Tiger Bookstore Offers Free Rental Textbooks through Facebook

Students simply had to 'like' the page and enter their information into this tab to participate.

To get students more interested in their store, Tiger Bookstore directed them to their Facebook page with an exclusive offer. In exchange for ‘liking’ their page, students could enter for a chance to win free rental textbooks for the summer semester.

“Facebook is the best way for us to interact with our students, because it’s where they spend the most time,” explained Kristy Jeffords, store owner. “This promotion was a way for us to increase our fanbase while showing students that we do care about saving them money.”

The store, in collaboration with a web company that runs their social media promotions, used a third-party application to create a Facebook contest that adheres to the platform’s rules. Then, they began advertising the initiative to their customers.

“We started a little bit later than we would have liked, so we didn’t begin advertising until two weeks before summer semester,” admitted Jeffords, “For fall semester, we plan to extend that period of time by a few weeks.”

Using a multi-channel marketing approach, they created Facebook ads, distributed handouts around campus, sent emails, and relied on word of mouth from their current Fans and Followers, asking them to ‘like’ the store’s page to participate.

After becoming a fan, students simply had to provide their name and email address in the designated Facebook Tab to be entered to win. Current fans were allowed to enter using the same process. In the interest of making the contest viral, however, the store allowed participants to gain extra entries by spreading the word to friends.

“They could receive an additional entry for every ten friends they shared the contest with on Facebook,” she described. “It was a very effective option and helped our promotion achieve a wider reach.”

On the deadline, the store used an online application to select one winner at random. The lucky individual was awarded free rental textbooks for the semester.

“We ask them to bring in their schedule, we verify it, and then provide them with any rentable titles from their course list for free,” she said. “In the future, we plan to expand the number of winners to increase the excitement even further.”

During the week and a half promotion, the store was able to gain 200 new Facebook Fans, a number they hope to only increase with subsequent contests.

“We just want to keep growing,” Jeffords said. “We continually try new things and see what works best. Social media is where the students are, and if you want to reach them, then you have to be there and interact with them!”

What promotions have you used to direct students to your Facebook page? Share your tips and tricks in the comment section!