How to give away free content and make more
Free stuff is a favorite of people And free content is no different. Utilize these steps to make free content that expands your following and improves your sales.
Have you been to the wholesale market on a weekend afternoon?
One of my favourite (pre-pandemic) tasks is to make a meal out of complimentary samples from my local Costco.
On busy days, every aisle has a different sample at the end. It's a delicious method of obtaining a complimentary lunch And I usually end up with a bag of 48 potstickers, a torso-sized bag of popcorn, and a big smile.
Free stuff makes people happy. Our brains are wired to be happy.
The same spark of joy to your audience by giving them free content. Offer up a platter of your most delicious content samples, and before you know it, they'll be coming back for more -- and ready to make a purchase.
In this piece we'll teach you how you can turn the free content you've created into more revenue in only three steps.
However, before we do that, let's look a little deeper into the plan behind offering content free of charge.
Why give away free content?
The free-content offer is done for two reasons:
People are crazy about free things.
Content marketing works.
We'll start with the first. Whether it's a pizza bagel sample at Costco or a free ebook download, freebies make us feel happy.
Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University, researched the power of free offers for his book Predictably Irrational . In one research study, scientists asked people to choose between a 1-cent Hershey Kiss or a 15-cent Lindt truffle (a premium chocolate).
73% people decided to go with for the Lindt truffle.
Next, they lowered both prices by 1 cent, which meant that you could get the Hershey Kiss was free and the Lindt truffle cost 14 cents.
What are the results of this small shift?
69% of people picked the Kiss over the truffle.
In the second study, the Lindt truffle did not have an excellent value, however the power of "free" triumphed.
Here's why:
Free things make people happy at a chemical degree. "Getting free stuff gives you that good spike of dopamine which is one of the four hormones that makes people feel content," says psychologist Dr. Linda Papadopolous .
When you provide your audience free content, they are content. The content they enjoy will be associated with your brand -- they may feel they have a responsibility to you to repay you.
Dr. Papadopolous explains: "Savvy brands rely on 'connection' with shoppers and offer freebies in order to make them feel like they are friends. Humans are creatures that reciprocate."
In other words, free content can help you establish an ongoing relationship with your potential clients. Content marketing is an economical and cost-effective way to connect with your target audience.
80percent of users were either watching, reading, or listened to a piece of content from a brand over the past year.
Content marketing cost 62% less than traditional marketing, and it generates nearly three times the leads than traditional marketing.
If you create free content in your content marketing strategy, you build your brand as an expert within your field.
Marketing funnels map the journey that a potential client (or "lead") is on beginning with your organization until they make a purchase.
The place a person is placed in the sales funnel is determined by how familiar they are with your company and the likelihood they are to making a purchase.
The moment that new viewers come across the content you provide for free through social media, through a Google search or words of mouth they enter the top of the funnel (TOFU), a.k.a. the awareness stage.
However, you shouldn't offer up any ol' information. It is essential to create your best content available for free.
It's true that it's strange to charge for your top-shelf content. Consider it this way: If you were a candymaker, you wouldn't want to give out the samples of your most expensive chocolate.
Content works the same way. If the free content you offer isn't appealing (or valuable) from the very first bite, your audience will probably not be interested in paid stuff (like courses and classes).
Over the years, she has offered quality YouTube video clips to subscribers, Rose now also has three ebooks available for sale. Fans already know her. Rose cooks up delicious vegan dishes, making it a no-brainer to get her paid-for video content.
Bottom line:
Write blog posts or publish videos for free and host a regular podcast, free content builds relationships with your followers who are listeners, viewers, and. And with the right tactics, you can turn these leads into loyal, satisfied, and paid customers.
After you've learned the "why" Let's dive into the "how" by following three steps that will help you create free content that will increase the sales of your business.
Three steps to convert free content into sales
1. Create once, publish everywhere
How do you make the time to produce top-quality free content while building an online enterprise?
Make use of the create one time, and publish all over the world (COPE) method.
This super-scalable system works:
Repurpose your blog content for different channels.
For a blog to be published Of course, you need a blog.
The blog you have created is the "best property for publishing content," says Julia McCoy , best-selling author as well as a content marketer and co-founder of Express Writers.
77% of web users visit blogs. internet users within the U.S. spend three times more time with blogs than email. Furthermore, companies that have a blog generate about 67 percent more leads than those without one.
Your blog posts -- just like your all-free content, must be of real quality. Blog posts should be relevant to your offerings However, ensure that it's not just long-form advertisements to promote your online course or membership website.
In order to maximize the value of your blog content, make sure you optimize for SEO too. The majority of marketers rank SEO in the top spot as the most effective content marketing method . The second most efficient follows by updating and repurposing existing content. That is the third part of this step.
SEO can mean the difference between a blog that has just a few readers and an amazing blog bringing hundreds of visitors.
If you can optimize your blog's content for search, you make it easier for the people you want to reach to find you when they're seeking relevant keywords and phrases.
And grabbing the top spots on the page of results matters. The top five results from an Google search are responsible for 67.6% of all clicks .
Below are some helpful sources to help you get started with SEO:
Once you publish your blog, you could reuse it to create different content formats.
You can, for instance, convert a lengthy blog post to an infographic. Visuals make content easier for your audience to digest -- and 40% of marketers report that original graphics (including infographics) are the most effective type of visual content.
