Creative and Engaging Ideas for your World Book Day Competition

Every year, UNESCO holds World Book Day on April 23rd. Why April 23rd? Because it marks the death of Miguel de Cervantes. Or possibly Shakespeare’s death day. Or possibly Shakespeare’s birthday… But whatever the reason, World Book Day has become a key date in your calendar. Read on for our top World Book Day competition ideas.

The most popular World Book Day promotion idea: run book giveaways on your social media

Social media giveaways are a fantastic tool to create a lot of visibility and engagement in a short time span. That’s why they are perfect for specific events, like World Book Day, book fairs, or publication dates.

Take this example of an Instagram giveaway, to celebrate a new edition of a bestseller. Users interested in this Instagram World Book Day giveaway were asked to mention their friends in the comments.

You can run giveaways that are limited to a single social network or unite your followers with a Multi-Network Giveaway. This kind of giveaway allows you to raffle one prize among followers from different social media networks. In this case, a kids’ publisher celebrated Book Week with campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.

And it’s often a good idea to team up with a sponsor. If you’re trying to reach a highly specific audience, then you could also look for representatives or popular social media profiles.

That’s right – we’re talking about influencers. But not necessarily the stereotypical, over-the-top influencers you’re imagining! Think about the accounts that you love to follow. If they have a reasonably-sized audience, consider offering them a couple of free copies to read and give away.

Here’s an example of an author teaming up with a brand. They had a very similar target market – so the giveaway was a win-win for everyone.

Social media giveaways are quick and easy – and they just got easier. Try our free World Book Day templates to get started right away with your World Book Day promotion.

Visit our blog post dedicated to book giveaways on social media for more tips, examples, and inspiration!

Convert social media followers into qualified leads with a World Book Day Giveaway

Are you trying to maximize lead generation? World Book Day is a great opportunity to nourish your database with new contact details. All you have to do is launch a World Book Day Entry Form Giveaway and share the link with your social media followers (but you can also choose to embed it on your website or blog to collect contact details from website visitors).

Users participate by filling out a registration form and… that’s it!

Create a World Book Day competition with branded mini-games

Gamification is the best type of interactive content you can share on your social media channels. It boosts engagement, increases brand awareness, and brings you new leads for your database. Let’s also not forget the entertainment that it provides for your audience.

Here’s an example of a branded Match It game you can organize for World Book Day so that your audience can be engaged and entertained.

All games by Easypromos are fully customizable, therefore you can edit all the texts and design, and also adjust settings.

In the above example, users match famous books with their respective authors. This sort of game can be created by any bookstore, library, or publisher.

To attract more players, it is a good idea to incentivize participation. Users will be more motivated to join your promotion and concurrently share with you their contact details.

Try our World Book Day demo to see how you can use the Match It app for your own promotion. And if you like it, you can then use our ready-made template World Book Day template to create your own branded game.

Ask your audience to choose their favorite book

Are there many bookworms among your audience? Invite them to participate in an online book knockout tournament. You can either use our ready-made Brackets promotion for World Book Day or edit it to introduce the books your followers love most.

Users participate by voting for their favorite titles – and obtain points if their favorite candidate makes it to the next round. Online Brackets are a fun way to generate increased engagement as users come back on numerous occasions to vote in newly opened rounds.

Speak to your most creative followers with a writing contest

A Writing Contest includes the same form for contact details as a basic giveaway. But there’s more: you can ask users to share written comments, or even upload files.

There are so many possibilities here. We’ve collected just a few of our favorite ideas:

• favorite quotes for World Book Day
• quick reviews of your latest book
• flash fiction contests
• favorite books, and why people love them

For really short messages, you could stick with a Hashtag Contest on social media. When people share posts on Twitter or Instagram and use your chosen @username and #hashtag, the app will collect their messages. So you can see all the entries – and select a winner easily.

Whether you choose the writing app or the hashtag app, you can choose to display all the entries in a public gallery. Everyone will be able to vote and share their favorites. Our experience shows that this can double engagement with your World Book Day promotions!

Want to know more? Give this Writing Contest DEMO a try to see the user experience for yourself and how easy it is to participate with a story or a vote.

Challenge your readers to a quiz

A Knowledge Quiz is a popular, fun way to entertain your followers and meet new leads. Here are some of the most creative ideas we’ve seen:

• trivia about the book or author
• a quiz about World Book Day
• trivia about previous books in a series, to prepare for the latest installment
• a “book finder” multiple-choice quiz which recommends books based on people’s interests

If you’re interested in learning more about your readers, you could also run a Survey.

Discount codes – just for the day

One of the most popular British traditions for World Book Day book fairs. Every child gets a £1 book voucher to spend on any book they choose – including £1 books, published especially for World Book Day.

Coupons and discount codes are an eternally popular way to boost sales. And because you can limit them to a specific timeframe, or a certain number of people, you don’t need to worry about giving away too much for free.

What is the best prize for a World Book Day promotion?

OK, it’s a pretty obvious question for World Book Day promotions. And yes, the most obvious prize is… a book. But there are alternatives!

First of all, there are lots of different ways to share a book. Instead of mailing out hard copies, you could give away discount codes or access to audiobooks and ebooks.

If many people in your audience are writers themselves, then you could share writing materials, like these luxurious notebooks.

Think about sharing related merchandise, or exclusive content. Try to choose a prize which is designed for your audience. So, for example, if you are marketing recipe books, you could give away cookware or luxury ingredients.

Just like writing, the only limit is your imagination. Set up your account now to run your World Book Day promotion and start designing promotions for free. And in case of any questions don’t hesitate to Chat to our Support Team.