Do you ever do giveaways?

[CaptnHeroic]

Hey!
I have a few groups on facebook that I do giveaways on. They are fun, and very engaging.
But I don't really do any giveaways to promote my comic.

Have you done a giveaway, either here on Tapas, or somewhere else? If so, how did it go? What did you offer? How did you do it?

[jensrichard77]

I don't have giveaways, but I make some kind of personal badges that I post on my readers walls if they do something special.
Latest there was a reader that comment on an episode that he wished my MC a cup of hot tea to save him BC he felt in the ice.
And then I send this to his wall.

[Klaustasya]

I wanted to throw a giveaway some months ago, but i noticed not many people on socials werr interested so i didn't try (also because of eventual shipping costs being too expensive)
But sure they're fun to do!

[VibrantFox]

I've been tempted to try hosting a raffle here on tapas as well as on social but i worry about interest. i haven't got physical items to offer and shipping would be a major hassle so in most cases it feels easier to default to offering artwork. but then there's knowing whether people would be genuinely interested in it or only join in for freebies. its an interesting predicament to say the least.

[Klaustasya]

I agree with everything you said: not having physical items to ship i heard it's very common in giveaways and yes, going with artwork is an idea but you're not always sure if people will be interested (unless you have quite a big fanbase/following i guess)

[Samuraiflame]

It doesn't really count as a giveaway since it was more of a support incentive, but I mailed 4"x6" art prints to people who donated 5k ink during the last inksgiving. The only cost was buying stamps, but the overall support I received paid for itself.

Printing stickers can also be pretty cheap and you can fit those in an envelope too.

I see dozens of art raffles daily on my Twitter, so if you don't want to spend any money, I'd say they're pretty effective in gaining new followers. (How many of those actually stick around after the raffle ends is another story, but any growth is better than none imo)

I'm debating on doing a merch or art giveaway next. I think merch is good for promoting your comic since the readers are already familiar with your characters, while art giveaways are good for attracting mutual artists (or people who just like free art).

[CaptnHeroic]

That's a pretty awesome idea!

[phen]

I've held a couple merch giveaways for my comic, they are so, so much fun! I promoted them on various social media as well as here on tapas.

Both went over really well and while interactions were indeed up during the giveaway period, the event promoted sales in my shop the most. I was able to cover the cost of packing and shipping of the standees no worries.

I think most giveaways for indie titles will appeal to the current supporting base the most. It helps in getting readers really excited about the series, especially if there's a physical piece of it they can win as a keepsake.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

I had held a raffle once when I hit 80, and decided to choose 3 winners
Out of my current 80 subscribers, only six joined. I expected about 10 at least.

It didn't add my sub number, maybe because I didn't promote I thought promoting to forum is futile because nobody cares, and I don't want people to sub just because of raffle.

I cancel the raffle and decided to give all the six free prize instead (one has not responded to this day though) It's my personal middle finger to the other 74 although nobody cares.

(Also about physical shipping, the cost will kill me before I'm even alive)

[CaptnHeroic]

That's so awesome! Where did you get the standees at? they look really cool!
Sounds like an awesome idea!

[CaptnHeroic]

Oh man, only 6, that's crazy. I think alot of subscribers are very inactive

[phen]

Thank you so much, yo! The standees came out amazing and are really eye-catching pieces. For these I used Vograce (via alibaba) but I've recently started using zap creatives and they do a fabulous job as well.

[LCT_m_a_d]

I tried offering free art for critiques a few times here. I did get critiques unfortunately they turned down my art offering

[zammap]

I ran a giveaway when I open up Instagram. Most of the people didn't follow the rules and liked/followed the page. Then after I contacted the winners... they never answered my PM

[CaptnHeroic]

well, that sucks! but hopefully the critiques were valuable!

[CaptnHeroic]

hahaha NO ONE EVER follows the rules! I do giveaways on face book and it's like no one reads... and it's a comic group.. so you would think they know how to read!