Blogs aren't the only type of content you can repurpose. Here are some other examples of free content:
Make an infographic smaller social media graphics to publish on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Infographics are liked and shared via social networks at three times the rate than other types of content.
Read on to find out the process.
2. Exchange email addresses to receive free content
When people come across your content, you have the opportunity to lead them on the journey of becoming a casual user to an enduring customer.
To do that it is necessary to find a method to reach them.
Before you start emailing them, your subscribers need to sign up to be notified of your updates. Otherwise, you risk getting lost in the mailer's spam folder .
Two ways can use free content to get email signups
Create an opt-in-form on your blog. Add an opt-in form to your.
Offer a lead magnet as a reward for their information about themselves.
A opt-in page (also known as an email capture) solicits users' email address as a trade for some kind of benefit.
If you sign up for the newsletter, members receive -- you guessed it -- free information.
The no-cost weekly Python tutorials provide his audience with the opportunity to see his skills and style of teaching. When it is the time for them to register into a Python training course, they will know that Reuven's courses can be a good option.
However, Reuven knows that the people who sign up to his emails would like to advance their Python skills to the next level and he is able to confidently promote the online classes he offers for sale to them.
A lead magnet is a no-cost resource people can get in exchange for joining your email list.
The majority of people want actionable, informative content as a reward for contact info.
Content types that can make great lead magnets include:
Ebooks and guides
Cheat sheets and checklists
Case studies
Webinar recordings
Like all free content Lead magnets are the most powerful and effective. They are tailored to your specific audience and their pain points. Make it clear to potential customers why they should trust and, eventually, purchase from you.
For instance, coach and author Sally Ann Miller offers a free Author Resource Library that includes "tools and templates for training and methods which have been tried and have been proven effective".
Sally offers her audience an opportunity to gain knowledge from her experience as an writer. All they need to do is sign up. When they have done that, Sally can begin building relations with them, ultimately converting them to customers who are willing to purchase her books .
Alright, you've turned your blog visitor into an email subscriber. Next up: Turning email subscribers into clients.
3. Nurture and sell to leads with email marketing
Do you remember that funnel for marketing we talked about earlier?
Now that your blog readers have turned into leads, we're moving into the middle of the funnel, the phase of considering.
In the consideration stage, prospects know the issue they face, and they know there are multiple options to solve it. Your task is to convince them realize that your product is the most effective option.
The ROI of email marketing is of $42 for every dollar spent .
59% of marketers cite email as the primary source of ROI (ROI).
Email is the driver behind 174% more conversions over social media.
Nurtured leads make 40% more purchase over leads who are not nurtured.
A crucial thing to consider is that email marketing only works if you use correctly.
80percent of all leads don't convert into sales. Nurturing leads isn't about bombarding your list of email subscribers with regular sales emails. This means providing them with more information about you as a brand, your company, and the products you offer.
Because of your content marketing strategy, you know exactly the topics your readers want to know. When they download a lead magnet, you are able to share details regarding products that relate to that content.
In this case, Lisa Downs of New Aspect Coaching provides an free webinar on career transitions .
Lisa recognizes that the leads who sign up for the free webinars can be a good candidate for her paid seminars in the same area. You can also send them a series of emails to nurture them to enroll.
Ryan of Signature Edits uses email segmentation to push those product suggestions an extra step in the lead nurture emails he sends.
Here's how:
Ryan is aware that different photographers have various issues, which is why Ryan offers two lead-inducers: a sample of his candid-posing tips and a free pack of photo editor presets .
Signature Edits offers templates, presets, and training for photographers. When someone downloads one of the lead magnets Ryan can send them follow-up emails based on the freebie they download.
For example, if someone opts to sign up for one of the photo editing presets, Ryan knows that they're keen to enhance their editing abilities. With that info in hand, he can confidently market his editing software to the person who signed up.
The more targeted and relevant your emails to nurture customers are more relevant and personalized, the better. 72% of consumers are only interested in marketing messages that cater to their interests, and relevant emails drive 18x more revenue than generalized broadcast emails.
When you know the pain points of your prospects and interests, you can compose a sales letter that truly resonates with them -- like in this email template:
Hello [first name],
Do you have any experience of struggling over the issue?
You know, in an approach that causes you to feel emotions.
If yes, then you're not alone.
Here's the fix:
[Step 1]
[Step 2]
[Step 3]
Sure, there's a little additional information and not much.
This is it.
Hallelujah for easy processes.
If you'd like to know more, head over to our [link resources page].
Copy to clipboard[signature]
In the end, your lead nurture emails assist potential clients in making the decision to move from the free version to the paid. These emails are an opportunity to build trust, introduce your products, and show your prospects what you can do to help your customers.
Make free content worth the price of gold
The people who love free stuff, and free content is no exception.
If you provide important content that is free It makes your customers happy and shows them why they should know more about your company and offerings.
It doesn't require a whole team of content marketers , or endless hours in the day to make top-quality material that can generate leads. In case you're wondering, here's three steps to turning free content into revenue:
Create once, publish all over the world. Start by writing blog posts which showcase your knowledge as well as your point of view. and then use your blog posts to reach more people.
Make use of a newsletter opt-in forms or lead magnets for collecting the email addresses of your leads. Give them exclusive, top-quality information in exchange for email addresses.
Create nurture messages that are tailored to your subscribers' interests and pain points. Present your product to make prospective customers feel secure in their purchase decision.
It's time to get started to creating content your audience will love and watching your sales rise. May free content always be the present that keeps offering.