Some people say, “the economy of giving it away”
As most of you know that a lot of people are increasingly wanting cheaper, very cheap, and even FREE items! Some might get them free, some might not. Marketers are bending and some may have broken their bones trying to make their company’s offerings are seemingly as ‘free’ as possible.
‘FREE’ has been a strong and influential word in marketing. Remember when you go to a bar with your friends? The girls are let in free and the guys will have to pay the entry fee. ‘Girls Night’ is also one of the way to attract guys into those places that offer free drinks or discounted drink prices for girls. That explains why the word ‘free’ is very strong, and loved by marketers. They will take all the opportunities given to take advantage of that particular word. Another example for girls, when you visited a department store specifically the beauty department, you will rarely find them having a discount (just imagine MAC), unlike majority of clothing stores. However, they do often offer you ‘FREE GIFTS’ with a certain amount of purchase. There’s the tactic. As customers, we will straight away think that as a bargain, hence the strength of the word ‘free’ for us as consumers.
As shown in one of the photo I posted in the ‘E-SHOPPER GALLERY’ page, an online shop called Strawberrynet.com is an example of how they use the word free. I reckon one of their main marketing strategy is through the emphasize of the word FREE. As you can see, they wrote ‘FREE SHIPPING’ in capital letters, central position and in bold. You might’ve guess, this actually WORKS! They also give free samples to potential customers of that particular product samples, and hoping they’ll return to buy the product.
That’s all my sharing for today, hope this post will be informational and thought provoking for everyone. And do let me know of any brands that are using this ‘free’ strategy massively in their marketing program. I don’t want to miss getting any free stuffs LOL.
Related articles
- In a Minute: Digital Marketing Strategies Webinar Take-a-Way (neolane.com)
- Why Offer Free Samples? (promobagsdirect.wordpress.com)
e-LIFE 
Other than using the word “FREE” to increase sales, free samples are often given away in exchange for feedback and Word of Mouth reviews. Newly-launched Australian website, PinchMe, was founded on this very idea.
Yeap that’s true as well. Free samples are often a deal breaker. I just checked out PinchMe, and will definitely give it a try. But do we have to pay shipping? Because if we do, then that would discourage ppl to try it out I guess. Have you ever tried it?
I have tried PinchMe a few times. Everything is free in exchange for feedback about the sample product.
So true!! I often get intrigued by the free gift promotion, sometimes we purchase more in order to get the free gifts as they are usually made in unique shapes and design 🙂
Hi guess we’re the perfect target for this type of marketing. But sometimes I find websites that gives free stuffs to be quite dodgy in some ways. Don’t know why, but it just comes naturally
Really smart marketing tool. How much exposure is this really getting? Really good bargains on the site
I’m unsure with the amount of reach websites get. Then again, it depends on how popular the website is on the online audience’s eyes. However there’s still a hindrance, because some people might think of it as quite dodgy. So it’s a matter of execution I guess.
How amazing is that “free” works every time? Even thought we knew there is no free lunch in the world. Can you share something “free ” for male next time?
Cool huh! Lol. Someone commented before and told me about PinchMe. I tried to sign up, and amazing! They’re giving free samples to ppl at no cost at all. But in return, we’ll have to give a feedback of that product. Samples of milo, muesli bars, etc. Check it out! 🙂
hey, i totally agree with you on that. i think there’s also a psychological warfare between the customers and the ads before they actually decide on falling for the ads or not. as a quite rational buyer, I sometimes must think on whether I will use this product or will it functioning good. apart from the “FREE” sample or gifts or anything, another most common marketing strategy would be to offer: Buy 1 get another 1 for half price! OR price reduced by 25% which is basically the same. But, most people fall for the first one. the fact that they’d get another product half of the price is seemed to be a reward that must not be missed!
True! That’s the role of marketers i guess. Try to make an offer as seemingly as desirable as possible, making ppl think that they shouldn’t miss that chance. But I do try not to fall for those ads tho hha.
I get totally sucked in when something is free! I enjoyed this post because I could totally relate to it.
Most recently I signed up online to an Olay product. The catch was: you give them your details in exchange for a 50ml sample of moisturizer. Loved the moisturizer, hate all the spam I’m now getting.
Lol, there will always be a catch to all the ‘free’ stuff given. It’s just a matter of when we’ll figure it out, and how the marketers making the trade off as seemingly as small as possible. Look up PinchMe. I guess u’ll love it 😀