World of Free – In Situ
In Part 1 of the World of Free, the emphasis was on doing what we like to do because we’re not as smart as you. Perhaps it’s because we never went to business school and are still trying to make up for it. Regardless, we find it helpful to give ourselves a lay of the land by which to evaluate the sites that we see. (Or, as we like to call it, so this is how x, y, and z networks make 30% of their revenue.) Here in Part 2, we use that framework to take a look at some of the different implementations in the land of the free. One thing that you will notice among the different iterations are the offer strategies they use. Some of the sites, especially sites run by brands will display only legitimate offers, i.e., what you see is what you get, whereas many sites will shift to the other extreme, showcasing only offers that have a means for making the site money. Not surprisingly, in the continuing game of making money and adding value, many sites fall somewhere in between.
Here we look at a few examples from the brand world and then more importantly to most, what some of the people in our space are doing.
| Who | Brand – Mars Candy |
| What | Sample |
| How | Brand Landing Page |
| Where | SEM |
Notes a well executed campaign. Mars owns some powerful brands and incorporates them prominently into the site. The freebie happens only on a certain date and takes advantage of scarcity, so it does a good job of building interest and not just giving away things for bargain sake.
Chocolate Giveaway
Get Some Sweet Treats Now
From Your Friends at Mars!
www.RealChocolate.com
| Who | Brand – Downy |
| What | Sample |
| How | Brand Landing Page |
| Where | SEM |
Notes: a not so well executed campaign. The brand is a good one but the site does little to capture the emotion of the product and the promotion is non-existent.
| Who | Marketer |
| What | GiftCard |
| How | Jumper |
| Where | SEM |
Notes: hard to think that one is doing true scale, but it could be surprising, especially given the amount of play it probably gets on adsense on the other freebie sites. It sounds flog-ish, and probably would be were it started today and not a few years ago.
Before You Buy Your Next Groceries. Read My Story & Get Yours Free Too.
| Who | Marketer |
| What | Samples / GiftCards / Trials |
| How | Directory |
| Where | SEO |
Notes: one of many small directory sites that blend various types of offers with the occasional non-revenue generating one. There are plenty of larger ones out there, but this one is a classic of the 1998 look and feel which dominates the SEO landscape.
| Who | Marketer |
| What | GiftCard |
| How | Jumper |
| Where | SEM |
Notes: a classic example of how a performance marketer would approach the idea of using incentive promotion offers to create a free sample style site.
Six Premium Free Samples
Check out which you like best.
Limited Quantity Available. Hurry!
www.Free-Trial-Shop.com
| Who | Marketer |
| What | Samples / GiftCards |
| How | Blog |
| Where | SEM |
Notes: our second to last example is one of the bigger blog styles that we’ve seen with 12k actual rss subscribers (or the best fakery). It reads in a first person narrative but without the picture of the personality that we see in the flogs. It tries to mix non-paying freebies with paying ones. In a style that woot made famous, each days offer has a story around it, with the actual offer not necessarily living up to its billing.
| Who | Marketer |
| What | Samples / GiftCards |
| How | Blog |
| Where | SEM |
Notes: another interesting take on the space and one that tries to mix actual free samples with those powered by the incentive promotion space. Clean layout, catchy language, and the beginnings of a brand forming. It does multi-daily offers but with no story like the one above.
