Using Forced Free Trials and Electronic Free Trials to boost subscription sales

Want to build your subscription numbers in a hurry – say within the next 90 days?

Then you should consider a forced free trial campaign – or its online equivalent, the electronic free trial.

These short-term, ‘mini subscriptions’ – sent free of charge to carefully selected prospects, along with a set of carefully crafted messages aimed at converting them to paying subscribers – are a tried and tested technique amongst subscription marketing professionals.

Particularly when you have an urgent need to acquire a relatively large number of subscriptions in a relatively short period of time…

Yet surprisingly few subscription marketers nowadays incorporate FFTs and EFTs in their annual subscription strategy.

Clearly, they’re missing a trick.

The ‘secrets’ of successful forced free trials and electronic free trials

We’ve designed successful forced free trials for over 20 years, for newsletter publishers, magazine owners and others. More recently we’ve applied that expertise to their online ‘cousins’, electronic free trials.

Tricks of the trade that’ll help you determine:

• how to establish which lists will work best with your FFT or EFT – and what are your options if you’re concerned that your existing lists don’t quite come up to scratch?
• how do you properly kick-off an FFT or EFT so as to get maximum acceptance of the free trial right from the very start?
• what impact might your publication frequency – be it daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly – have on the desired length of your trial series?
• which types of subscription offer work best with FFTs and EFTs &ndash and which are likely to kill response?
• how do you build the most effective messaging series so as to capture maximum sales?
• what are the ways to extend the length of your trial series – without blowing your distribution budget?
• what’s the best way to integrate telesales with the rest of your campaign?
• what can you do to boost the ‘back-end’ results of your FFT or EFT, so you maximise your subscription sales?

Forced free trials and electronic free trials are a great way to boost your subscription numbers – but only if they’re (1) appropriately structured for your product and market, (2) professionally written and (3) properly executed.

After all, they’re far too expensive to get wrong.

Want a quick boost to your subscription numbers? Then contact us today.