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  • Cognition #5: Brand building with Freebies—PART 1.

Cognition #5: Brand building with Freebies—PART 1.

February 11, 2022

Who doesn't like FREE products?

Sometimes, we even wait an extra hour, pay an extra fee, or travel an extra mile because we get something for free.

I guess we all can agree we love freebies. But that's from a consumer perspective.

Let's turn the tables and look from the lens of a creator or business owner and try to understand why they give freebies. And if you're one, why you should too.

Welcome to Cognition! In our fifth edition, we discuss,

  1. What are freebies?

  2. Why give freebies?

  3. How NOT to give freebies?

  4. What freebies can you give?

  5. Non-technical, aka fun segment.

Let's get started!

What exactly are freebies?

Freebies are free products that a brand gives to its audience.

The objective is to provide value for free and gain something in return that's good for business. They can be physical goods or online products.

Why should you give freebies?

As I've said above,

'You gain something in return that's good for business.'

Here are the top two pros of giving freebies:

Brand Visibility + Image

Social media campaigns gain immense traction during the launch of freebies. It's because most campaigns are designed to make people act.

Example: Posts end with CTAs like Comment 'I want this freebie and mention your email ID', and I'll deliver it to your inbox.

A strategically structured campaign can give your brand massive visibility on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn as users' activity is shown to their network. It's a saviour for early-stage brands.

Irrespective of how established you are, freebies always shape your image positively. Your audience will land you in their good books if you provide a freebie worth their time.

Email IDs!

One of the best ways to leverage freebies is by collecting email IDs.

An email list is a huge huge asset!

You provide free value in exchange for emails, and:

  • You can target the right emails with ads in future.

  • You can email consumers your new paid products, services, and updates.

  • You can collect feedback about your brand directly from inboxes, etc.

There are many other advantages, but most revolve around brand building, visibility, and email lists.

How to NOT give freebies?

There is no specific 'How to' template to produce and promote a freebie—the HOW depends on your creativity, brand values, and relationship with the audience.

But don't give useless freebies for the sake of it, please.

"It's better not to gift rather than gifting something useless. It wastes everybody's time."

I see a lot of creators give freebies that provide ZERO value.

I understand getting traction is important.

I understand building an email list is important.

But what's more important is building a positive brand perception in your audiences' minds.

This perception is only possible when you exchange traction and emails for value, not just free products.

Consumers owning your freebie will not change anything. But what consumers do with freebies will shape the way they look at you.

Hence, make sure you give a purpose to the freebie that's beyond metrics like engagement, followers, visibility, lists, milestones, etc.

Purposeful freebies solve problems.

Ideas to create purposeful freebies:

Downloadable PDFs

It can be ebooks, guides, etc. Produce crisp, value-packed info products around your expertise and make them easily available on your website and socials.

If you're into sales, you can create an 'X-step basic framework to sell anything' as a freebie and pitch your premium product at the end.

This way, there is a higher conversion probability as consumers understand how you teach and what you know.

You can even provide downloadable audio or video content if speaking is your strength. Persuasion becomes more effective with voice or face.

Editable Templates

It can be anything—Word document, Canva design, etc.

Find a problem and provide a general solution in a template.

If you're an outreach specialist, you can give a word document with three cold email/call templates.

If you're a graphic designer, you can share an editable carousel template for creators who create on Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

But remember to solve a real pain point. If you're giving a very basic template or something your audience can find elsewhere, you're doing no good.

Newsletters

I consider automated newsletters as freebies because they give immense value in direct exchange for emails.

Marketing agencies maximize this strategy.

They provide fast solutions like '15 days, 15 hacks.' The best part is they blend content with their products, making them trustworthy with time.

Example of content + product blend:

X ways to use punctuation effectively in blogs.

Here's how Grammarly helps you do it.

Curated Resources

Curation is as magical as creation if you do it right.

Give access to resources that are hard to find and structure, and again, don't curate stuff consumers already know.

What people already know: X necessary software tools for freelancers. Tools will make a social media post, not a freebie.

What people have a hard time accessing: There're 1000s of YouTube videos on UI design. Confused about what to consume? I've curated the top 10 YouTube videos on UI design.

Curations works best if you adopt experience-oriented research over general research.

General research: Browse 10 blogs. Find common points. Present them.

Experience-oriented research: Watch 20 videos. Recommend top 5 that actually impacted you when you executed the techniques.

So, yeah, that's all I know about freebies, shaping a brand's image, and relationship building.

Remember: This is just PART 1 on the freebie topic.

I created and launched my first freebie on Christmas, 2021.

In Cognition #6, I will share a case study of my freebie.

It covers everything from how I created, why I created, purpose, value provided, value gained, and even how I promoted my freebie.

Until then, enjoy today's theory and maybe brainstorm ideas on what you can give as a freebie. Now is the right time to start.

And of course, we're not done yet. Fun segment is here!

Non-Technical aka Fun Segment!

Favourite quote from a book

The truth is the brain can be reprogrammed. You just need to be deliberate about it.

The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Think of the things you felt were hard to change about yourself 5 years ago. And look at yourself now. Most things won't even bother you today.

Charles suggests you can reprogram your actions to certain cues by being conscious and deliberate about changing or improving your habits.

Movie I watched this week

I watched the series Rocket Boys. It's one of the best series I recently watched, and I highly recommend you plan it this weekend.

It's got dope BGM and sexiest characterization + acting.

Originally made in Hindi. Available on Sony LIV in multiple languages.

Tweets I loved

YouTube video I loved

Not exactly a video, but I discovered this really cool channel—Think School.

They share case studies on how different companies are successful, their strategies, the culture and frameworks they formed, etc.

Do check out! It's crisp, engaging, and insanely informative.

Song I’m listening to on a loop

I thought I'd suggest a romantic song considering it's Valentine's week.

Enna Sona is very beautiful, soothing, and intimate. Share the song with your date, and maybe sing it for them.

If you don't have a date, welcome to the club, lol. Binge reading Cognition's previous editions on Feb 14th is not a bad idea, btw.

The fifth edition ends here. I hope you had fun.

Will be back next week.

Until then, take care, have fun, and listen to some music.

Love,

Vikra Vardhan.

Enjoyed Cognition? You can always gift Vikra chocolates as a token of appreciation. He’s a BIGGG foodie. He loves to eat.