By Mandy Bray

I’ll never forget the first freebie marketing piece I created and put on the internet: a free guide to help you grow your Instagram following.

I wrote all the copy in a Word doc and tossed it out to my audience. Within a few hours, I had a few hundred new subscribers on my email list. Seeing people jump onto my list in exchange for the value I was offering was an exhilarating feeling. After that, I was hooked.

Over the years I’ve made dozens of freebies to help me grow my email list and in the process, I’ve learned what makes a freebie generate leads successfully.

Table of Contents

• What is freebie marketing?
• Does a freebie marketing strategy work?
• How to Choose the Right Freebies to Give Away
• Freebie Marketing Examples
• Freebie Marketing Strategy: How to Run a Successful Freebie Campaign

What is freebie marketing?

Freebie marketing is a strategy where businesses offer a product or service at no cost in exchange for a customer action. Freebies can be digital or physical and the most common customer actions include signing up for an email or text list, engaging on social media, or downloading an app. Freebie marketing has the power to increase a brand’s perceived value, customer loyalty, and leads.

Does a freebie marketing strategy work?

In most purchasing decisions, customers perform a mental cost-benefit analysis to determine whether a purchase is worth the cost and risk.

With freebies, however, an interesting phenomenon takes place. Psychologists have found that labeling an item as “free” skews the traditional cost-benefit analysis. It boosts a product’s perceived value, sometimes even above a higher-quality paid item. This phenomenon, known as the “zero price effect,” activates an emotional response in our brains. To me, it feels like a dopamine hit. A freebie can:

• Increase value perceptions.
• Foster customer loyalty.
• Lower inhibitions and guilt.
• Increase quantities and order amounts because of the perception you are getting more for less.

Now, will freebie marketing work at converting your new leads into paid sales? That depends on how well you’ve aligned your freebie with your audience — and what you do after the offer.

How to Choose the Right Freebies to Give Away

There are hundreds of types of freebies. The wrong one could seem off-brand or attract the wrong audience. The right one, however, can boost your visibility and give long-time lurkers the nudge they need to take action.

First, take a look at the wide range of freebies businesses use to attract customers — some of these are better for B2B, while others for B2C.

Freebie Marketing Ideas

• Free product samples
• Free trial periods
• Downloadable templates like project management trackers, social media calendars, or budgeting tools
• Ebook or white paper
• Quiz results
• Free consultation

…read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

      



Author: Aaron