Offering Freebies
Freebies are highly overrated. But they do have a place in good marketing. Freebies have been overused, over promoted, and are usually low value. Many consumers consider them to be trashy, and associated with hype and scams.
This is not true of all freebies, or of all sources for freebies, but the negative perception is frequently there.
The other down side to freebies is that they often attract "freebie seekers". These are people who want freebies, but who are unwilling to pay for value. Giving something away and attracting freebie seekers is an effective tactic for many ad-supported sites, but a failure for those that have a product to sell.
These two reasons are why Freebies are listed as a Bad Marketing Tactic on http://www.badmarketingideas.com .
In addition, Freebies can complicate the marketing picture, because you have to market the freebie, either alongside, or instead of, your website or product. They can be a complicating factor for startups, and may work better for established businesses for that reason.
So how do they rate as a "good marketing tactic"? If Freebies fit the following criteria, then they can be a powerful tool:
If you just need to get traffic to your site, and do not rely on purchases to make your money, freebies can be a way of doing that.
If you can offer something that has a genuinely high perceived value - not just another throw away - they can attract people and help to promote a site.
If you can find that balance between "high enough value to attract" and "value so high it makes it unnecessary to purchase your product", they'll do better.
If you can choose a freebie that acts either as a sample, or that encourages purchases, they can help your business grow.
There is a fine line between freebies and samples. Some products simply sell better when people can honestly know what it is they are getting. If your samples are poor though, you'll end up hurting sales.
If you use a freebie as a viral marketing tool, it can be powerful, but it has to be genuinely valuable and reproduceable, otherwise it won't go anywhere.
Freebies can be a very good marketing tactic. But they must be used right, and you need to track results. If offering freebies brings you more traffic but does not bring in more money, then it is not worth your time to set it up.
Written by Laura Wheeler
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