The Curse of Digital Freebies
Do you remember the last time you downloaded a free ebook, or given access to a free online course?
Did you finish reading the free ebook? Or, completed the online course?
Did you signed up for the freebie purely because it’s something “good-to-have”? Or, you really do need it?
For most people, it would be the former more than the latter.
And that. my friend, is the curse of digital freebies.
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Unlike physical freebies, digital freebies doesn’t have a variable cost.
It doesn’t have manufacturing cost, and you don’t need a warehouse to store all your freebies.
You can create as many as you want, and give it away as many as you like with (almost) zero variable cost.
As for people who signup for the freebies, there was no variable cost on their end as well (aside of maybe giving away their email address).
They can sign up as many digital freebies as they want.
In some sense, it’s a win-win situation for both the provider and the receiver.
However, the people who signed up for digital freebies, is largely influenced by FOMO (fear of missing out).
The thinking behind these people are just “I don’t need it now – but who knows, maybe I might need it in the future.”
Because of that, there is no real tension being created.
Hence why most people who signed up for free online course – don’t even finish the first chapter / module of the course.
This is also why most online courses (especially the free one) have 96% dropout rate.
However, on the other side, there are cases where the completion rate of online courses are as high as 33%.
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Back in mid March of 2020, when the whole world is under full lock-down mode, a lot of online learning platform gave away some of their best courses for free to support the #StayAtHome movement.
One of those online learning platform, DigitalMarketer give away free access to their Lab membership for a limited time frame (about 6 weeks).
This membership normally would cost you $95 (USD) per month.
According to the founder Ryan Deiss: There are more than 30,000 users signed up this digital freebie, and 1/3 of them completed at least one course during that time frame.
So, the questions is why, on one hand, you have 96% dropout rate, while on another hand, you have 33% of completion rate?
Well, I believe it’s down to “tension”.
When there is a limited time frame access to a digital freebie, it creates “tension” to the users to consume the freebie as soon as possible.
Knowingly that it will be gone after a certain date has pushed the users to consume, and finished the online course.
The “Limited time frame access” has created a “tension” between the user and their unfinished courses, and to relieve the tension, the user will do whatever it takes to push for completion.
If there is no deadline, no tension will be created, and users are more likely to procrastinate, and push the agenda to “someday”.
As we all are well familiar with it:- The road to someday leads to a town called nowhere.
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So – next time you want to give away a digital freebie, make sure you have a mechanism in place that would creates “tension” between your users and your digital freebie, and push them towards the goal you want them to achieve.