Question

Topic: Strategy

B2b - Marketing A Free Service

Posted by Anonymous on 1/15/2014 at 10:30 AM ET 125 Points
Good Morning,
My dilemma consists of marketing free services to local businesses. We provide Utility Bill analysis with no upfront cost, i.e. we share in any recovered billing errors, if certain criteria are met such as the monthly bill amount. In addition, we offer a free ROI calculation for LED lighting conversion which includes the monthly savings in direct correlation to their present billed amount. Also, we are licensed to sell bulk electricity at far less expensive rates than the large utilities.

My question is what is the best method to promote the services offered without breaking the bank. The criteria as stated above hinders the ability to offer the services to all business. Thanks for your assistance.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 1/15/2014 at 11:12 AM Accepted
    If you don't want to break the bank, a Facebook campaign - paid advertising through Fb that is - would be the most cost-effective. Once you've got this sorted and Facebook have done their stuff (they do a lot of fine tuning for you - it means clicks for them and info for you) - then you can start an effective Google display network campaign. Depending on your funding and sales you can scale these up or down to suit your budget.

    As to your free offer - there are a good number of businesses out there who are wary of free offers. And they'd be within their rights to be doubtful. Most marketing agencies use "free" to mean "trap".

    Your best way forward is to get people to sign up to a newsletter where you can use a drip-feed of stories and articles to show them what you can do. That way, when something comes up in their business, they'll think of you first.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 1/16/2014 at 7:44 PM Accepted
    Local to where?

    If you're talking about a cluster of ZIP codes, direct mail with a strong headline and a stronger call to action that makes the offer too good to pass up on may work. PPC advertising depends on your target audience being online at the time or on the sites where your ad is shown, while direct mail through a well segmented list may bring in more responses. The only way to be sure to to figure out costs and returns, then run a test.
  • Posted by saul.dobney on 1/17/2014 at 3:54 AM Accepted
    Price the services before giving them away free. 'Free bill check (normally $150)'. You can also add a limit - 'free to the first 10 customers who sign up'. 'Free this month'. Or instead of giving something away you can sell it for a small fee to increase it's perceived value and also fine customers who are genuinely interested as a screening method. Eg 'Half price $50 this month', or '$50 - refunded if we can't find savings of more than $50 for you'.
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