Holding Your Freebies Hostage?
You know, here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while and have also conducted a few experiments over the past half year or so. I was recently reminded about my curiosity and thought I’d bring it up here when I read this thread -> Force Opt-In Confirmation Before Giving Them Free Content? The respondents had some very interesting viewpoints and things to think about.
If you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about when saying “holding freebies hostage”, let me give you a fictional example (& how I imagine the average person sees the experience):
Jane visits a website that promises her a report that will show her how to improve her memory by 98%. All she has to do is enter her name and email address and instantly (that’s what the sales page says) she’ll receive her report.
Jane is very excited and thinks this website owner may finally have the answers she has been looking for poor memory. So she enters her name, email address and clicks the submit button.
Uh-oh.
Jane is taken to a new page and at the top it tells her that she will need to check her email, click on a link and confirm her request. And once all that is complete, she’ll get her report.
This doesn’t seem very instant to Jane. There are more hoops to jump through and Jane is a little perturbed because she’s in a hurry. Plus, she is requesting this report from a computer at work, so she doesn’t have access to her peronal pop3 email that she used.
But add to that, a little further down on the page…there is a full-blown sales pitch for a product that she can purchase to further improve her memory. She is told this is the ONLY time she’ll ever see this offer and she’d better act now…but Jane is a little annoyed because she hasn’t received her free report yet. How can she possibly know if this is a product worth buying, when she hasn’t even received the promised “sample”? Add to that, she’s not totally sure she trusts this guy because he hasn’t done what he promised yet and is already giving her a pitch.
Now, This IS Fictional
I realize what I’ve said is purely fictional. Not everyone reacts like that and in many cases, you may find better results by holding goodies hostage.
I also tend to agree with Ron Killian who wrote in that thread:
“Honestly I think it comes down to what you want more, or your end goal. If you want a list, you need them to confirm before they get their freebie. If you want the info to get out there to push your site/product, you might be better off giving them the freebie whether they confirm or not.”
This is exactly what we found in our experiments. We were ultimately trying to build a CUSTOMER list. Sure, it’s nice to have opt-ins too, but we didn’t want to make it hard for people to see our amazing value and take us up on our super offer. And let’s face it a small list of customers is generally more valuable than a larger list of opt-ins.
Add to that, we had affiliates promoting these offers and we wanted them to see INSTANT results. We wanted to have them promote the page and BAM! see the sales notifications coming through.
And interestingly enough, in the cases where we did this, the confirmed opt-in rate was quite high. Now, I can only speculate why, but I’m guessing that we gave them confidence that we deliver on our promises, gave them QUALITY stuff and they were willing to confirm that they wanted more.
I think numbers are important (i.e. total sales, how much your list grows, etc.), but it’s also important to take a step back and walk through your process to see how your potential customer experiences it. From beginning to end, we want to people to be pleased with their experience, so they’ll keep on buying stuff, don’t we? 
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
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Cassie
I personally don’t like jumping through hoops and confirming to tons of newsletters to get the free stuff that is dangled in our faces all the time so I try really hard not to do that to my own readers. If the free stuff is good enough, I’ll go back and sign up. You’ll have less subscribers that way, but you’ll have more INTERESTED subscribers instead of a bunch of tire kickers on your list.
Jeanette Cates
You make an interesting point, Alice. However, the reason that so many successful marketers use optin pages that lead to the sales page is that it HAS been tested – over and over and over again. And it’s shown time and again that it works.
But as a good marketer what EACH business owner needs to look at is their market. Some markets will not respond to the proven process. Most of the testing (especially for the one-time offers you describe above) have been done with money-making topics, generally at a low price point – and most of it based on a system released 2-3 years ago.
So the moral of the story is – know your market and do your OWN testing. Only by testing will you know what works best with your clients and prospects.
Alice Seba
Thanks Cassie…I think we don’t think about the hoops and how it’s perceived by what could potentially be a lifetime customer.
Hi Jeanette! I think my post addresses this and I realize that people will generally get more opt-ins in the process. I don’t think that is necessarily the end result we should look for.
I’ve also indicated that I’ve received very favorable results through the process. In fact, in some cases, I’ve even gone as far as not even asking for a name and email and quickly built my CUSTOMER list instead through the freebie offer.
