{"id":106705,"date":"2023-06-27T09:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=106705"},"modified":"2023-06-30T09:18:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T13:18:40","slug":"freebie-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/freebie-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Seth Godin on Freebie Marketing: Break the Ice With Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is freebie marketing<\/a> a smart approach? If so, how and when should it be done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Permission Marketing<\/em>, Seth Godin recommends opening a line of communication with consumers by offering them valuable freebies in exchange for their contact information. This is the first step in his three-part permission marketing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn how to break the ice<\/a> with prospective customers by giving out freebies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Freebie Marketing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your first goal when starting a permission marketing campaign<\/a> is to get consumers\u2019 permission to send information about your brand directly to them. Godin acknowledges that permission marketers must initially resort to Interruption Marketing<\/a> to make first contact with consumers <\/strong>and request their permission for later marketing materials. This initial advertising isn\u2019t meant to build brand trust\u2014just to attract consumers to the messages that will. Run advertisements that direct consumers to your permission marketing channel\u2014for instance, a YouTube advertisement telling viewers to sign up for your email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To incentivize consumers to give you their permission to contact them, use freebie marketing as your initial Interruption Marketing: Offer them something valuable for free in exchange for their contact information<\/strong>. Even if consumers are only slightly interested in your brand, if the reward you offer is enticing enough, they\u2019ll give you permission to contact them again. In follow-up communications, you can give them more information about your product or service to heighten their interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: If you don\u2019t have much cash to invest in Interruption Marketing, you may be better off drawing consumers to your permission marketing channels with SEO<\/a> (search engine optimization). This is strategically designing your brand\u2019s website (where consumers can sign up for your permission marketing materials) so it becomes one of the top results shown by search engines like Google. SEO isn\u2019t Interruption Marketing since you\u2019re only showing your brand to consumers already actively searching for what you\u2019re offering. If you learn to do SEO yourself<\/a>, you can generate organic traffic without hiring professionals<\/a> or paying for ad space someone else owns.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The freebies you offer consumers could be anything\u2014a free sample of your product, helpful and practical information, or just a link to a fun video you\u2019ve created. The important thing is to design these freebies to attract the target audience to whatever product or service you\u2019re selling. <\/strong>For example, if you\u2019re selling incense, you may offer a guide to the most popular incense scents and their traditional symbolic meanings for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To determine what freebies to offer in a permission marketing strategy, Russell Brunson (Dotcom Secrets<\/em><\/a>) recommends creating a \u201ccustomer avatar\u201d: an imaginary person that represents your ideal customer. Knowing in precise detail who you want to serve will help you identify a freebie they can\u2019t resist. For this reason, make your customer avatar as concrete as possible: Create a biography for them with as many details as you can, give them a name, and find a stock image or other photo to represent what you imagine they would look like.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is freebie marketing a smart approach? If so, how and when should it be done? In Permission Marketing, Seth Godin recommends opening a line of communication with consumers by offering them valuable freebies in exchange for their contact information. This is the first step in his three-part permission marketing strategy. Continue reading to learn how to break the ice with prospective customers by giving out freebies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":106747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,104],"tags":[1082],"class_list":["post-106705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-marketing","tag-permission-marketing","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nSeth Godin on Freebie Marketing: Break the Ice With Customers - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Permission Marketing, Seth Godin recommends opening a line of communication with consumers by offering them valuable freebies. 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