Everyone loves a freebie, and the right sort of free information can send visitors flocking to your website. However, you don't need to give everything away. How can you know when it's good to give away a resource and when you should charge for it?
Why Would You Give It All Away?
If you have a well-crafted and free resource and it fills a need in your community, you will quite possibly have a bestseller. However, do you need to give this information away? What do you hope to gain by doing so?
You might be providing a service to your community. You might want to build the buzz about your organization in the wider world of your field. You might want to provide a taste of the content that's in your other products, to lead people directly into a purchase. When you have a reason and use your reason to build a strategy, then you know why you'll give away some content for free and ask people to pay for the rest.
Free Content Initiates Interest
When you're trying to generate initial interest in your business or you're developing excitement about a new product or campaign, free content can give you the traffic that you need to get many eyes on your website. If your content is well-crafted and fills a niche, it's an excellent advertisement for your business and places your name into the public eye.
Free Content is Shareable
Unlike a purchased product, it's easy to share free content with friends. When you create a video about a problem in your field, this video can move quickly through social media, making an impact and letting people know about your organization. You can't say the same about a paid webinar.
Free Content Provides a Teaser
When you're trying to establish your brand, free content provides a taste of what's to come. If you're interested in providing a bit of value and offering a glimpse into what could come after, free content can do this too. A short ebook can provide just enough information that your leads will come to you looking for more.
A well-organized webinar brings great value to your customers:
encourage them to pay for selected high-value items.
A Price Adds Value
On the other hand, there are many reasons to charge for your product. Ironically, while it might seem like people would appreciate your free resource and come back to your business, giving everything away can make your business look less valuable. When you ask someone to pay for something and price it at market rates, you may not get quite as many buyers but your buyers will be those who truly see value in what you're doing. For example, if you create a free ebook on getting deals on cruises, people may expect a few tips. If you charge $10 for a well-organized and tip-rich ebook, you set yourself up as an expert in the cruise industry. When you're trying to position yourself as a credible expert in your field, having some paid products adds to this image.
Payment Encourages Commitment
When you're developing a product, you want to make sure that people will use it. For instance, a webinar that everyone signs up for but no one attends is a sad webinar indeed. While giving something away for free might encourage people to sign up, they will attend when they have made the commitment by paying for that webinar. When you're creating something that requires a commitment, consider asking people to pay.
When you're creating content that draws in leads, look to Digital Inbound for help. Our expertise in digital inbound marketing can help you develop new opportunities for your business.