How Free Offers Sit in an
Overall Marketing Strategy
Free offers are one of the most important parts to include in almost any comprehensive marketing strategy. If you want to attract the highest possible number of customers, there are several ways that giving something for free can help you do this.
Encourage New Users to Give Your Product a Try
Letting people try your products is one of the most powerful uses of free offers. This could be a way to introduce a completely new product to the market or to boost sign-up rates for something that is taking off too slowly for your business plan. By looking at examples in literature, we can find free samples being offered by businesses going back to the 14th century, but it was the 20th century when the concept of free goods really took off as a mainstream marketing tactic.
These days, we can see examples such as the opportunity to play bingo at no cost on the Paddy Power site. The idea behind Paddy’s free bingo is that you can try the 90-ball version of the game at certain times of day every day. Prizes are awarded in these games, so it’s an effective approach for new players who want to see what online bingo is about and try to win cash at the same time before exploring other games.
Keep People Coming Back for More
While free offers are commonly used to get newcomers to sign up, they’re also particularly effective in retaining existing users and encouraging a greater degree of loyalty. These deals are often wrapped up in useful loyalty programs that make people feel that they’re getting a special reward for being part of the company and continuing to buy their products or use their services.
Loyalty programs have been around since the 18th century, as revealed in this Smile article, with Green Shield stamps among the earliest examples of rewards that people could collect while purchasing. The emergence of e-commerce in the 21st century has made reward programs more vital as well as easier to operate.
Earn Positive Reviews
Online review sites have changed the dynamics of customer-business interaction, as companies now need to be incredibly careful about managing their online reputation. This list by Peek Pro of ways to boost customer reviews ends with the suggestion of giving free upgrades or gifts to create a more positive impression before asking the person to leave a review.
The first online reviews appeared at the end of the last century, on sites like eBay. After this, third-party sites began to gather reviews from numerous customers for different companies, allowing us to quickly compare ratings from a variety of providers.
Of course, providing a top-quality service or product is always the best way to ensure that you receive a majority of positive reviews. However, by adding this idea and the others we’ve looked at to your marketing campaigns, you can move your business onto the next level and boost your reputation at the same time.