I’m asking people to look beyond the simple numbers of opt-ins and look at customer experience and the role it plays in gaining repeat business. That is something that can’t always be measured. We can easily measure first-time sales and draw a conclusion for the reason for those first-buys. But beyond that things get a little muddy.
And of course, you’re right…people need to do their own testing. I’m not saying “Do it this way.” I’m asking people to think and test their own ways.
Rhonda
You’ve made some great points, Alice. The easier we make things for our visitors the better. I’ve thought about this topic before, and so I now offers freebies every once in awhile that do not require any email address at all…especially if it’s a report that I’m really wanting to get into the hands of my visitors.
Vonalda Utterback
Hi Alice
Thank you for your post on this topic. Food for thought, indeed.
Personally I don’t have a problem with confirming my request before receiving my freebie. I’m used to it, understand why it’s that way, and feel it’s a fair exchange. If I don’t like what they have to say to me via their auto-responder I can easily unsubscribe with two clicks. Not a problem.
However, I do get very annoyed at marketers employing an “in your face” sales on the Thank You page. Exactly for the reasons you mentioned – I don’t know who they are or the quality of their product(s) yet! In other words, to continue the dating analogy, please “date” me first before you ask me to marry you!
Unfortunately for us, we must be in the minority? As Jeanette says (above) – it’s a tried and true method that converts. I say, as buyers, we need to “just say no” and be heard. If we stop responding/purchasing to annoying sales tactics, sellers will get it. Consumers vote with their wallets on what they want and how they want to be treated.
I’d also love to know, in your testing, how did you encourage your opt-ins to opt-in *after* they received your freebie for free (no email required)? Did you just expect them to return to your blog or website and opt-in, or did you hyperlink to your opt-in page via your free report/gift?
I do think it’s important to make it as easy as possible for customers to buy – (which includes the opt-in process).
One more thing. (Just one, I promise!) I appreciate getting the occasional “fun/valuable freebie” from the marketers whose list I am on. I like to know they value me, and it’s not 100% about “being sold to” –which no one likes. Being treated with that type of respect is more important to me then giving my email for a free report – which, as I mentioned, doesn’t bother me.
By the way, Alice, you do this all beautifully.
-Vonalda
Brenda Nicholson
Hi Alice – Great point, but you know me, I get confused easily
Could you clarify how you did this? I can see offering a freebie to your list, but how do you offer something free to a new visitor without asking for a name or email? I assume there is more involved than just putting the link on your site.
adwords tools
For my free adwords strategy guide, I do both. I capture the email address and send the confirmation, but I also directly link to the html page with the free stuff.
The email goes to my list regardless of confirmation. Confirmed or not I’m sending follow up emails.
I have a lot fewer confirmations, but hopefully happy visitors.
Alice Seba
Hi Vonalda – Honestly, it wasn’t a conscious effort. Because we wanted affiliates to get immediate results, we simply focused on getting the sale. Other than fully explaining the confirmation process and showing the benefits of confirming, there was no other extra effort.
I guess you are suggesting that the IM market might be jaded and, therefore, we may be annoyed by such things. We may be jaded, but I think in other markets the process becomes confusing. The average person may not understand the process and when presented with a sales page may wonder what the heck happened to what they opted in for.
I’m not suggesting Jane is annoyed because she is tired of the tactics, I’m suggesting she’s annoyed by the process on this particular website because it’s not quite as promised and can be a bit confusing.
And thanks for the compliment!
Alice Seba
Brenda Here is one example of not asking for the opt-in. That is not what I’m talking about generally in this post as I more often do ask for the opt-in.
I’m just talking about confirming the opt-in (in a double opt-in process) and suggesting that in some cases it may be appropriate to place the freebie on the thank you page BEFORE they actually confirm.
Adwords Tools Feel free to share your real name.
Are you saying that you have a confirmed opt-in process, but you send out follow ups even if they don’t confirm? I wasn’t exactly sure what you meant.
Liz
Hey Alice,
I personally like the experience of getting my freebie without checking my email first. Not many marketers do this so those that do probably have a chance to stand out a bit more favorably.
For me, if what I received was useful, then when I do get around to checking my email I’d be happy to confirm. This may also be a good test for how people percieve your freebie
If you’re confirmed opt-in rate is still high then you must be on the right track with your free item. This is definitely something worth considering. Thanks so much for the insight.
Sunday
I have a single optin purely because I don’t like having to double optin myself! Yes I appreciate why this is required, but I like to make things simple for people – in my niche (Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts) they are not necessarily that web savvy!
