This won’t suit every business, but if you can allow your visitors to sample or experience a free trial of your product or service it is an excellent way of both keeping people coming back to your site and getting new business.
Magazine publishers use this marketing technique all the time to sell subscriptions.
They offer an initial free trial period of their magazine, after which you can either cancel your subscription or keep it going. It’s a great way of generating instant customers. Who can refuse a free trial period?
Could this sort of marketing be used to promote your products or services online? Products which can be offered as free samples include:
- samples from guidebooks, recipe books, how-to style books etc; ❑ trial subscriptions to hobby magazines, newsletters etc;
- allowing visitors to advertise their own goods for sale free of charge on your website message board;
- free delivery on orders over a certain value.
The most important thing when running any sort of free giveaway or special offer is that it must have a sense of urgency. The best way to do this is to give your offer a cutoff date.
Take advantage of our free give away:
Book and pay for the walking holiday of your choice
before 31 March and we will give you two extra days completely free.
If you advertise that you regularly run free offers visitors will be encouraged to return to your site. A great way of making sure they do is offering them the opportunity to sign up for your regular newsletter where they’ll be the first to hear about your free offers.
By getting visitors to sign up to your newsletter you’ll be able to remind them that not only are you still around and offering terrific products and services, but also giving away some great offers.
