Loading...
Answers
MenuIs giving away review copies for a service as bad as offering discounts (devaluing brand value)?
I want to start an online service, and to drum up support for my brand, i want to give free services for a day. However, I read that discounts are not good for a brand.
Will this hurt my brand image? What are my alternatives? Please consider my marketing budget is very low. Thanks.
Answers
Not at all. To me your suggestion is not discounting - it is a free trial period for potential customers to try out your product.
And you want to limit it to a one day test. In my view, you could go up to a week without devaluating - especially if you integrate it with a testplan, so you show the potential customers how they can quickly clarify, whether your product is for them or not.
The risky discounting is the type, where you give f.eks. 25% discount for the first three months, thereby making people used to a lower price, and by increasing the price you create a situation, that will make them look for alternatives.
Alternatives are a om hard to know, when I am not familiar with your market, but here goes some general suggestions that should get your ideas flowing.
Your ultimate goal should be to be the service, that knows the most about this market. People should look to your service as not only a service but as a source of advice and knowledge:
Web presence
- Discussion groups on web (like clarity.fm or Quora) - solve issues for people, and mention your service as the solution.
- Establish a newsletter or website about topics, that are interesting to your prospects, where they would get benefit from their participation by itself. Use the traffic to lead into your solution. It could be about the technical or business side of your service.
Physical promotion -
- Phone promotion - call them - either yourself or through lead generation services - you provide prospects, they will call through them and book meetings for you. (Could be pricey, though).
- "Physical" promotion - have a seminar, webinar or slideshare - depending on your physical closeness to your prospoects - where you present how ingenious your solution is compared to your competitors.
- Affiliates - have other agents sell for you with a no pain-no gain-model. Maybe there are people, who already visit or have contact with your prospective clients, and your solution would maybe enhance their brand as well through synergy? Could also be through your network, where your emotional connection replaces the professional connection from the affiliate.
- Member-get-member - existing users of your business get a commission for attracting new members. Would also be an indicator of satisfaction with your brand, as unhappy customers do not recommend.
Social media
- If you are up for it, create videos about your subject matter. It takes time, but it is a relatively cheap way of getting your message out to your audience as most people just write emails or websites.
- Depending on the general interest for your subject matter, you could also create a podcast, where you invite experts in to discuss relevant topics for your online service. All this could also sharpen your idea of what you want to be for whom.
- Promote your service on Linkedin, Facebook, slideshare or whichever social media, your prospects are on. Write articles about your subject matter on those platforms. Again, be the guy who knows the most.
I wish you the best of luck with your venture. If you need clarification for any of this, let me know.
Best regards
Kenneth Wolstrup
I don't think allowing a trial period on your services cheapens the brand at all.
The advice you're referring to about discounts is more along the lines of a BWM car listed for $75,000 but always available for $35,000 with discounts, rebates, coupons, and specials.
Ever notice how some brands are *always* on sale? And if you happen to miss a sale, they will gladly refund the difference if you contact them.
That cheapens the brand.
A trial period does not and is an excellent source of customers.
For more detail, read Neil Patel's experience with pricing, discounts, and trials for QuickSprout:
- https://www.quicksprout.com/2013/06/27/what-converts-better-free-trial-versus-money-back-guarantee/
- https://www.quicksprout.com/2013/05/23/the-power-of-the-nudge-how-to-convert-visitors-into-customers/
- https://www.quicksprout.com/2013/09/09/7-simple-ab-tests-that-can-increase-conversions-by-10-or-more/
- http://www.quicksprout.com/2012/05/17/which-of-these-3-case-studies-will-grow-your-sales/
I'd be happy to talk more if you need a more detailed answer.
All the best,
-Shaun
It depends on what you are giving away, how much, and how frequently you give away. You want to give away advice that your prospects cannot reproduce but interested enough to see the values you would bring to the table.
Related Questions
-
How does my startup hire an affordable marketing expert?
