Loading ...Get Yer “Free” Samples Here…
You walk into a Starbucks. Same one you’ve been going to religiously for years now. It’s a familiar scene—Starbucks has come out with a new flavor of Frappucino and one of their Baristas is walking around handing them out. It’s hot and you were going to get a Frappucino anyway—so you reach out for your sample and just before you put the cup to your lips—Blam! The Barista snatches it from your hands and asks you to fill out a slip of paper with your name, e-mail, yadda yadda yadda. What do you do? If you’re me—you walk out the door.
Ok, the scenario is fictional, but inspired by true events. I recently came across an agency site that asked me to register with them before they would show me their portfolio. Huh? And if that wasn’t bad enough, on the same day I come across another agency blog (no I’m not naming names) and noticed was that if I wanted to read one of their downloadable POV’s —I had to fill out a form with name, rank, serial number, hobbies—you get the picture. I’ve been to corporate sites that require registration to read their “thought leadership” articles. And yup, you guessed it—I walked out the digital door without filling out a single form field. Why?
Because I’m spoiled, that’s why. It’s not like I was visiting a research firm where I expect to pay for volumes of rich content, data and research—I was at an agency blog for Pete’s sake. I’m used to going to a variety sites, blogs, wiki’s, you name it and getting great content on a daily basis without asking me for my info before handing it over. You want my what? Sorry—on to the next site…
So let’s think about your business for a moment. My friend Mike Wagner once said something I will never forget:
“A blog is a free sample of your brand”
Now let’s take this thought further. It’s not really about blogs or portfolio sites. Case in point—Starbucks knows exactly what they are doing when the give you those mini-me Frappucinos, no strings attached. They know that if you try it, you might like it—and if you like it you might buy it. And if you buy it, you might buy it again—and so the Frappucino purchase ecosystem begins and your love affair with the brand continues.
Starbucks customers are spoiled rotten. Just like your customers who spend a lot of time on multiple digital channels. Heck, they want to fast forward through your commercials and download music for free—what makes you think they’ll register for a PDF? So what do you do? On the surface it doesn’t seem like much to ask for a little ‘ol e-mail etc. in exchange for the content you perceive to be valuable. Well, here are a few thought starters.
1. Get over yourself: Your content may be good—but the Web instantly makes it a commodity. Unless you are selling content professionally, then it’s really a “free sample” of your brand.
2. Build your database in other ways: There are a couple of less intrusive options to solicit e-mails. One sure fire way is to offer an e-mail subscription option to your content (like we have over to the right). If your audience wants to receive your content in their inbox—then of course they’ll be more than willing to provide the coordinates.
3. Free doesn’t = cheap: Giving your customers a “taste” of what the full product or experience is like doesn’t cheapen your brand—it shows your confidence in it. When Starbucks hands out those little cups, it’s as if they’re saying “we think you’ll like this—but if you don’t, we know you’ll still come back”
Sampling in the digital space isn’t going away any time soon. Web Widgets, which are becoming increasingly popular, are yet another form of this. When Harley-Davison created a Widget that let users peek into the world of Sturgis, they didn’t “charge” their Harley fanbase (or potential future fanbase) by forcing them to fill out a form. Nope, it was “free”—because in reality, free doesn’t really mean “free”. It means you’re willing to give your customers a taste—without leaving them with a bad taste in their mouths. And that, friends—is an experience that matters.
Registration to view a portfolio or a POV drives me crazy! Giving customers a taste of the full experience only shows your confidence and does not compromise your brand. I am going to have to post Mike Wagner’s quote on my wall.
Thanks for the post, David.
Thanks for the mention David. You never know what people will remember. My comment that “a blog is a free sample of your brand” goes back to my earliest days of blogging when I had to come to grips with why I wanted to blog.
Your observations about building a database ring true for me.
The examples you cite are doing the old-fashion database transaction model. “You give me your email address and I’ll give you a nice shiny White Paper to download.”
I argue for transformation over transaction. Offering a free sample that leaves you different experientially (like the free sample at Starbucks) or intellectually enlightened (like in downloading a PDF) is how to hand out free samples of one’s brand.
