“Free” is a really powerful word, it gets used often to gain attention, and put urgency into a call to action, particularly if the “free” period is short.
How many of us have not reacted at some time to the siren song of “Free?”
However, “free” has a huge downside.
Everyone has heard the old saying, “you get what you pay
for” and it holds true.
Free also means no risk, and no commitment.
Take it, but if you do not use it, there are no consequences.
As a young bloke I worked for what is now Meadow Lea Foods in the time we were building Meadow Lea into one of the great Australian brands. A lot of time was spent in stores, demonstrating the product, giving supermarket shoppers a taste of Meadow Lea on a square of bread.
Pretty boring, but it worked.
When we actually got somebody to try a free sample, that was not the end, we sought to convert that trial to a sale by actively selling the product, which meant the consumer had to make a choice, sometimes change the choice they had already made about margarine brand, a commitment, and that commitment cost them a bit of money.
Meadow Lea ended up market leader by a country mile, 4 times the market share of the number 2 brand in a crowded and competitive market. It was more than great advertising that delivered that outcome.
Some advice. Superficial engagement such as downloading a free e-book is better than nothing, and it does get you an email address, but it falls a long way short of any real engagement and importantly, commitment.
I have had a couple of intelligent and highly accomplished business people tell me that people tend not to value anything for which they pay nothing. One of them, whose company made high-end scarves, would sell friends samples worth $hundreds for a few bucks, just because if he didn’t value his products, why should other people?
Obviously, you’re not going to get people to pay for in-store samples but a feeling of quid-pro-quo has to be created. This is why trade magazines sent at no cost to targeted recipients have a newsstand price on them.
People are learning to value their personal information, which they will trade for information, such as that provided in company-sponsored whitepapers. This, I suppose, may serve to engender the feeling that value was exchanged when money was not.
So, you are correct, ‘free’ offers must be constructed thoughtfully to avoid devaluing what one is ultimately trying to sell.