Amazon gives a complimentary 30-day trial for their Prime service. A gym gives one-week passes to prospective new members at no charge. The grocery store leaves out food samples for patrons to taste test before they buy. What do these scenarios have in common? Freebies!
From a marketing standpoint, giving away free items isn’t a new concept, yet when executed effectively, can elevate your business. Providing free content to consumers allows you to attract an audience without expensive ad campaigns. Check out four benefits to providing free content and how it can help your business.
1. Peaks interest
Getting people to notice your business is the difficult part. By offering freebies you entice people to check out what you have to offer. A popular tactic is to provide a “freemium,” which is a strategy in which a product or service is offered free of charge with features or membership available if a premium is paid.
There are several ways to provide free content beyond the freemium, including e-newsletter or magazine, blogs, as well as the membership model. The hope is that your freebie is so appealing, consumers stick around and ultimately make a purchase. If you want to attract customers, provide quality, engaging, complimentary content. Some might take the freebie and bolt, but most will be interested enough to at least learn more about your business.
2. Positive brand association
Everyone loves free, especially when there’s no strings attached. Securing freebies makes people happy and happy people are more apt to make a purchase. By providing something for free, you’re developing a positive connection to your brand. Consumers will recall this feeling and think highly of your business.
3. People can test out your product/service
People are more likely to try something they normally wouldn’t if it’s free. This allows you to showcase what you have to offer and demonstrate what sets you apart from the competition.
Mobile games like the uber-popular Pokemon Go is free to play for all app users. The goal is that by offering a chance to test out the app free of charge, new players will learn how the games work, risk-free. New users can learn how to play, connect them with other members within the community and even win various rewards from Pokestops. Ideally, a new user will enjoy the free games so much, they decide to buy perishables: Coins, Poke Balls, Lucky Eggs, and so on.
The impact? Pokemon Go has just surpassed the $250 million mark in revenue since launch – and it’s set to hit $1 billion in sales.
4. Develops purchasing pattern
By providing freebies, people are more inclined to give your business a try. Once consumers try out your business, they will be more likely to become and remain loyal customers. People tend to be creatures of habit and stick with what they know. If you’ve hooked them with a freebie, it’s likely you’ll have a repeat customer on your hand, assuming they’ve had a positive experience.
As you can see, there are many benefits to offering freebies. Free quality content can help to drive traffic and increase sales for your business.