Keep creating…and stirring the pot,
Mike
Rock on David! Excellent example. My preference is to “sample” your site and if I am wowed or dying to learn more, I’ll offer up my details. If you ask me to show you the money first, bye bye.
Absolutely agree. I’ve often hit a registration wall in trying to download white papers from consultancies or get exclusive content from companies. At my last job we struggled in balancing content for free or in exchange for a form complete. With potential customers’ attention so fleeting in today’s world, I think the opportunity to “say” something to a customer who is raising their hand and willingly asking for information/content/expert advice is so valuable that to risk losing them for good is just not worth it.
The argument can be made that those leads that complete the form are more valuable because they took that extra effort but if you’re providing something of value as a “taste” then the information shared and the goodwill engendered will go much farther. This is where tools like e-mail progressive profiling and a philosophy of permission marketing will get you a lot farther in the long-term. I guess a rule to remember then is “No one likes to be teased.”
but you did exactly the same thing. i clicked on this from my rss reader expecting a story about starbucks and got something much more mundane. interesting point, but a bait and switch nonetheless. plus i didn’t think i had seen that flavor before - i thought it might actually be a new one and it looked really good.
Thanks guys—all good thoughts. And Lori, how nice to see you here! I feel like it’s the good old days.
Jessi—interesting point. But not the same. I didn’t ask you to fill out a form. All you had to do was click a link for the full story.
As for it being Mundane. Fair enough. Sometimes experiences are mundane, but worth remembering as we can learn from them. While you felt this was a bait and switch, my intention was to draw you into the story with an applicable metaphor. Nice to see that you commented!
not mundane, just *more* mundane. i thought it was an interesting point - but i wanted food porn!
(actually i think it’s interesting how the mere picture of a tasty frappucino evoked such a pavlovian response for me. but maybe that’s just because i’m a hopeless foodie.)
For a while our area of the country was considered a great marketing test bed. As a result we would get a lot of free samples in the mail. I brought this up in a marketing class one evening as part of the discussion on “cost of sales”. The outcome was although the free sample appears to be an expensive way to go it is a sure-fire way to guarantee the consumer actually tries the product. In the end it is actually less expensive then even a broad mailing of “free coupons”. This same logic could be applied to the virtual world. As examples, both Steelcase & Herman Miller have research (limited but still…) finding available on their websites.
Jesse,
The photo choice as well as how I opted to begin the story were all by design.
@Jon
I think it’s one thing to ask for some basic information when the product you’re sampling is the actual product or service. For example, I’m thinking of BaseCamp. You can sign up for a limited version with just your email address.
I think it’s another thing, and perhaps not a good thing, to ask for such information when what you’re sampling is *not* the product and simply just a white paper.
I absolutely agree with Mike - “a blog is a free sample of your brand.”
I always get a little suspicious when I’m asked to divulge personal information before accessing blogs, etc. on the Web. I want to know who’s going to see my info - and I get a bad feeling about it, I walk away.
And who wants potential customers to walk away without even experiencing the brand?
Right on the money. Well said. I have a photography portfolio and I don’t agree with the idea of burying or hiding the good stuff. I figure if I can’t show people the good stuff then why the heck should they give me the time of day? At some point I rely on them to appreciate my work enough to want to get in touch and hire me. There’s no room for big egos in that kind of situation.
Be well.
“I have a photography portfolio and I don’t agree with the idea of burying or hiding the good stuff. I figure if I can’t show people the good stuff then why the heck should they give me the time of day?”
Tobias, that’s a very entrepreneurial attitude you have there. I think one of the side effects of the whole “2.0″ things is that slowly, but surely big companies will have to act smaller—even though they remain big.
Help, bro! How do you draw the line between the sample and the product? How do you give away enough, without giving away the farm?
Especially in these days of membership sites, how to balance what goes in your blog/newsletter (free), paid content, and products … it’s making my head spin.
I agree, Tobias. It’s the same with my writing samples; If I give people my best stuff, they’ll probably at least think I have more. On the other hand, if I were to send out my not-so-great work, I’d be worried they’d wonder, “Is this all he has?
If you’re a professional in any field, it’s all about keeping up appearances. If you give out the good stuff for free, it shows that you can whip up more in no time.
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