Creating and promoting a freebie can be a great way to attract new potential customers and clients. But you don’t want them to just use your free or freemium product forever — you want to turn them into buyers!
So what’s the secret? Here are five ways to convert new subscribers and leads into paying customers who are loyal to your brand!
5 Ways to Convert Free Customers Into Lifelong Buyers
1 | Create an Email Nurture Sequence
Once a potential customer or client has downloaded your freebie or signed up for your freemium service, make good use of their email address!
Of course, you could just add them to your mailing list so they receive your newsletters and launch emails.
But if you want to encourage those free users to purchase something sooner rather than later, send them an email nurture sequence!
This is a special set of emails written specifically to encourage those free users to become buyers.
If they downloaded a free resource, the nurture sequence could focus on a related offer. For freemium users, focus your emails on getting them to upgrade to the full (paid) version!
Related post: How to Capture Lost Sales With a Card Abandonment Sequence
2 | Pitch a One-Time Offer or Upsell
Another option is to upsell those free users into an exclusive paid offer. Also known as a one-time offer (OTO), this is essentially an opportunity that free users can take advantage of only once.
For example, in the email that delivers a freebie, you could include a special link that allows the user to get a related offer for a discounted price.
Or you can give freemium users a limited-time chance to upgrade to the full version or get specific added features.
The idea is to offer something valuable in a way that gives your customers an extra incentive to make the purchase right now!
Related post: Tripwire Funnels: What They Are & How to Use Them
3 | Segment Your Email List
You don’t necessarily have to try to convert free users right away. If you don’t think an OTO or nurture sequence will work well for your audience, take a slower approach.
Create a new segment in your email list for free users. Then, make sure those recipients get all the emails for the most relevant products or services.
Set up this group of recipients to receive emails about related offers frequently. That way, you’ll keep those products on your customers’ minds and give them plenty of opportunities to buy.
Want to know how to convert your free users into paying customers? Here are five different strategies designed to get your free customers to make a purchase: Click To Tweet4 | Try Different CTAs
Sometimes it might take a little while to figure out which approach really works for your audience. Don’t be afraid to try something different if you’re not getting many conversions with your current strategy.
If an OTO isn’t working very well, that’s OK! Maybe your audience would do better with a slower approach, like a nurture sequence. Or maybe you need to convert them to a lower-cost offer before targeting them for your premium products.
Try out some different calls to action to see what works best!
5 | Ask for Feedback
Finally, consider just going straight to the source! Ask your free users for feedback about why they haven’t purchased yet. This approach offers several benefits:
- It gives you insight into what your customers want
- It encourages engagement
- It shows free users the level of care they can expect from your brand
- It reminds them about your other offers
Sending occasional surveys to free users is a fantastic way to increase engagement and conversions!
Related post: Is Your New Offer a Success? Here’s How You Know
Final Thoughts
If you’re using a free offer or service to attract new customers, don’t forget the next step — getting them to buy! It’s all about showing them the benefits of making a purchase in a way that really resonates with them. As with all marketing strategies, the key is to know your customers and your brand inside and out.
Before you can focus on conversion, though, you need to attract those free customers! How? Get all the answers in the latest marketing guide, where we’re talking about developing and releasing a freemium offer!
A freemium product is a fantastic way to grow your audience and showcase the value you provide your customers. This marketing guide is a step-by-step roadmap to creating an effective freemium offer:
- The basics of the freemium model
- Choosing the right offer for your target audience
- Deciding which limitations to put in place
- Marketing your freemium offer
- Converting users into paying customers
With this PDF guide, you’ll have everything you need to create and market a freemium product that will draw new customers to your brand.
