One way to entice customers to try your product or service is by giving away a sample for free. This tactic is quite prevalent online with free e-books, free webinars, free slideshows, etc. But is free actually valuable?
On the one hand, putting a value of 0 on something may make it seem less valuabe to potential customers. Why are you willing to give it away? It must not be all that great. On the other hand, offering a free sample has become expected, especially for companies establishing themselves. As a new product or service, a reputation has not yet been developed and so potential customers have no where to turn to get an opinion about whether its worth buying.
I think free is a great way to give potential customers a risk-free taste of your products or services – and, as I said above, it is pretty much expected. However, I think what is given away should actually be valuable. Take a bit of time to provide useful information to your potential customers and instead of thinking of it as free, think of it as a trial.
(photo by Limbo Poet @ Flickr CC)
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