Online FREE, the new Tchochtke
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Henry Ford once said, “The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.” In today’s inbound marketing terms, this could be the new Holy Grail. Business owners successful at providing the right balance of online FREE content and services are most likely to entice and solidify their customers. This strategy is called a pull strategy and means you are pulling customers, not pushing them to buy your product or service.
Yes, I said FREE content and services. Free, as in no cost. Zip, Zilch, Nada, No dinaro. You all know where I’m going with this, don’t you? Here’s my short list:
- Linked In
- Yahoo
- YouTube
- WordPress.com
- Yelp
- Webinars
- e-books
- surveys
- data charts
- content (blogs)
- Farmville
- Mafia Wars
You get the idea. In 2011 terms, they’re the new tchotchke.
We spend countless hours online; checking this, reading that, playing those favorite free games and watching dog-vs-man-danceoff.htm.
It’s easy to understand why WE do this, but why are THEY, a.k.a. businesses, doing it? Why is this happening? Why would businesses give it all away for free?
It’s all in the Pull Strategy
As businesses move from Old School marketing methods like advertising to Inbound Marketing there is a change from push to pull. Instead of pushing a message, social media can pull customers to your business. The heart of this new successful strategy focuses on understanding the behaviors of today’s consumer. The online world is being developed as a “warm and fuzzy” place where businesses offer free advice, content, services, and games; and come together in a sense of community. It is where people go first for consumer information, and increasingly where they make a purchase, and begin to advocate for a product, service, business, or brand they like.
This pull strategy proves to be much more effective than the traditional push approach. Why? Because who doesn’t like free stuff?
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