What’s the REAL deal behind the new ‘pay wall’ trend…
So if you’re not caught up on the latest and greatest marketing trends don’t worry they change quickly. But you know that and that’s why you’re reading this…HA!
So, a lot of big companies (Apple) and big marketing guys (Deiss, Vaynerchuck, etc) are talking about how free is dead and how moving to micropayments for free content is the wave of the future. Apple’s a big company so maybe it’s not just another tricky trend, but without BILLIONS behind your company hear me out here…
First of all, I think it’s funny how it’s being pushed by so many people as the next big thing. Almost like a forced convincing! HAHA. “Hey everyone else is doing it and it’s time you do it too!” Doesn’t mean it’s wrong or bad, but just funny to me. Now not everyone is on board, but we’ll see how many others jump on board.
Second, I actually think it’s a pretty good idea and here’s why…
SELLING IN THIS ECONOMY IS HARD!!
‘Yeah Brad, I know…’
But this is what I ask my clients…
“Our end goal is to get the person to jump over our 8ft fence, because we get paid 100 bucks per person that jumps the fence…right? So do we lower the fence and only get 50 bucks per person that jumps over? OR do we stop trying to give 400lb people a boost and only focus on people that could actually jump it?!?!”
Strange analogy, but the ‘micro payment’ pre-qualifies your potential buyers. You’re just making sure all your people can jump the fence. It’s a great move that WILL MAKE PEOPLE MORE MONEY. You’re getting a lot of the tirekickers out of the mix, and basically taking up the quality of leads and potential (big ticket) buyers.
It’s ALL about qualified leads…and what better qualification then someone who’s actually bought something (even if it’s just a buck). So it’s a GREAT idea, but then you’ve got the problem of selling them, but not at 2k but at 2 bucks. Still selling, but not as easy as free. But it’s doable.
Now, with my clients I’ve taken a different approach to pre-qualifying and CONVERTING without the ‘micro-payment.’ We’re still giving away a ton of free content and offers, but our lead conversion is a bit different, but still bringing in HIGHER qualified leads…like the ‘micro-payment’ model. And I want to tell you…
But you’ll have to pay for that…joking. But I’m not telling you.
I’m not so smart that I’m outwitting the ‘masters,’ I just look at it a bit different, that’s all.
So what do you think? Will you start charging for your free content? Will you PAY for content you like or will you find it somewhere else? Will you pay for my content?? ( <— most important question to answer in the comments hahaha)
Honestly, let’s start a discussion on this!
Best,
Brad
P.S. If you disagree TELL ME…and try to give a few reasons for the benefit of the class 😉