"I need more customers but I've got no money".
You would be surprised how often I hear this. It seems to
be a common problem with small business, so over the years
I've been testing and documenting a large variety of
low-cost marketing strategies.
The results of my testing shows that one of the most cost
effective way to get more customers is to 'Give away free
samples' or 'Free trials'.
The benefits of this marketing approach are two fold.
Firstly you are removing all risk from your potential
customers and secondly you are demonstrating the value of
what you sell in a tangible way.
Let's look at some small business examples:
Example 1: I had a client who was starting a children's
pony-ride party service. To kick start her business I held
a birthday party for my son and invited her to bring her
ponies. She gave all the kids pony rides (which they loved)
and we put vouchers for discount pony parties in all the
lolly bags. We had 30 kids at the party, most of whom had
brothers and sisters. The following month she got two party
bookings. Again she put vouchers in the party bags. She
continued this process with every party and the business
took off. Her only cost for this promotion was the time she
spent giving my son the initial party free and the cost of
printing the vouchers but even that was minimal because in
the beginning she was printing the vouchers on her home
computer. It wasn't until she was making reasonable money
that she invested in professional printing and design
services.
Example 2: To kick start my marketing business I began
giving out vouchers for A FREE Marketing Analysis and
Consultation valued at $297. I gained a lot of bookings
from people who weren't even considering hiring a
consultant but once they had seen the results of that
initial consultation about 80% purchased additional
services.
Examples are Everywhere. Giving away free samples and
trials is so powerful that even the multi-nationals are
employing this strategy. When Krispy Kreme opened a new
store in our suburb they had employees out on the streets
handing out free donuts for the first few months of trade -
the result was cars queued down the street waiting to buy
Krispy Kreme donuts.
Microsoft is now giving away a trial version of Office
2007, you can download it from the web and you'll find it
preinstalled on almost every new PC sold.
We've all been past a bakery or food outlet that was
handing out samples and I'm sure most of us have gone ahead
and bought something as a result of that sample -something
that we had no intention of buying moments before being
handed the sample.
The law of reciprocation tells us that when most people are
given something they feel the need to reciprocate. So if
you give away a free sample people will often unknowingly
feel the need to make a purchase in return.
Have you ever had to make a purchase decision for something
that involved a sizable sum of money? When choosing between
several companies, the company that offers a free trial of
their product is going to be the more attractive option and
provided that product meets the buyers needs the other
options in the marketplace won't even get a look in.
What could you offer your potential clients to get them
hooked on what you sell?
Here's some ideas to get you thinking: A hairdresser could
give away free hair cuts or free foils. A beautician could
give away a free mini facial. Any business that offers
services via consultation could give away a free
consultation. A mechanic a free oil change. A restaurant a
free meal.
Most businesses will find they have several options as to
what they could give away free. Test a few different offers
and see which ones get the best response. When measuring
your results look at the big picture. Don't just measure
the immediate sales that result but look at the sales that
result in the coming months / years.
Distribution or your offer. Once you've decided what you
can give away, you need to set up a plan to actually get
your offer to your target market. You can of course just
stand on the street handing out samples to passers-by but
unless you sell a product with an extremely broad target
market you'll find this method very difficult to control,
because whilst giving out free samples is an extremely low
cost way to win new customers this strategy will only work
if you are giving them to people who are likely to buy from
you in the future.
The simplest way to reach your ideal customer is to first
decide exactly who your ideal customers are and then look
at what other businesses they are buying from. Once you
know this you can approach those businesses and ask them to
distribute your freebies for you. Not only will you gain
valuable access to the people most likely to buy from you
but you will reach those people in volumes far greater than
you could if you were approaching them all personally.
Just as Microsoft knows that new computer buyers are the
most likely prospects to buy the new version of Office you
need to recognise the purchase patterns of the people most
likely to buy from you.
----------------------------------------------------
For more low cost marketing ideas go to:
http://www.the3WayWin.com
No comments:
Post a Comment