Is There Any Value In Free?
There really is no value in free. If you saw a sign outside a café offering free pies, what would your immediate perception of the food be that's on offer? Probably not too good, you wouldn’t want to eat one and even the fact that you won’t be charged for it doesn’t make it appeal to you.
If the pies on offer were $3.00 each, you may be more likely. Now if that same sign said “Gourmet Pies $6.00 each, you may even more tempted to purchase one because $6 for a pie is steep in anyone’s book so they must be good right?
It’s the perceived value of something that you are giving away that is important and free doesn’t appeal to everyone.
Take a seminar that you would like to attend. Free tickets could make you think that the seminar might not be that good, or if you don’t actually turn up, you haven’t lost anything, so there is less commitment from you to attend.
Think about it if the tickets were $10 each. What is your reaction to that? My first thought is that the organizer may be just trying to cover the cost of the curled up sandwiches they might provide and is almost as bad as free. The same seminar at $75 per ticket has my interest; there is definitely an expectation of real value at this price and as the event price rises, so does my expectation of value.
You can make giving something away as a freebie a lot more special if you position it correctly, and by that I mean the wording. If you were to receive theatre tickets complimentary from a supplier say, you would feel like you have been singled out, something special just for you, and whilst it is actually free, the value of the event is still in tact. Complimentary works.
If you do decide to offer something away free or better still complimentary, do make sure it is appropriate to the original product or service. For instance, $800 worth of complimentary fuel with your new car purchase is a much better match than say a free iPad that has no relation to the original product.
Free has no value, but complimentary does.
For comments: How have you used free v's complimentary in your business, and what success have you had? Does free work for you?
Linda Coles is the author of “Learn marketing with social media in 7 days” (Wiley) and is an author, speaker and trainer on building relationships. She lives in New Zealand on a fig orchard. You can get a free sample of a chapter of her book by registering for her newsletter
Semi-Retired
11 年Linda Coles I totally agree, free has a poor connotation much of the time. I like complimentary and use it, too; but never "free". Then there's the word bonus. Giving bonuses (great info or additional coaching time, when someone purchases something works. Gifting - another popular one. I always say if you don't have any skin in the game, i.e. a commitment to show up or use the product or service, it won't work. Nice blog.
Fractional Fundraising & Marketing from One of America's Top 25 Fundraising Experts ?? Author of Simple Development Systems and Founder of Basics & More Fundraising. The Grow Report & TheFundraisingCalendar.com.
11 年I'm a big fan of "free" and use it often in my marketing. It goes along with a law of abundance mindset. I've used free ebooks and ecourses to grow my list -- and actually adopted this thinking from one of my favorite marketers. Her "free" materials helped me to build my business, and once I was on my way I didn't hesitate to buy from her.
Free-lance Author
11 年Smiles, hugs, encouragement, setting a good example, timeliness, respect for others, listening, teaching one to read, volunteerism, all cost nothing. They are selfless random acts of kindness & provide happiness that cannot be purchased. Howz' that?
Writer & Marketing Professional
11 年I'm with Amber. In my MarCom life, I held a way different view of the word, "free". I thought of it more like a sample to explore more.