How Contests can Boost Your Subscribers

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

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I don’t know a single person who doesn’t enjoy entering contests. We love the thought of winning a prize or being selected in a random drawing. Unfortunately, once the contest ends and a winner or winners are announced, the participant is no longer interested in who we are as writers unless we give them a reason to return.

Our objective in offering regular contests has two goals:

• To create enthusiasm for our books and our brand.
• To show participants we care about them.

We want readers to subscribe to our blogs and social media posts, to stay connected with us, and form a loyal relationship because we care about their needs. So how can a contest boost our subscribers?

1.  Develop well-written contest material. Spend time ensuring it’s witty, enticing, exciting, and in a consistent voice as your regular posts.
2. Use images that are relevant and easily understood. Study color and what appeals aesthetically to a participants’ emotions.
3. Strive for simplicity in how the person enters the contest. Random drawings are the easiest. I suggest using an online random generator site to select winners.
4. Include a sign-up box for your blog or click-through icons for your social media platforms.
5. Offer contestants a pdf of something for entering contest/random drawing. This could be used for new subscribers to your blog as well.
6. Each time someone enters the contest, send them a personal thank-you.Quality prizes are essential. Select items that are valued or gift cards.
7. When we cheat our participants, they have no reason to follow us.

The result is simple. When potential followers view how you engage with them, they are eager to make an investment. Don’t disappoint, and your followers will reward you.

How do you boost your social media followers?

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DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests. Library Journal presented her with a Best Books 2014: Genre Fiction award in the Christian Fiction category for Firewall.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is co-director of The Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference and The Author Roadmap with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on any of the social media platforms listed at www.diannmills.com.