Gift card giveaways to subscriptions for growth??

B

Broccoli Shmoccoli

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I think hosting a contest in which you give away 100$ gift cards or something like that to subs could pay of very well if you're small... It doesn't seem very eloquent and all, but I don't think it's to bad.. I've seen channels which grow very fast doing that. It of course doesn't mean I would do all the things they do, but this one - I'm considering it... What do you think about a contest in which you can win giftcards if you subscribe? What about 500$!! I'm sure there would be a difference in the number of entries if you have like 75 subscribers on your channel and so wining anything becomes much more plausible... Do you do it?
 
I think that's a terrible way to grow your subscriber count. Your channel will grow fast, yes, but these new subscribers are people who are only there for the giveaway and doesn't actually care about you or your content. And once the giveaway ends, 99.9% of these people will either unsubscribe or stay subscribed but inactive, leaving you with a very dead channel. It's a very expensive, yet ineffective way of growing your audience.
 
I think its a really risky idea. $100 is a lot of money. Sure if you get a couple hundred subs, or even a hundred it is probably pretty good value. But, being a small channel means that you have limited means of pushing news of the competition around. So with 75 subs, you might reach a really small number of people. If you already had loads of subs and views I think that a competition might be a lot more effective.

The other concern is what kind of subs will you be getting. I am not sure I want a bunch of people subbing to me because they might get $100. I want them to sub because they watch the content.
 
Kevster said:
I think that's a terrible way to grow your subscriber count. Your channel will grow fast, yes, but these new subscribers are people who are only there for the giveaway and doesn't actually care about you or your content. And once the giveaway ends, 99.9% of these people will either unsubscribe or stay subscribed but inactive, leaving you with a very dead channel. It's a very expensive, yet ineffective way of growing your audience.
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I don't know if it's as bad as all that. On a small new channel absolutely yes. But on a more established channel that is already growing, someone with the charisma to retain the new subs, it might be more worthwhile. On a larger channel, it becomes a bit of fun because you know that 1000's if people will be entering and you most likely won't win, as opposed to I'll just sub to this tiny channel for a 1 in 10 chance of getting that $100 (and most likely not share)

As a shortcut to getting bigger, it's not a good idea. We all need to earn our stripes. If I was to get 20000 subs tomorrow after a clever and expensive gimmick, that might be the worst thing for me because I am not really ready for it.

I mean, it would be great too tho :)


It might be better to offer smaller prizes for people who are sharing your channel.
 
Is it possible to see if they share? Like setting one of the conditions for the entry - posting a link to the share?

BTW I will absolutely NOT do the gift cards!
 
Broccoli Shmoccoli said:
Is it possible to see if they share? Like setting one of the conditions for the entry - posting a link to the share?
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I haven't figured that part out yet.

I guess you could tell your viewers to tell people to say who sent them to your channel, but this will only really work in an overtly I-want-to-grow-and-you're-gonna-help-me type channel.
 
coliwob said:
I don't know if it's as bad as all that. On a small new channel absolutely yes. But on a more established channel that is already growing, someone with the charisma to retain the new subs, it might be more worthwhile. On a larger channel, it becomes a bit of fun because you know that 1000's if people will be entering and you most likely won't win, as opposed to I'll just sub to this tiny channel for a 1 in 10 chance of getting that $100 (and most likely not share)

As a shortcut to getting bigger, it's not a good idea. We all need to earn our stripes. If I was to get 20000 subs tomorrow after a clever and expensive gimmick, that might be the worst thing for me because I am not really ready for it.

I mean, it would be great too tho :)


It might be better to offer smaller prizes for people who are sharing your channel.
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Yes, it's worked before, for larger channels. I was going to mention too that but I forgot. On the OP's scenario though, his subscriber count is 75, which as you've mentioned too, is not a good idea. The end result will essentially be identical to Sub4Sub, just that it'll be significantly more expensive.

Personally, I think doing any type of giveaway, small or big, is a terrible way to grow your channel fast. It just feels like you're throwing your money at random strangers on the internet. If it were me, I'd probably use the money to upgrade my recording equipment instead. It sounds like a much better investment.

Broccoli Shmoccoli said:
Is it possible to see if they share? Like setting one of the conditions for the entry - posting a link to the share?
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If you make them share it on Twitter with a hashtag, you could! Let's say you make it a requirement to tweet it with a #BroccoliGives hashtag. When you search that hashtag on Twitter, all of the tweets appear in one place. It's a neat way to keep track of stuff.
 
Just for everyone's info - (who's replies I'm very grateful for!) - I don't have any subs yet as I don't have a channel up yet. I've only done a few test screenings to test different concepts so far. Although I will launch my channel in December if everything goes as planned.

Kevster said:
If you make them share it on Twitter with a hashtag, you could! Let's say you make it a requirement to tweet it with a #BroccoliGives hashtag. When you search that hashtag on Twitter, all of the tweets appear in one place. It's a neat way to keep track of stuff.
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That is a good idea! But I'll use this method more widely - when asking viewers to share for something else than gift cards. I won't do those. But the hashtag method is a great idea, thank you for this!


Thank you both!
 
Kevster said:
Yes, it's worked before, for larger channels. I was going to mention too that but I forgot. On the OP's scenario though, his subscriber count is 75, which as you've mentioned too, is not a good idea. The end result will essentially be identical to Sub4Sub, just that it'll be significantly more expensive.

Personally, I think doing any type of giveaway, small or big, is a terrible way to grow your channel fast. It just feels like you're throwing your money at random strangers on the internet. If it were me, I'd probably use the money to upgrade my recording equipment instead. It sounds like a much better investment.
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I was actually considering getting a job lot of temperature probes, like pay 100 quid for 200 of them and giving them away at the end of each episode. But, not really as a reward or anything, just to help people cook more safely. I still reckon that would have a positive impact on subs, or at least public perception of my character :), but I don't thing I should do it till i have way more subs than i do.

Good call with twitter hashtags.
 
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