As digital marketing has infiltrated the lives of creators across all niches, they’ve come to accept that “marketing” shouldn’t leave a sour taste in their mouths…
Let’s consider the practice of offering freebies, for example.
Marketing legends like Seth Godin, Russell Brunson, and Frank Kern, among others, have been preaching the importance of freebies for decades.
Now, it seems like a standard procedure for most.
However, as with anything that gains sudden popularity, freebies have become saturated—and as a result, they don’t work as well as they once did.
What does this mean for you?
It means you need to put 10x the effort and strategy into your freebies to delight and convert followers into subscribers, and subscribers into buyers.
Today, we’ll delve into what these freebies are, why their widespread usage has rendered them less effective—and how to effortlessly ascend the 6-step ladder of deadly email marketing mistakes.
What Is a Freebie (And 3 Reasons Why Every Wellness Creator Needs It)
A freebie is a valuable piece of content offered for free to engage and attract potential subscribers or clients.
It could range from informative e-books, nourishing meal plans, and rejuvenating meditation guides to trial memberships for online yoga classes.
These offerings serve three purposes at the same time:
1. They showcase the creator’s expertise and the transformative potential of their full services.
2. They build trust and rapport by providing immediate, tangible benefits that pave the way for a deeper, more committed relationship.
3. They create a sense of reciprocity—the psychological impulse to return the favor to the person who provided all this value for free.
6 Mistakes You Probably Make with Freebies [The 6-Step Ladder of Mistakes]:
- You didn’t create a freebie or an email list at all.
- You created a freebie that could easily be something your subscriber could find with a quick Google Search, like a basic “how to meal prep” PDF.
- You created a valuable freebie but it doesn’t build up curiosity and anticipation for more.
Remember, your freebie should be a valuable yet incomplete sales asset that leaves readers wanting more. - You created a valuable and curiosity-peaking freebie, but it’s not something unique to your brand.
If the freebie lacks your personality, unique methodologies, frameworks, and systems that you’ve coined, subscribers will forget who sent it in a matter of days. - You created a valuable, curiosity-peaking, personality-filled freebie, but after you delivered it, you didn’t complement it with a converting welcome sequence.
People will forget about the freebie if you don’t follow up with a structured sequence that guides the subscribers further down the funnel. - You created a valuable, curiosity-peaking, personality-filled freebie alongside a welcome sequence, but you haven’t established a long-term email strategy to convert leads to buyers.
The days when 2-3 emails could bring infinite results are long gone. Today, the competition is fierce, the market is sophisticated, and customers are more reluctant to buy.
Creators who not only succeed but thrive are those who establish a long-term email strategy, with a mix of automations that operate while they sleep, and blast emails that promote current events and promotions.
On a scale from 0 (I don’t have an email list or lead magnet) to 7 (I have both, along with a strategic long-term email strategy), where do you stand?
Even moving up just one rung on this 6-step ladder can yield significant long-term benefits in terms of reach and income. The best time to start is now.
If you’re interested in collaborating with me to create a highly converting lead magnet and develop a robust email marketing strategy, contact me here for all the details.