RightSpot Media | Digital Performance Marketing

Can free content really increase sales?

Posted on Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 9:14 PM by Dwayne Hunter  |  Comments (0)

If you’ve ever sold face-to-face, you know that relationships are essential—even if they extend no further than a smile and a friendly “hello.”

Establishing such relationships is infinitely easier when interactions are face-to-face. But if you’re selling online, you may never meet your customers in person.

So how do you build enough rapport to make a sale when you can’t smile at someone or shake their hand?

One technique that direct-mail copywriters and subsequently internet marketers have used for decades is to give away valuable free content.

It eliminates barriers to response, demonstrates your expertise and starts a relationship on a firm footing.

And, as a new study shows, it lets you powerfully engage the rule of reciprocity.

Why you should give to get

Ever find yourself smiling back at a complete stranger, just because they smiled at you first?

Ever accepted a follow-up appointment with a door-to-door salesperson for a product you didn’t want in the first place?

Blame the rule of reciprocity.

In his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, social psychologist Robert Cialdini explains  that we’re hard-wired to repay someone when we receive a gift.

Study after study has shown that this works in face-to-face interactions, which has obvious implications for marketing and sales.

But does it also work online, when nobody’s looking? For example, if someone downloads free content that you created, or takes you up on a free offer, are they equally obliged?

Researcher Jerry Burger and his colleagues from the Department of Psychology at Santa Clara University have shown that the answer is yes.

We’ll even repay a gift when we believe our response is anonymous.

It works when nobody’s watching

As recently reported, Burger asked participants to take part in a “personality and perception skills” test—a cover for the actual study testing the powers of reciprocity.

During the study, one of the research assistants, acting as a fellow study participant, gave certain participants an unexpected gift—a bottle of water.

In another instance, the research assistant didn’t hand out bottles of water to anyone.

At the end of test, Burger asked half the participants to complete a survey and return it a few days later. He also told them that the gift-giving participant would be present on that day.

The remaining half of participants were asked to leave the survey anonymously in a drop-off box.

The result? Hugely significant (especially to marketers).

Many more people who were given a bottle of water completed and returned the survey compared to the group that was not given a bottle of water (30% vs 5%).

And importantly, the people who believed their response would be anonymous were just as likely to return the survey as those who believed that their act of repayment would be witnessed.

How to use reciprocity online

So, how do you put these findings into practice?

Here’s how you can turn a free, valuable gift into an ongoing relationship and, ultimately, sales:

1. Offer prospects a gift that has value. If you’re selling car audio systems online, for example, offer a free e-book that reviews the top 10 products for the year.
2. Ask for your prospect’s name and email address in exchange for the gift. Because of reciprocity, they’ll be much more willing to give you their information. (Just remember to let them know they’re giving you permission to contact them in the future.)
3. Send your prospect a follow-up email to further establish rapport. Introduce yourself, use your prospect’s first name and write your message in a warm, friendly tone.
4. Continue to engage reciprocity and cement your relationship with your prospect by giving away tips, tools and advice.
5. Offer your prospect your product or service. Because you’ve established a relationship and engaged reciprocity, your prospect is more likely to become a happy customer.
6. Practice good content optimization and constantly test and tweak to improve your results.

And let us know: have you ever used reciprocity in your campaigns?

Leave a comment and tell us how well it worked!

Tags: conversion, conversion optimization, incentives, lead generation, persuasion, reciprocity