The truth is: it is a necessary evil to have a freebie, or multiple freebies, or multiple ways for people to come into your world.
You just have to, because in 2024, consumers, clients, and people on the internet are much more savvy.
They’ve probably been burned before, and they want to know that you can back up what you’re talking about. They want to be further in your world. They want to see that you know your stuff. They want to experience how you coach and your POV.
Having your freebie is an important part for people to get to know you. Not everybody is ready to buy right away, or ready to buy right from your content.
The issue I often see and many of my clients have dealt with this is:
you put your effort into the freebie.
You launch it.
You send it to your email list. You talk about it on instagram.
But you don’t get the results that you want.
Then your brain tells you the freebie is the issue and you create another one, go through the same process and then all of a sudden you have 47 different freebies and none of them are actually bringing you clients.
Keep reading as we get into the common mistakes that I see people make, that’s stopping people from opting into your freebie, stopping people from using your free resource, and stopping people from continuing on as paying clients after using your free resource(s).
WHY THEY AREN’T OPTING IN
1. You aren’t talking about your freebie ad nauseam
Most of my clients work with the “general population” I call it. They work business to client (not business to business like I do)
You have to remember, you’re working with the general population, not another business owner for the most part. And so if they do not have an online business, they don’t consume content the same way or as often as we do as business owners.
Maybe they don’t even look at your feed. How are they gonna know what you have to offer? So talking about it ALL.THE.TIME is a make or break when it comes to your freebie.
That’s where I would start.If you aren’t reaching your goal as far as people opting in for your free resource – this is where I would start first.
You have to be sharing this freebie to all of your marketing channels ad nauseam.
To the point that you are sick of talking about it. And you’ve probably heard me say this before. When you’re sick of talking about your offer, your free resource, then you’re probably doing it just enough.
Example: Let’s say you have a meal planning plan resource.
On Sunday, when you post your meal plan on your feed, you should be posting in your stories, “Go to the link in my bio to grab this free meal plan.”
Every time you post dinner, “Grab my free resource.”
There’s also times where you take 2-3 slides to ease into the offer and then say, “Here’s my offer, it solves your problem, it teaches you this.”
Bottom line you have to be talking about your offer. All the dang time until you’re blue in the face, because if people are only watching your stories every three days, or every other day, or once a week…they will not see it.
2. Your freebie isn’t actually something your people want
This second thing is something that I talk about in my lead gen audit package: Is your freebie actually something that people want?
A couple years ago, I created a freebie around batching your content, and I thought for sure, everybody wants to know how to batch their content, but what I realized is my people weren’t even ready to batch their content, because they didn’t even know what to post about.
So they weren’t ready for a “batch your content” freebie, because it wasn’t actually solving the problem that they currently had.
We think, we know, what people want, and we’re not always right.
That’s where doing market research, to find out from the source (your audience), is extremely important: “What is actually going to help them? What would they actually give their email to you for?”
It is so important that we don’t stay with our heads up our own butts, avoiding conversations with the people we want to sell to and work with. You might think you know what your audience needs, but it’s crucial to verify this through market research to confirm your assumptions.
Actionable tip: Do polls in your stories, talk to your current clients, and have conversations in the DMs to make sure that your freebie is what they really need.
Ideally, you do this before you create something.
If you’ve already created something, and people have opted in, go back and talk to them: “Did this work for you? Is it what you expected? Did you need something else?”
Then, speak about it in a way that makes sense for them, not for you. Do not use coach language here, so that they know the value of what they’re getting.
WHY THEY AREN’T USING YOUR FREEBIE
3. You aren’t offering your resource in the right format
The format of your freebie is just as important as its content. Consider the preferences and lifestyles of your audience. For instance, busy moms might not have the time to watch a long webinar, but they might appreciate a quick PDF or an audio resource.
Maybe they want a private podcast style, or maybe they want it in a PDF. At the end of the day you might have to redo it, but you already have the information there in your masterclass. You’re just changing the file format.
