Can free marketing offers cheapen your brand?

Aaron Witnish
Jul 20, 2017 · 3 min read

Here’s a lesson we have learned that we would like to caution business owners with!

This specifically applies to those of us running premium (high-end) service/product businesses charging into thousands of dollars per average transaction.

If you’re a low-end provider keep doing the free lead magnets, trip wires and up-sell videos etc (you typically need to in your marker).

OUR LESSON

Since 2008 my business partner and I have added an enormous amount of free value to the online marketplace.

Grant Cardone TV, 100+ free lives events and webinars, over 100 YouTube videos etc.

We’ve spent well in excess of six-figures on online advertising promoting ‘free offers’ to attract ‘leads’.

Although….

The more ‘free’ offers we put out, the lower the quality of ‘prospect’ our marketing seemed to attract.

Rather than prospective clients serious about their success/value/quality we seemed to be dealing with ‘freeple’ who quite frankly, often weren’t the calibre of person who make premium purchases.

(Were there exceptions and did we attract some amazing clients for sure).

THE SHIFT

If you’re in the high-end business world like us…..

And charging into the thousands for your exclusive services or products — ‘free offers’ can devalue your brand.

So the invitation is to move away from free samples, discounts, promotions, end of year sales and offer premium from day one.

How do you do this?

Promoting ‘premium educational content’ rather than ‘devaluing promotions’.

So for example:

We might put together a quality high-value video that people can access directly from our Facebook page or Blog without opting in.

This video would go into depth on the prestige and exclusivity of the service, client results and how the service can directly solve the viewers biggest problems.

Or it may be in the form of a long-tailed article that adds enormous value to the reader.

AND

This is what started happening to us and our clients….

The right people started checking ready and willing to buy almost immediately upon making the ‘premium content’ transition.

(They were coming to us directly).

They were sending us Facebook messages, commenting on the content asking for help (finding a way to reach us rather than us trying to chase them with follow up email campaigns etc).

All these enquiries became red hot ‘prospects’ rather than just another ‘lead’ in the database.

We didn’t need a CRM, leadpage or website to attract high-end clients anymore, just great unconditional value across a few key platforms.

We found the people checking in had so much trust and desire from the value already added, that they were ready to make a decision and buy.

And often the one pushing the sale or offer, rather than us trying to delicately weave it in.

You only need a handful of these check ins a month (if you charge enough) to drastically increase your numbers.

As these clients typically refer and buy again, almost having an exponential impact on the business.

So start adding unconditional value to your target market via educational videos, long-tailed articles and watch the need to market for email addresses, objection handle and even sell dissipate.

You’ll create a marketplace that loves your brand and generate a handful of great clients in the process.

If you liked this article, feel free to check out more premium content for high-end business owners over at http://aaronwitnish.com/ or comment below if you have any questions or would like to connect via social media.

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Written by

The Digital Marketing Agency http://thedigitalmarketingagency.com.au/

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