I give people an opportunity to sign up to my newsletter by sending them to a page showing them what they will get, with a free sample.
These people have already effectively “filtered” themselves to a certain extent by opting in from that page, or leaving because they can’t be bothered to go further (don’t need those people!) so I feel a double optin is not necessary.
Those that sign up, stay, and those I gather through a squeeze page are the ones that disappear.
Carrie
Alice I appreciate how you always share your marketing experiments and testing results with your readers – I’m a tad lazy myself, but what you say here makes absolute sense.
Personally I think it’s good to mix it up – of course keep your goal in mind as you said, but give people some “no questions asked” freebies every once in awhile, that way you gain trust with the ones who are hesitant to commit to the opt in.
Christina
Thanks for this other point of view, Alice. Always good to have a different way of doing things.
Tim
I know I hate when something is supposed to be free, and you must jump through 20 million “one-time offers”. Worse are the ones that after you do all that and there is no report delivered.
The problem is that everybody teaches the importance of the double opt-in. So most internet marketers stick with what they are taught.
Stefani
Twitter: mommye
I have thought about this situation from both sides as well. I don’t like jumping through hoops to get freebies but since I am a website owner, I know the reasoning behind it..
Cheryl Wright
I am a fan of double-optin because of the can-spam laws. But… I often provide free ebooks without an optin. My reasoning for this is the majority I give away are branded and therefore I earn a passive income from those branded books.
If people like my site or the information I provide, they’ll eventually optin anyway.
Alice Seba
Thanks for your thoughts, guys.
Just to clarify:
I am not making a case for or against double opt-in, confirmed opt-in or whatever you want to call it. I am talking about allowing your new subscribers to get their freebie on the thank you page…even if they haven’t confirmed yet.
That’s all.
Alice Seba
Thanks for your thoughts, guys.
Just to clarify:
I am not making a case for or against double opt-in, confirmed opt-in or whatever you want to call it. I am talking about allowing your new subscribers to get their freebie on the thank you page…even if they haven’t confirmed yet.
I’m also not talking about being passive and hoping they’ll opt-in or hoping they’ll buy. I’m talking about delivering on promises, making a strong offer and encouraging the new prospects to buy right away.
That’s all.
Michel Fortin
I agree.
Here’s an interesting twist, though, which I’ve tested and had some great results. Depending on your autoresponder provider, you can ask for the optin, and on the resulting page, it says “An email with your link to download your freebie has been sent to you.”
The email says “click on this link to download” and the result is leading you to a page that automatically starts the download.
The process here, is that the link in the email is really a confirmation link, disguised as a download link.
Now, before you shoot arrows at me, keep this in mind. The purpose of a double opt-in is NOT to ensure the person really wanted to join, which is what most people think.
It’s not.
The purpose is to ensure someone else did NOT enter your email, and that you are who you say you are. It’s to ensure you are the rightful owner of that email address, not to invite procrastination or create doubt AFTER you requested to optin.
It’s like me going to a corner store, bringing a chocolate bar to the counter, I pull out my money, and the clerk says, “Are you sure? If you are, just tap on the counter.”
Versus…
Me buying a chocolate bar and paying with my credit card, and the clerk asks for a piece of ID to confirm I am who I say I am on the credit card (I am the rightful owner of the card).
Just a thought.
Julie Lewin
Thanks Alice and Michel. I’m new to lists and opt-ins and must confess to feeling a little confused … Michel, I really get what you say … and I agree. Your analogy was really helpful. I like the confirmation email being disguised as the download.
Ashraf
Hi,
I definitely agree with you. Please are more eager to a freebie than to buy any product.
As for selling a product, it can be done well if it is done through free ebook. People will be naturally inclined to buy after reading good information.
Just my thoughts
Ashraf
Alice Seba
Thanks again everyone for your input.
Michel – I really appreciate your input as I know you’re always testing these types of things out. That’s an interesting option on the download/confirmation link. Makes perfect sense.
Alice Seba
Interestingly enough, today one of my own subscribers (I don’t know that he read this post prior to commenting), posted a similar experience to “Jane”.
Of course, I got trouble in the process as I am the one who linked to the offer…but it’s interesting to read how he described it.
Yes, he’s just one person and doesn’t in itself prove anything, but does give pause for thought on the experience your user is having with your own offers.