Question

Topic: Strategy

Free Content Vs Ask For Personal Info

Posted by Laffer on 7/21/2011 at 8:02 AM ET 500 Points
So - Trying to decide whether to provide free content or make a viewer submit email or other info to get video content of "five things you need to know before working with a ...." . We offer rate-management services in the energy space.

My website is used for three purposes 1) Position as expert; 2) Provide basic info to clients 3) Collect leads

Of course, I'm looking for sales leads - (shocker, I know) - however some studies suggest that NOT requiring info first will encourage up to 50 times the number of downloads of your "content of value". Presumably, the law of large numbers then takes over and if your content is truly valuable to the user, tire-kickers will walk and those who are more seriously looking for your service will contact you or sign-up for your blog, or what have you.

So, what say you, MarketingProfs? Should we release-for-free and let the chips fall where they may? Or try exerting a bit of control and require a little qualification with an email/name/phone, etc...

Thoughts?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by mvaede on 7/21/2011 at 9:55 AM Member
    Why not do an experiment.
    - Create two different landing pages, either promoted towards different communities or alternated at regular intervals.
    - One asking for name and email, the other one providing the download link to your document
    - have two "Thank You" landing pages, one being personalized with the info provided when people gave name+email. The other one offering people to sign up should they want more info.

    This way you'll see which method generates the most leads.

    Mikael
    B2B Marketing
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 7/21/2011 at 10:51 AM Member
    Whitepapers of value almost always require info before downloading.

    The title of your paper though doesn't make me think you are an expert in your field. Your whitepaper should pick an area of your expertise and teach me something specific.

  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/21/2011 at 10:56 AM Moderator
    I really like Mikael's suggestion. Why not give that a try?

    I also agree with Carol that the whitepaper title you mentioned is not likely to create a lot of interest, regardless of the value of the content. You need to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and really offer to scratch their itch.

    Finally, how are people going to find your site and the offer? Where/how will you be promoting it? The landing page needs to deliver against whatever you promise to get them to click through to your site.
  • Posted by Laffer on 7/21/2011 at 11:01 AM Author
    Thanks Mvaede - good idea. Originally I had thought that might be worth while but in the ensuing rush to finish that got lost in the shuffle.

    CB, as for the title, thank you. That''s not the title though. Simply a placeholder for a title. The working title is in process. Something along the lines of "Considering a new energy broker or supplier? Four things to know before you sign." Not sexy yet, but we''re working on it. Content does include four important topics of consideration that someone should understand before working with a broker to make sure they''re getting the service/expertise they think they are... Suggestions welcome!
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 7/21/2011 at 11:20 AM Member
    Why not create a 15-30sec video sample for everyone to see, and then only let people view the whole video after providing info?
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/21/2011 at 11:32 AM Moderator
    What would concern me about the title of your whitepaper is that it only applies to people who have already decided they want to work with a new energy supplier. Most folks don't know they want to work with a new energy supplier until that supplier contacts them and explains why they might want to.

    By the time anyone sees your whitepaper, they've probably already switched suppliers.

    I've had a situation in another industry that is exactly analogous to yours. We were able to get a few folks to bite at the offer, but we got 25x the interest when we promised the benefit up-front, instead of the "How to decide ..." whitepaper.
  • Posted by Laffer on 7/21/2011 at 12:00 PM Author
    also a good idea, JHR...

    mgoodman... We do have a section of the video designated to "why", but it is more geared toward what to look for - or 'how' if you will. The challenge is that to an uninformed user, we all look the same - even though there are considerable differences in service and expertise. I wonder if by changing the title in the offer to something closer to WHY, without changing the content of the vid, we'd risk not delivering on the promise in the offer since the vid has more of a 'how-to' feel to it... did your firm change the content or just the title?

    thank you!
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/21/2011 at 12:53 PM Accepted
    We changed the content. We ended up with 4 different versions of the whitepaper. Basic guts were the same, but the copy in each was specific to a narrow sub-segment, so there was no chance that a prospect would think we had a one-size-fits-all solution. It was highly customized.

    And the content for "basic benefit" customers (highest level) was totally different from that for "How to decide ..." customers. We even included a link/URL for those customers to get the "How to decide ..." version if they wanted it after they'd read the "basic benefit" version.

