Agent-X » Free Economy http://blog.agent-x.com Agent-X Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:13:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Consumers LOVE the word “free.” http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/ http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:30:35 +0000 Jill http://blog.agent-x.com/?p=404 Consumers LOVE the word “free.” Even more so in recent years. We love it so much that we go out of our way to get some freebie that we don’t even need. Free pen? Yes please. Free t-shirt? Sure! Free dessert? I’m full from dinner and really don’t need… well okay, it’s FREE!

On the flip side, someone has to pick up the tab; when paying for the free ‘swag’ companies often find it difficult to see the value in giving things away for free (rightfully so). In the past, we could only assume that our message would get out there to increase brand awareness and visibility. What if you were able to measure the number of impressions you gained to truly gauge the value of the campaign? With the addition of online forums, social venues and blogs, it’s now easier than ever to measure success and ROI even when you’re giving it away for free.

An insightful article from Event Marketer: “The ROI of Free” http://www.eventmarketer.com/article/roi-free, points out a few examples of companies who were able to get a tangible return from their “free campaign.”

You remember Denny’s Grand Slam give-away during the Super Bowl, right? Last year they gave away 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts in 8 hours, and in return they received “$50 million in news coverage, 47 million hits on their website and thousands of emails.” Little Debbie gave away one million cupcakes and in three weeks their fan base on Facebook grew from 5,000 to 50,000!

Before you just start handing stuff out, there are a couple things you need to do first:

  • Define your overall goal of the campaign as well as what will make it a success
  • Make sure the appropriate channels (website, social, etc.) are set up and monitor and track the numbers!

Now, anyone know of any good freebies out there? Post them in comments!

jill

]]> http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 Does the "Free Market" economy make sense for Marketing/Advertising agencies http://blog.agent-x.com/2009/07/does-the-free-market-economy-make-sense-for-marketingadvertising-agencies/ http://blog.agent-x.com/2009/07/does-the-free-market-economy-make-sense-for-marketingadvertising-agencies/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:58:23 +0000 brian http://blog.agent-x.com/?p=23 I can be a believer at times. Running a small agency over the past two years has given me a new perspective on terms like “overhead”, “profitability“, and “% of billable time”. The model really does need to be changed. Does free work here? How can we change our structure to take just a little % of a brands “win”, or ROI if you will, and still allow us to continue to innovate, share, and grow. I like the concept of the true win/win. The closer you can align your agenda with that of your clients almost ensures a strong finish… If not at least a great attempt. So how do you translate that into revenue? A small % of the total unearned/earned impressions generated from your activities? A “fee” for the number of successful conversations that you have enabled through the use of your tools, platforms, or communication medium? How about a small commission for each new product sampled, believer made, or actual conversion to purchase? I’d be happy working towards that goal. It is in effect the goal that we are always working towards. The difference is how you create a compensation structure that rewards mutual success and is ultimately track-able. Tracking keywords is one thing. Picture tags are another. I’ve seen more tools try to capture this only to not deliver the “real picture”. That picture is something that changes – with each new client and each new business objective.

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