Here’s a great summer promotion idea from Book People in Sioux City, IA: Summer Selfie Sale.

In an email to the bookstore’s subscribers, owner Chriss Camenzend include this great image and wrote:

“Show us what you’re reading this summer by sending us your book selfie (a picture of yourself with a book) and receive 25% off a regularly priced item. Send it via email or Facebook and with your permission we will post it on our Book Selfie Wall! Come in and check out the wall and vote for your favorite selfie. The winner will receive a $25 gift card!”

The offer is valid through August 15, and only one summer selfie discount per purchase is allowed.

There are several things about this contest/promotion that I like:

1. I like that it is both a contest and a promotion. We have the keep the end user in mind because, frankly, they’re keeping themselves in mind. One of my early employers at an ad agency used to ask while we were developing campaigns, “What’s the WIIFM? What’s in it for me?” We would always have to have an answer in place because, when asked to participate in something, customers are usually thinking, “What’s in it for me?” With this contest, even if a customer doesn’t win the $25 gift card, they’ll still receive a 25% discount just for participating.
2. I like the potential outreach. If customers post on their own timeline while tagging Sioux City, it helps spread the word to the customer’s friends… not just to the bookstore’s subscribers.
3. They’ve made it easy to enter. If people think something will take too long, they simply will not participate.
4. I like the length. It covers the summer, gets people thinking about summer reads, and lasts about 6 weeks.
5. It’s inclusive. By giving people an opportunity to either email or Facebook a selfie, your not excluding those who do not have Facebook accounts. And by posting images on a wall and encouraging customers to come in and vote, your adding another dimension to the selfie, which otherwise would only exist in the digital world.

I’ll check back in with Chriss in August to see how the promotion went and, hopefully, share an image of that wall!