    The key to all of this is to segment your site visitors right up-front, so each one sees only the information that is most relevant to them. Otherwise you overload them with irrelevant information and options too quickly.

  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/21/2011 at 1:03 PM Moderator
    To go back to the original question: If you offer something that has high enough value, you can ask for an email address as a condition for getting it. If you have a problem getting people to give you their email addresses, then they obviously don't want the "prize" very much.

    So this isn't about how to offer what you have, but about how to offer something that is so valuable to your target audience that they'll readily give you the contact information you want.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 7/21/2011 at 1:03 PM Member
    I'm not suggesting you overload them with too much info, quite the reverse. Hone in on one specific topic to learn. Then yoju are establishing yourself as an expert as you have taught them something.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 7/21/2011 at 5:47 PM Member
    Instead of offering five free things, consider offering three free things and, for an opt in, or for a monthly subscription fee, consider offering sign ups seven things in addition to the three free things.

    Then continue to deliver premium content to the people that sign up and ask them for testimonials about the value of your premium stuff. You then use the testimonials as social proof to bring in more sign ups.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 7/21/2011 at 7:09 PM Member
    How will this fit in with your sales process?

    You have direct sales force who will be closing the deals?

    Here's another option you could test: charge money for the video/white paper... And allow your sales force to offer free access to their "preferred prospects". This could increase the perceived value of the video/white paper, better position you as valuable experts, and help your sales force gain commitments from prospects.

    Also, if you intelligently designed the access codes, you can track the relative effectiveness of your sales team in getting out your message.
  • Posted by Norwood on 7/21/2011 at 10:24 PM Accepted
    All above are good comments. I especially like the idea of doing an A/B testing w/ a registration required vs. no registration to gauge conversion rates.

    BUT, also think about the following:
    - what is the goal of the whitepaper
    - who is the target
    - what is their stage in the buying cycle

    If you want most people to download and read the whitepaper, then asking for registration (even just email) will not be a good strategy. However, if you feel that the whitepaper download can provide you with a qualified lead (i.e. people downloading this whitepaper based on its title and contents are further along the buying cycle) then a registration page may be in order.

    Another option, one that I've seen successfully applied, is giving away (no registration required) a summary or excerpt of the whitepaper and requiring registration to download the full version.

    There are many people (David Meerman Scott for example) that are against any kind of registration page or obstacle between the buyer and the content but I think that is too radical an approach. Sometimes you gotta ask something in exchange for your content. If it's valuable enough, you'll see based on conversion rates.
  • Posted by peg on 7/22/2011 at 8:32 PM Accepted
    Don't be put off by those studies. Unless you're in the business of distributing information for free, you don't need to aim for the greatest volume. You need to aim for two things: a) the right audience and b) a way to contact them. Anything else is a waste of resources.

    So, do the A/B testing if you have the time and budget; but your time would be better spend developing a white paper that everyone in your target market would like to have. What is their chief problem? Solve that in your white paper and you'll definitely get sign-ups from the right people. For instance:

    Five rate management tactics that increase profits immediately.

    Seven rate strategies your shareholders will love.

    Three ways to boost renewals in a tough economy.

    In sum, focus the white paper on what your potential clients actually need, and you won't have to worry about whether your "price" -- their email address -- is too high to get results.


  • Posted by Frank Hurtte on 7/24/2011 at 4:04 PM Member
    Through last six years since founding River Heights Consulting. We have found that almost everything we gave away was thrown away.

    After a great deal of soul-searching, I decided to require every prospect to have some skin in the game. This can be a small investment - like providing email information, participation in a survey or bigger stuff - like paying for shipping and handling, or expenses of some kind.

    Our business has grown because these simple gestures weed out a lot of folks who are only temporarily interested in our value.
  • Posted by Laffer on 7/26/2011 at 6:45 AM Author
    Everyone - great comments thanks for your thoughts! I think after reviewing the situation, we need to carefully craft a benefit-laden title of our first vid, and are already in production of a 'light' version containing subject matter more targeted to what a newbie might be looking for. After we have their attention, we'll gently steer them closer to the 'what you really need to know' version. Thanks for all of the help!
  • Posted by Laffer on 7/26/2011 at 6:49 AM Author
    Oh yes, almost forgot, we'll be testing both asking for info and giving the content freely. Not sure how else to really do it!
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