Offering Free Downloads as Part of Your Internet Marketing Strategy Will Get You Clients Faster
As an internet marketing consultant I’m here to tell you that if your goal is to get more clients and get a better return on your marketing investment, then you need to make available good quality, relevant content. Providing content in the form of free downloads, also called offers, will help you line up the customers.
A free download is a quick way to generate leads.
The basic goal of your internet marketing strategy is to generate leads and for those leads to become customers. A free offer is just one component of this strategy, but it is a key component. Every part of the 11 Building Blocks for Internet Marketing helps you build a system that will generate leads and get you more clients faster than almost anything else. In fact, without the free offer the connecting process will probably take much longer if you get the chance to engage the visitors to your site at all. A free offer provides something of value to a person. If they like it they will be curious for more. They might remember you and come back to your site when they are looking for credible information. Ideally, the offer will prompt them to contact you directly.
A free download helps direct the customer.
The great thing about internet marketing is that it works for you 24/7. A potential customer can come to your website any time of day or night. Now what do you want them to do? A free offer tells the customer what they should do next by using a compelling Call to Action, also called a CTA. It grabs their attention and gives them something. For example, “Free Download: 5 Ways to Have More Fun Without Breaking the Bank.” Once the customer fills out a short form to download the offer – usually including first name, last name, and email – you now have a way to give them more helpful pieces of information, while keeping in mind the end result of converting that person to an actual client.
A free download educates and helps the customer make a decision.
An offer is an interesting piece of information that your business makes available on your website to potential customers. As part of an internet marketing strategy an offer is an ebook, white paper, template or anything else you think is valuable and helpful to getting a potential customer to contact you for more information. You want to have two types of offers available. The first is more high-level and educational, answering “what” questions. The second should provide information to help the customer make a decision, answering “how” and “why.” Offers don’t have to be long, boring pieces of information. They are meant to be educational and fun, grabbing the customer’s interest so they will come back for more; or the offer might cause the customer to think your business is so fun and entertaining they want to get to know you better right away.
I’m an internet marketing consultant who likes to have fun. Except that my fun is geeky fun, like researching and testing free offers. I also get excited when I see the results. I’m here to tell you that offering free downloads work. Try them out, and you’ll be on the fast track to getting more customers, which I know makes you excited too.
