Ahead. Didn’t include all of these but the make sure the giveaway is easy to be found is a big one for me. So many make it hard to figure out just what to do.

    Not sure I agree on the follow options totally. I think it’s fine to have a few ways for people to follow you as part of the giveaway but it shouldn’t be difficult. The point is to increase blog followers after all. Most people aren’t going to follow unless it’s part of the gig. It really does me no good to just have it as leave a comment or a freebie only entry and no follow options included. But to each their own for it, right? 🙂

    • Definitely. I agree with having following options in the giveaway, I just don’t like it when it’s mandatory to follow in order to enter the giveaway. It sort of turns me off. I’m one of those people that if you force something on me, I fight it tooth and nail. LoL Kinda like a, “don’t tell me what to do!” 😛

  3. This is a great article as I am signed up for a lot of hops. I didn’t think to add the synopsis of the book! I will from now on.

  4. The book blurb is new to me, thanks for the feedback. I’ll be mindful of that next time.

    • I think just putting a lil something on what the book is about works wonders. I mean, even some mainstream books are unfamiliar to some. So, including a blurb on the book helps gives everyone an idea on what the book is about.

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