Against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, a free trial is a customer-acquisition model that more companies might want to consider.
With people increasingly mindful of where and how they spend their money, a free trial is a valuable opportunity to provide proof of concept, notes Roz Sedgwick, marketing director at FT Professional, the B2B news and analysis spinout from the Financial Times. “People are always more likely to buy something they know definitely works,” she says.
Firms should be wary, however, of giving away too much of their product or service for nothing. Indeed, a successful free trial – that is to say one that converts a ‘sampler’ into a repeat customer – depends on hitting a few key marketing high notes and taking some important operational precautions.