JASON DROHNFree is powerful in marketing because of reciprocity. This is the feeling that if
someone does something for you, you should do something for them.
Think of stores that give out free samples, like restaurants in the mall food court.
The simple act of getting something free compels some people to purchase from
that business, even if it's not the same item they sampled.
The problem with reciprocity is that it's so powerful that it can turn into guilt.
People might feel guilty if they get the freebie and don't buy anything, so some
will turn down the gift to avoid the feeling of guilt.
One way to get around this is to explain why you're giving away the item. The
most common explanation is that you want to let people sample what you have
to offer because you know some of them will like it enough to buy it.
That's why there are free samples of bourbon chicken in the food court and why
many software services offer free trials.
Maybe you have another reason for your freebie; if so, just explain what that is.
Another thing you can do is have a free offer alongside paid ones. Say you own
a membership site that people pay a monthly fee to access. You could create
another level of the site that is free and offers less content or fewer benefits than
your paid level. The idea is to get people into the free level, knowing that some
will upgrade to paid to get those extra benefits.
That's a very common arrangement with business software. The software might
be free for X number of uses per month, than after that there is a fee. An
autoresponder service might offer free accounts for people who have fewer than
500 subscribers. They know that once your list grows beyond that size, you'll
still need their service, so if they can get you in the door with a free account,
there's a good chance you will eventually upgrade.
If you use this strategy, make a comparison chart showing the benefits for free
and paid users so people can see what they get.
Don't overdo it with the word free. It will attract some people who will never
become paying customers and may be more difficult to please.
Make sure your free offer still has quality. People won't appreciate your freebie
if it lacks value. When creating it, put in the same effort you would use if you
were planning to charge for it.
HTML vs Plain Text Emails
A key decision to make for your email marketing campaigns is whether to use
plain text emails or HTML messages. HTML lets you make your email look
more like a web page or a page from a magazine. However, HTML formatting