My grandparents used to say, “Nothing in life is free.”
If you were raised to believe in this notion, then you might cast a skeptical eye on any offer that stands before you with a $0 on the price tag.
But in business, offering something to your clients or prospects for free can work toward your advantage by better promoting your products and services and possibly gaining a new or repeat customer in the long run.
We’re used to seeing freebies: food samples at grocery stores, product samples or special coupons mixed in with the Sunday paper, a buy one get one free entree at a restaurant. But many businesses often are hesitant to give away anything for free for fear of lessening the perceived value of their products and services.
However, in the increasingly-competitive clamor for people’s attention online, it might be worth it to offer something to your clients or prospects for free, especially if the cost to you is minimal. Here are some ideas on how offering a freebie can be worthwhile for your business:
Product Samples If your product really is worth its salt, giving out free samples not only gives people a taste of what you have to offer, but also demonstrates the confidence you have in your products—your belief that if someone tries them, they’re bound to make a follow-up purchase. People often buy into that confidence: they want to buy something others think is good and of a high value.
Free Trials Often people shy away from trials when they’re asked to give out a credit card number to activate it. Within the past year, I was offered free trials (no credit card required!) for Website Magazine, Social Oomph and Mail Chimp. I had nothing to lose, so I went for it. As it turns out, I am now a HUGE fan of all three: I subscribed to the professional level of Website Mag, the professional level of Social Oomph, and will soon upgrade to a paying service for Mail Chimp. After trying all three, I now feel that I can’t live without any them. I’m hooked! Three examples of three companies that believe in their products so much so that they’re willing to give people like me a little ‘taste’ for nothing in return. Very little risk, very big payoff.
Information If you cannot offer a free trial or a product sample, at the very least give visitors to your site something useful to come away with. If someone gleans useful information from your site, they might bookmark it and return to it to learn more at a later date, or even (hopefully) come back to make a purchase. You will be seen as an expert if a visitor can come to your site and learn something that they can implement immediately. Offer visitors tips, information relating to your products or services, or expert advice—free of charge, of course. You can offer this information in the form of a downloadable ‘white paper,’ guide or manual, or by simply displaying the information on your web site. At TweeParties, we offer visitors a peek at our Twitter Party Calendar that lists all parties we can find on Twitter. We also offer tips and guides on how to attend parties, as well as this blog for tips on Twitter, social media and marketing. We even offer visitors an incentive to sign up for our weekly newsletter, offering them the freshest party information available and special offers.
As long as the cost to you is minimal, a free offer can be a great way to entice people to take notice of your company, and hopefully, make a connection with your products and services—one that they will come to find that they cannot live without.
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Tags: advice, business, free trials, freebie, marketing strategy, special offers, tips
