A few years ago, my aunt gave me some tacky dish towels. Though thoughtful, the frilly mauve lace didn’t quite fit into my kitchen. Not all gifts are created equal.
You already know why a free report on your website is essential. It’s a great incentive to get folks to sign up for your newsletter. Today, I’m sharing nine tips to ensure your free report is a gift your prospects will happily give you their email address for and will love receiving.
- Treat it right. Your free report is premium content that you’re giving away—it’s special. Treat it as such! Don’t just slap it on your site; design it with care.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel. Ensure accessibility for all recipients (so they can read online, download or print) by keeping the format simple: an 8.5 x 11 PDF.
- Take ’em places. Make it easy for readers to see the resources you’re talking about. Use links wherever helpful, including your logo and email.
- Keep it digestible. White space, numbers, bullets, and small chunks of text make your report easier to consume and enjoy.
- Name it carefully. You could be giving away the best information ever—but with a crummy name, no dice! To ensure a compelling title, consider what prospects really care about. Try out a few options via social media to see what resonates most.
- Make it visible. Don’t hide your report in a corner—show it off! Display it prominently. Mine is featured across the top of my site, right in the header.
- And more visible. Put your gift in more than one place! Add it to the footer—and to the end of every blog post.
- Give it a dedicated page. To promote your free gift externally (like on Twitter), it’s handy to have a dedicated page where prospects can sign up to receive it.
- Brand it everywhere. If you’re going to use MailChimp (my favorite!), make sure your sign-up form and corresponding messages all have the same brand personality so the entire gift feels cohesive.
To see these tips in action, download my free gift: 5 Tips for Partnering with a Web Designer. And if you need help creating yours, let me know.
Ooooh, your post is a great reminder for me. I really need to put together a report like this. Thanks!
I need to create a separate page for my IFO. Thanks for the reminder to do it. You can check it out on my website http://www.thebucketlistcreator.com. I expended considerable effort creating my IFO. What do you think about it? Suggestions for improvement?
Hey Carole – great free offer on your site! You could make it even more attention grabbing by adding ‘Free Trip Planner tool’ or something like that. You could also change the submit button to say something more enticing like ‘Get it Now!’ 🙂