I don't even know how to answer this. Do you know what the difference between McDonalds and the local burger joint that is filing for bankruptcy is? It's marketing. McDonalds is worth billions of dollars not because of the quality of their food, but because of their marketing. Marketing is not an expense. A janitor is an expense. Your computer is an expense. Marketing is an INVESTMENT. Would you shop around for the cheapest heart surgeon? Of course not. Because you would likely end up dead. Why, then, do you shop around for a marketing expert? Are you ok with your company going bankrupt? Is that worth the small savings to you? No. Of course not. Hire someone who is good at marketing. Hire someone who knows what they are doing. Buy yourself a Lamborghini with your profit the first quarter. Get a beach house in hawaii. Grab a yacht. Or, try to find your business the cheapest heart surgeon you can and then spend the next five years wondering why such a solid business idea failed in the first 6 months. I'm passionate about this exact topic because all those statistics you read about "70% of businesses failing in two years" are solely because of horrible marketing.AM
-
What is the best timing in the new year to launch business marketing?
Hi there! In few words, the launch date does not matter a lot as long as you are following with a continuous marketing plan all the year. It is better to tune your lunch date according to your marketing campaign than connecting it to the seasonal event. The timing of your launch only matters if your website is already ranked or has a good authority associated to it. Launching a website is not like opening a local shop. The launch date is defined by the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. In other words, your question must be rephrased as: "When is the best time to launch my first marketing campaign for my newly created website?". In that case, you will need to describe in details what kind of website you have and how are you planning to market it. I would be able to give you a more accurate answer if you explain to me what kind of website are you planning to launch or what products mainly are you selling. Hope that helps!RZ
-
I just opened a small, upscale, boutique style hair salon. Any ideas on how to market?
I have no experience with salons, but marketing is my thing. So I'll give you some suggestions of what to think about, followed by what to do. Do you have clients already (let's say from your working days at another salon)? If so, you can start profiling them. You can ask them to fill out a form in exchange for a free gift (maybe one of those creams you use in the salon), or an entry to a raffle (where the prize is valuable). In the profiling, you want to look out for which neighborhoods they live in, what kinds of activities they like to do, what kinds of social events they love to do, and their occupations. Then, using each of those profile data, you can market to more prospects who share the same characteristics. For example, - You can set aside a budget to send flyers to specific neighborhoods. In order to get people into the door, maybe you can offer a certain procedure for free in exchange for opportunities to win new regular customers. (You could theoretically do this with Groupon too, but you have less control of who comes into your door) - You could set up joint venture relationships with organizations like ball room dancing schools, professional associations, etc. You could offer an exclusive discount with those groups to entice potential customers to try out your service. More opportunities for you to win regular customers. - With certain demographic data, you can probably make the same offer by advertising on Facebook. If you target specific enough, you can get the price of acquiring the lead to be pretty cheap. You would have to figure out your typical lifetime value of your customers before deciding whether advertising on Facebook would be worthwhile. One last thing, you can offer gifts for your existing customers if they refer you people. If you have any more questions, I'm happy to chat with you. Hit me up on this platform.SL
-
What is the best way to capture and track referrals directed from a landing page?
There are a few ways to track things automatically, but they get complicated: - referral program software - Give your referrers special URL's with parameters that identify them as the referrer (like http://url.com/?referrer=JohnDoe), then push that value into a hidden form field - Create a separate landing page for each referrer I'd keep things much simpler to start. Just tell your social club that there's a referral program in place, then add a form field on your signup process asking who referred the new customer. If John Doe knows that there's a program in place, when he refers someone, he's likely to tell them "make sure you say I referred you". When the new customer joins, they'll likely remember to enter "John Doe" as the referrer. It's not bullet proof, but it's an easy way to start.CD
-
What are average profit margins in Ice Cream store business?
Hi! I am owner of an ice crean chain with 45 stores in Chile. We have stores in shopping centers, streets and also karts that you can put in events and parks. The average cost margin of ice cream (depends on the amount of materials you use in producing the ice cream) is around 40%. This is italian gelatto where you serve the ice cream without a specific measurement so your costs can vary due to the size of each portion you serve. About the brand you should focus on your unique value proposition and what kind of ice cream you are selling. We import the pastry from Italy and the fruits and milk from our country. Your ROI depends on your sales price and costs. If you focus on high market ice cream you can charge high and keep costs down.MF
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.