Five Digital Freebies That Will Help Attract Customers

Giving out promotional items is an excellent way to remind people what your company does and how to get in touch with you when they need the products or services your provide. But while pens, coffee mugs and calendars play a valuable role, why not supplement those tangible freebies with your own expertise and information clients can use in the form of white papers, reports and even webinars?

Here are five ways to capture the interest of your target audience and give potential customers a reason to do business with your company.

1. Do Some Research for Them

Take the time to put together and distribute a whitepaper on trends in your industry. You can gather the information by surveying your customers, and you can include facts and figures that show how your product or service compares with what the competition has to offer. Answering common questions about your industry would also be helpful information for the people you are trying to reach.

2. Book It

An e-book can be a useful marketing tool, and it’s possible you’ll be able to compile one simply by repackaging blogs or articles you’ve written on subjects pertaining to your business or industry. You can create a PDF file and attach it to an e-blast or simply provide a link to the e-book.

There are some factors to consider and questions you should answer when deciding what information should be included in your e-book:

What exactly does your company do and what sets you apart from the competition?
What information can you offer that is not readily available from other sources?
Who are you trying to reach with your message? For instance, if you sell office furniture, you’ll want to target people and businesses who might have an interest in your products.
Can you fill a need that no one else is filling? For example, you might be able to provide potential customers with a guide to the most efficient way to set up an office or tips on the best ways to save energy.

3. A Teaching Moment

You can produce and disseminate a tutorial on how to solve common problems related to your business or industry and offer it to potential customers as a podcast, a video or a slide show. The tutorial also can demonstrate how to use your products.

4. Talk About It

Producing a webinar can be a reasonably easy and effective way to get your message out to your target audience. Even after the video conference is complete, people who visit your website will be able to access the webinar to learn more about your company or about whatever you choose to discuss during the presentation. Here are some ways a webinar helps spread the word about your business.

Producing a webinar will go a long way toward branding you as an expert in your industry.
A webinar will increase traffic to your website and, in the process, increase the number of people who are interested in doing business with your company.
A webinar will help your customers and potential customers learn more about your business and the products and services you offer.
It never hurts to show the human side of your company. You can highlight some of the volunteer work your employees do or even give your potential customers a look at a typical day at your office.
In preparing to produce the webinar, you will learn more about the subject you will be discussing.

5. Coupons, Newsletters and More

Limited-time offers in the form of coupons can encourage people to do business with your company.
Offering a free monthly newsletter that contains useful information is a good way to expand your reach and stay in touch with potential customers. It certainly won’t hurt for people to be reminded about your company every 30 days - just make sure that your newsletter shares breaking news and reliable tips that may be difficult to find elsewhere from a trusted source.
Testimonials from your satisfied customers are always useful. You can post them on your website or include them in your newsletter or e-book.

Get the Word Out

Regardless of how you choose to market your business, you should do what you can to take advantage of all the work you’ve done to put together your digital freebies. You can use the information you gather to produce blog posts. And you should send press releases to newspapers, magazines and online publications in your area, explaining how important your e-books and white papers are to your industry.

Allison Rice, Director of Marketing for AmsterdamPrinting.com, has extensive experience in sales and marketing. At Amsterdam Printing, a leading provider of custom pens and other promotional items such as custom flash drives, Allison is focused on providing quality marketing materials to small, mid-size and large businesses. She regularly contributes to the Small Business Know-How blog.