Did I Build Facebook Fans with My Contest?

If you read my last post, you know I instituted a Trivia Contest on my novel’s Facebook page to:

* Generate buzz about the book

* Add new fans to the book’s Facebook page

* Add new readers by getting people to download a free sample of the ebook

* Sell books by converting sample readers into buyers of the entire ebook or paperback

Without repeating the whole blog post, I’ll get to the results, goal by goal, after the three-day contest (which was promoted on Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz):

Goal: Generate buzz about the book

Results: Well, my Facebook Page Insights showed two new subscribers (far short of my goal of 10 new “fans”) but views and feedback were up approx. 50% and 60%, respectively. Not bad.

Goal: Add new readers by getting people to download a free sample of the ebook

Results: Six samples downloaded in three days. Again, not bad!

Goal: Sell books by converting sample readers into buyers of the entire ebook or paperback

Results: Eight ebooks sold! Though I cannot definitively ascribe these sales directly to the contest it’s still very encouraging.

Also, I only had a small number of people enter the contest–and I understand why: it was labor intensive! To enter you had to become a Facebook “fan” of the book, then you had to answer three trivia questions which could only be answered by downloading a free sample of the book and reading it–in less than three days. All that considered, I think this promotion was a qualified success. There was buzz, I sold a few copies–and I certainly look forward to autographing those prize winners’ paperbacks.

Any thoughts? Have you done a similar contest? Any suggestions for doing it better?