Are Freebies Good for Small Businesses?

The prospect of giving away your work and products for free seems counterproductive. When the purpose of your business is to make a profit, allowing it to be used without cost seems to go against the grain. Yet when done correctly, free giveaways can be a huge boost to your profit margins whatever industry you work in. Below, we discuss why freebies may be the right choice for your small business.

What Is a Freebie? 

A freebie is any product or service given away to a customer free of charge. These have been around for some time, often as smaller versions of the product itself. Supermarkets may give out testers of food or household goods. This allows people to try them, get to know them and come back later for the full product.  

In the digital era, freebies have taken on a whole new persona. The entertainment industry often has various models that allow people to try services for free. Think about how you listen to Spotify or watch videos on YouTube. While they are supplemented by advertising, they are allowing a free service for the viewers to try. Even the online casino industry now provides real money no deposit games. This lets people try slots and table games without wagering their funds for a short time. While they may be only available on limited games, customers who come back then sign up and receive a wider choice.  

Giving Away Freebies Correctly 

There is a right way to give away freebies so you don’t simply end up giving away your whole product or worse, making your brand look cheap. Start by deciding what you want to get out of the promotion. Are you looking to advertise a new product? Using it to collect customer data for a future marketing campaign? Are you trying to get more followers on social media? 

From here, you can decide the method that will help you achieve that objective. For example, the freebie may come in exchange for email addresses or customer feedback. People may have to like your Instagram page and tag a friend to receive the freebie.  

You should also think about the value the freebie adds to your customer. If you create one that does not have demand, it can harm your brand identity. Instead, create a sense of urgency or exclusivity with the freebie. Declare it as new, limited edition, or only available to subscribers.  

Monitoring the Response 

Before you start your freebie marketing campaign, make sure you have a system in place to monitor the response. You need this to see how effective and how much impact it has had. In some ways, this will be quite easy to see. Perhaps you need to count email sign ups. In others, such as increasing website traffic or boosting sales of a new product, you may have to compare it to existing and previous data.  

Like any marketing campaign, you need to plan your freebie giveaway meticulously. Have the right product in place and have a goal, then watch as freebies lead to conversions.