At the end of the day, it truly depends on your ideal client. Ask your audience how they want your freebie.
P.s. If blogs aren’t your thing, or you need to catch the rest of this in audio format, on the way to pick up your kid, you can listen to this at The Tralongo Track, here.
4. They don’t get immediate and automatic access to your freebie
If you aren’t set up on the back end to automatically redirect them to the free resource you are going to lose a lot of people.
This means that as soon as someone opts in, they should be immediately and automatically redirected to a page that says something like, “Thank you for opting in here is the link to your free resource,” or “Congratulations, you’ve opted in! Download your freebie here.”
If they clicked your link in bio and left Instagram…they are ready for whatever the free resource is, and they don’t want to wait for it to go to their inbox, or potentially go to spam, or get distracted by their kids jumping on their back.
Yes, you are still going to send the freebie to their email because, you know, you want them to have access to it beyond that moment, but the automation minimizes distractions and increases the likelihood of them using it right away when they are ready.
Or, they’re at least going to look at it right away, and get more excited to open it up in the link in their email later on.
WHY THEY AREN’T BUYING YOUR PAID OFFER
5. Your freebie isn’t the first natural step towards your paid offer
Ensure your freebie solves a specific problem that leads logically into your paid solution.
Ask yourself, “What do my people need to know to feel confident? What kind of mini win do they need to experience in order to move from this free resource into my paid offer?”
If your free resource does not directly relate to your offer, it will be a lot harder to convert freebie users into paying clients.
6. You haven’t created a sense of urgency
Encourage quick action by creating a genuine sense of urgency. Whether it’s through limited-time discounts or highlighting the consequences of inaction, urgency can push a hesitant audience over the fence.
Disclaimer: If I’m gonna have a sense of urgency, it has to be a true sense of urgency. I’m not saying, “Register in the next 72 hours to get this discount,” when the “discount” price is the price I always sell my course. To me, that’s shady.
7. You have a tricky or confusing sales sequence or you don’t have one at all
After delivering your freebie, you need a clear nurture-sales sequence. This is 3 – 8 emails. Avoid long gaps between emails (yes several emails over 2 months is too long).
You want to talk about your paid offer right off the bat in that first deliverable email where you send them the link to the free resource. You are giving the freebie, and telling them what’s going to happen next and sharing information about your offer. So that it’s not nurture, nurture, nurture, and then boom, I’m selling to you in this eighth email. You are breadcrumbing your offer and giving them an opportunity right away while they are hot, while they are in your world.
Hint: you should even mention the paid offer in your freebie if you feel comfortable. It’s a personal choice.
Having a sales sequence that’s easy, smooth, something that people can understand, and easily use, easily click the link to get the freebie, easily click the link to purchase from you, is very, very important.
Recap and Next Steps
Here’s a quick recap of the seven reasons your free resource might not be attracting new clients and how to fix them:
- Promotion: Talk about your freebie until you’re blue in the face
- Desirability: Make sure your audience wants your freebie.
- Format: Choose a format your audience will actually use.
- Accessibility: Automatically redirect to the free resource to get it into their hands ASAP.
- Relevance: Your freebie should be a natural first step towards your paid offer.
- Urgency: Make it a no-brainer for why they should take action and buy right now.
- Sales Sequence: Have an appropriate follow-up email sequence.
Need More Help?
If you have a good freebie, it makes selling so much easier. And, if you’re reading this and your like,
“Okay, I’m getting what you’re saying. I’m missing these things. Some of these things I can fix by myself. Some of these things I have no idea where to start.”
I got you. This is exactly what I’m here for & how I help my private clients and the members of Hustle House. Keep in mind that I have a lead gen strategy package where we can either audit what you currently have in place or we can create a freebie from scratch. This includes my support through the entire process: I’ll guide you through writing the sales sequence, creating repurposable content, and ensuring your freebie delivers results.
Interested? Click here, or you can always find me on Instagram at @giannatralongo. Let’s turn your freebie into a client-attracting machine!
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