Want
to listen to this article instead?

Once
upon a time, in the dark ages of Internet marketing (only about 10 years ago in
Internet years), all an online business owner had to do was stick an email
opt-in form on her site and request visitors to join her list. Simple, wasn't
it?
Then, the legion of sp*mmers began to grow and started to make
marketing by email more difficult. So, then to encourage someone to opt into
your list, you had to give something away, typically a very short assessment,
checklist or special report.
As more and more online business owners
implemented this strategy, website visitors started to become more skeptical.
The giveaway then had to be more substantial, like a free ebook or transcript or
recording, to get a visitor to part with his contact information.
And,
today, the free bar is raised yet again. Ongoing difficulties with sp*mmers and
email marketing has caused online business owners to almost give away the store,
it seems at times, to interest visitors in parting with their name and email
address. If you've been in business awhile, you probably have some valuable
content that you can easily add to enhance your giveaway. If you're newer in
business, the first pieces of content you create should be used as your fr*ee
giveway rather than creating them in hopes of selling them. Remember, your
primary call to action on your website or blog should always be to grow your
list and a great giveaway does just that.
How can you be more competitive
in a landscape full of marketers with fr*ee client-capturing devices? Here are
5 secrets to moving the free line with your website giveaway:
1. Be
Content Rich. If your giveaway isn't chock full of useful content that
helps solve some immediate problems of your target market, you shouldn't waste
your time. Sure, your client-capturing device needs to have info in it about
you and your products/services and an upsell to purchase from you. However, if
your giveaway is nothing but an extended infomercial about how wonderful you are
and why the reader should buy from you, you won't create a trustworthy
relationship with your reader. Visitors conduct Internet searches because
they're seeking fr*ee info to help them solve their problems. If they get
valuable and credible content from you that they can immediately begin to use,
they are much more likely to pay attention to what else you have to say and
begin to like and trust you, which, of course, leads to their eventual purchase
from you.
2. Multiple Offerings. A lone ebook, recording, or
checklist is no longer enough. Now, multiple offerings in your free giveaway
are necessary to lure the visitors onto your list. Creating some type of kit or
package that includes three or so items, like a free ebook or report, an audio
file, a video, etc. all focused on a similar topic is now what is required as an
effective client-capturing device. Your graphical representation of this
giveaway needs to reflect that you are offering multiple items in the giveaway,
as well.
3. Monetary Value. Because you're including valuable
content in your giveaway, you need to determine the monetary value of this
content. Determine a reasonable price in line with your other offerings, and
don't do what so many other marketers do by creating ridiculously inflated
prices for their fr*ee information. Place a value on each piece of info that
you provide in your client-capturing device, and then a total price on the
entire giveaway.
4. Sales Page Required. Just like a fee-based
product, the free giveaway also now needs its on sales page to let the visitor
know why the giveaway is useful and wonderful and how their lives will change
(or problems will be solved) by requesting the giveaway. I don't think it has
to follow the long sales letter format (the one that seems to go on forever and
ever) but follows a shorter, more succinct sales page that clearly outlines the
benefits and features of your offering to the visitor.
5. Audio and
Video Help. Almost everyone to whom I've spoken agrees that their opt-in
rates have increased when they add audio to the giveaway sales page, and have
skyrocketed when video is added. Typically all the audio or video does is
welcome the visitor to the page, run through why the visitor would want to get
the giveaway, and then walk the visitor through the process of requesting the
information. The audio and video component is simply a smart marketing strategy
because it lets the visitor know that they're dealing with a real, live, human
being and if they can now see you in video, it hastens their feeling of
connection to you.
Email marketing continues to be a viable marketing
strategy. However, in order to convince savvy Internet searchers that they
should do business with you, you need to up the ante and create more offerings
and greater content in your website giveaway. Follow these 5 secrets to enhance
your offerings and watch your list grow!
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR
WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Internet
Marketing Strategist and Boomer Biz Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create
profitable online retirement businesses that they love by demystifying and
simplifying the tools and strategies needed to market and grow their businesses
online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing
Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet
Marketing question at AskDonnaGunter.com.
Recent Comments