If you have a business either online or off you should be trying everything you can to drive every last
sale that you can get – from email marketing to SEO.
But have you considered the power of free stuff yet? No? Well here’s how to use freebies to drive your business, and why you should!
The magic word
People are programmed to love the concept of free, right from when we first developed language, the concept of something being free has represented an opportunity for easy profit. Now a days we are more savvy, and many people realise that free generally isn’t really free. But even so, the majority of people just can’t help but notice the word and be drawn in. Like it or not, it works, and that’s why so many stores use it to their advantage.
How to use free
Using free to help your own business is as simple as finding ways to offer your customers or potential customers something for nothing. Generally, if you can give away something or a service for little cost and use that to sell something that makes you a bigger profit, you can make money in the long run.
Strategy 1:
One option is to use samples and free competitions to get customer interest and to build leads. If you give away something fairly cheap you can acquire a lot of potential new customers for a low cost. This strategy works great because by definition you are collecting leads who are interested in your niche, and if it is a good giveaway the offer can often spread virally.
Strategy 2:
The other, more common strategy is to bundle in something ‘free’ to encourage people to order. This can be something as simple as free shipping or a free ‘thing’ to go with your purchase; perhaps a free hat with every order over $100 or similar.
People generally realise that the cost is built in somewhere, but somehow the word free is just so irresistible that it draws people in.
Summary
Freebies are used a lot in this way, but the simple reason is that it works! You just have to be inventive and try to think of unique things to offer. Try to offer something that has a high perceived value but a low unit cost to you. It’s that simple!
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Muzammil Bashir -works with the Senior Editor of freestuff.co.uk – find some great free samples with us.
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- How Traffic flow Online marketers Get No cost Web Site visitors? (bigsexymedia.com)
Muzzammil,
Free is certainly a word with a lot of cachet. As you said, people love free. When you can supply something of value for free. It can be worth a lot. OF course being an email marketer my favorite use of free is as a lead magnet.
One thing though, I think it IS important to make sure what you offer for free has value. People get used to getting “junk” for free. When you offer them something that has a high intrinsic value, you really can get their attention.
So true “People get used to getting “junk” for free.”, Free word is very simple way to attract people but ultimately it’s quality of the product and serivce which matters.
I agree with what Steve said that if we provide some thing that is valuable for free than it can be worth a lot. I appreciate your thinking STEVE
Yes the word free just draws you in regardless of whether or not you want a freebie.
A word “FREE” is really catchy to the eyes of customers or potential customers. In businesses you need to be creative enough to boost it. You have to take risks sometimes, particularly in regard to taking new approaches to your work. Giving freebies is one of techniques to attract customers. Freebies should be worthy enough so that you’ll be able to satisfy your customers.
I have to agree with Steve, so many people get spammed by free offers that they don’t know if the one that you have sent carries any value. The question is how do you make your potential clients see that this free offer has value?
For one of my websites we tested this and the way we upped our conversion rate was to actually attach a value to our free offer. Instead of ‘1 month free’ we tested ‘1 month for $0.99’ and it actually had a higher sign up rate doing it this way.
It just goes to show that we should always be testing!
We use downloadable PDFs for information purposes on our blog as freebies and sometimes video downloads or access to certian vids.
Thats very much true “Free” is most powerful word if one know how to use it.
Generally mostly knew this fact that anything in free is really not free but it our mentality that its free as the word FREE is attached.
I could not agree more on this one! Free equals good! And as you say, there is nothing that attracts people more than some giveaway for no cost. However, quality is what is relevant at the bottom line and it is a key factor that determines if people are going to use and purchase the product for the future.
I agree. The quality of the ‘freebie’ matters a whole lot more than what you may think. A usable item is always better than giving away something which will be left in a cupboard.
Yeah, offering FREE stuff is great to get people into your funnel. But the key is to keep offering value continuously afterward so people stick around and listen to what you say.
Many people are hypnotized by the word free. even if they still pay for something just to get it, they’d immediately dive to it! A free e-book or a free delivery of items within a certain range. However, to draw massive customers to purchase your product that something called “free” should be of quality content/service still.
most of the fake and un potential products marketer can use word free and bring some new users and customers traffic. thanks for sharing this useful post.
Free stuff is always a great way to get people interested, but like some others have said above, how do you differentiate yourself from the numerous others offering free stuff? I have found that giving exclusive discounts through my site has helped. Thanks for the article, I’ll definitely be back to read more!
I agree with you completely.
It is oblivious that people like to get something free.The discount on sales and free gifts are really god strategies to boost your business.The word “Free” is always eye catching.whether the business is online or offline.
The word ‘free’ really is an effective tool for business success.
Freebies work for me – especially the bundling strategy. I currently have a product that I sell individually and also bundled together like this: buy 4 months, get 2 months absolutely free. I then list the total savings of the package. Although I’m not making as much per unit, I’m making more per sale this way. I’ve had this bundled offer up for about a week and had a 3 bundled sales. So it doesn’t hurt to put it out there! Hoping to increase sales! Thanks for the post.
Good post, Muzzamil. Nothing grabs people’s attention like freebies, especially worthwhile freebies. That is an important point too as people are getting better at tuning out freebies that are of no use to them anymore. Like you described, planning out the freebie for maximum effectiveness is key.
-Jean
Just like other people, I used to enjoy getting lots of freebies as always. I must agree that businesses who offer freebies get more attention so its pretty the best strategy that they could offer to their customers and potential customers too.
Great guest post Muzammil. I do agree that giving always freebees is a fantastic idea to increase readers. After all everyone wants something for free right? I know I love when my favorite blogs have contests that give away free prizes as well.
– Robert
Yes, freebies can really motivate potential customers to buy from you or get your service. People would naturally hesitate if there’s a cost involved. But with freebies (sample products or free coupons), they will even volunteer to test your offerings. This gives you the chance to showcase your products’ benefits and hopefully encourage your potential clients to buy more, this time with a corresponding price.
I’ve not had much success with freebies. I won’t stop trying though. It’s just about finding the right one for the right readers.
Starting a ‘free’ site was the best thing I ever did. By offering my members valuable information for free allowed me to build a very good reputation. I now make more money from my free site than any other. Definitely the most powerful word online