For a typical consumer, hearing the word “free” usually sparks interest, especially if they were looking into the product in the first place. On the other hand, as a business, offering something for free might come with a few hesitations. In this article, we’ll be talking about the pros and cons of providing free resources and how this can actually help your business succeed if done correctly!
Pros of Offering a Free Trial or Free Resources
In many instances, free trials or resources are what gives customers the final push to sign up or even purchase after they’re able to experience what a brand has to offer them. Aside from the ultimate goal of boosting conversions, having the option of a free trial for customers helps your brand with other goals along the way too.
Generate More Leads
One of the greatest benefits of offering something for free is that even if a customer doesn’t purchase right away, you’ll still have their contact information to nurture the lead towards conversion at a later time. You’ll also generate more excitement around your brand as people share your content with their friends! For any business, brand awareness is a key aspect of growth and this is one way you’d be able to increase your customer engagement over time.
Provide Clarity Around Your Product
Sometimes the quality of your product or service can’t be portrayed by only using words on a page. Customers love transparency and if they’re able to experience your product firsthand, you’ll be able to convey just how much your product could benefit them. As your leads get to know you and what you could provide them, your great product will sell itself!
Collect Feedback
Any business owner knows how important feedback is and free trials are a great way to get more people involved who can provide input on your product. This is especially useful if your goal is to refine your offer to generate more leads and keep your existing customers interested in your brand. Be sure to follow up with those who don’t convert afterward to see what you could have done differently to have convinced them to stay.
Cons of Offering a Free Trial or Free Resources
After going through the pros of these free offers, it wouldn’t be fair unless we discussed some of the cons of this as well. For the most part, these flaws are going to fall into the category of losing money and losing resources and we’ll briefly discuss this in this section.
Losing Money
To be frank, there’s no guarantee that your customers are going to convert after taking advantage of your free trial but this is why it’s so important to follow up with them afterward! If you’re offering a subscription, it’s also possible that there will be some people who sign up using different information each time with no real intention of ever purchasing. When offering your products or services for free be sure to take all of this into consideration to see if these risks are worth the cost of supporting these trials long-term.
Losing Resources
Another thing to keep in mind is that the more time you give your customers with your free trial, the more resources you may be unintentionally wasting. For example, in the SaaS industry, the type of resources that are being lost could involve things like server space or even your team’s customer support resources. It’s best to evaluate what the optimal duration should be so that your lead has enough time to make up their mind and just enough time to experience all that your trial has to offer.
Types of Free Offers
Now that you know some of the pros and cons related to free trials and free resources, let’s take a look at some variations that exist that you could adapt to your marketing strategy!
Free Trials
Free trials give your prospective leads something to fully use and test on their own for a certain amount of time. Free trials also promote word-of-mouth marketing as people talk to others about your product or services. Some examples of this include time-limited trials where businesses offer money-back guarantees after a specified period of time which allows your leads to explore your brand without having to incur any risks.
Freemium Plans
This type of plan is especially popular for subscription-based payment structures. Rather than just giving out a trial that allows for complete access for a short amount of time, a freemium plan offers an option that is always free but only provides access to a portion of the package. If a customer wants access to the other features, they would be able to upgrade whenever they want.
Free Resources
It takes time, effort, and consistency to become an authority in whatever industry you’re trying to compete in. By constantly offering free resources and assets that are valuable to your target audience, you’re promoting your business and slowly building their trust in your brand. This method also shows that you’re an expert in your industry since you’re willing to give away tools that you know others would find useful. In the process of building up your authority, having leads provide their email address to receive your resources would help grow your network as well.
Rather than letting your potential customers wonder if your product or services are any good, let them see for themselves! Not many people would say no to a free trial if there isn’t any risk involved so this is a great way to break down any barriers and hesitancies that they may have. One last piece of information to note is that you should keep in mind the types of leads you’re attracting. You should definitely outline the benefits of them purchasing but feel free to offer limited exclusive membership tiers while still being as transparent with your customers as possible.
Hopefully, you’re much more informed about free trials and free resources as well as the benefits that come along with them. Don’t be discouraged if some people don’t convert right away! Follow up with them and keep testing to find an optimal strategy that works best for your business.