As a freelance writer, I’m always doing research. I study other people’s copy (there are some who say I’m looking for ideas to steal, and they’d be right), I read books on marketing, writing, advertising, web design, professional brainstorming, and all kinds of things that only a copywriting expert advertisers would be interested.
But I especially like to do research involving free food.
There is a mall near my house that has a giant food court. Also known as a trap for the weak-willed dieter.
A favorite marketing ploy for some of the restaurants is to give away free samples of their food. I know this because I passed a place that served Cajun food about six or seven times the other day, and they kept offering me little samples of food on a toothpick. I never said I was proud.
But after I was stuffed full of free food, I sat down and watched how much business the various places were doing. Indeed, restaurants that offered free samples were doing more than twice as much business as those that did not.
Why does this work? Well, I think there are two reasons.
The first reason is obvious, a free sample gives the hungry customer an idea of what the rest of the food will be like, and often that small sample is enough to make a hesitant shopper choose that restaurant.
But the second reason seems more interesting to me. In Robert Cialdini’s essential book, Influence: science and practice, explains a powerful persuasion technique he calls The law of reciprocity. Reciprocity is the social obligation we feel when someone does something for us. When this happens, we are inclined to do something good for that person.
Cialdini cites all kinds of research by social scientists and historians as examples of the Law of Reciprocity. In one study, a college professor sent Christmas cards to a list of complete strangers. The response he received was incredible. He received many, many letters from people who had never met him and never even asked who he was.
Another example Cialdini cites involves the religious cult, the Hare Krishna Society. For years, in the 1970s and 1980s, they would approach people in public places, particularly airports, asking for donations. At first, their results were pretty bad, but then they changed tack and began giving out gifts to strangers before asking for a donation.
The gifts worked. Their donations skyrocketed until people became aware of their methods and began to avoid them and airports enacted restrictions against their activities.
Cialdini also points to a study of waiters and waitresses. The study found that when they included a piece of candy or a mint with the customer’s bill, their tips were much higher than without the gift.
Another example was President Lyndon Johnson, known for his record of passing a staggering amount of legislation during his presidency. The reason was simple. In the many years before he became JFK’s vice president, Johnson had been a master of doing favors for his congressional colleagues.
Then, when he became president, he had many legislators who were in his debt, and he was able to win votes even from people who were philosophically opposed to his agenda.
OK, you’re thinking, this is all very interesting, but what does it have to do with writing? I’m glad you asked.
I recently wrote an article called Freelance Copywriter Secrets: Why 2-Step Ads Drive More Sales, in which I explained that 2-Step advertising produces much better results than one-time ads that try all the sale at once.
The simple fact is that people like to receive free information and use it to help them make purchasing decisions. Just like mall restaurants, the free information they receive from you is a showcase of your work and demonstrates your expertise.
But also your free information product creates a connection between you and your potential customer. That connection is the Law of Reciprocity in action. Reciprocity says that, in general, they are more likely to give their business to you than to someone else who doesn’t feel anything for it.
In another recent article, Freelance Copywriter Secrets: 7 Copywriting Tips for Giving Free Information, I also showed the many ways that you, as a marketer, can make free information products available. For example, a law firm may not give prospective clients a “free sample” on how to represent them for a free trial or a free divorce.
But that same firm can send a white paper to business owners on how to avoid liability, what to do if you think a dispute could escalate into a lawsuit, how to preserve evidence, and other matters directly relevant to business clients.
How would this company market this white paper? Well, you could put an ad in a local magazine that didn’t so much promote the company as the free information. A seminar for entrepreneurs could also be held. Regardless of the media used, the goal of any promotion would be the availability of the free white paper and the benefits of reading it.
Like giving away free samples at the food court.
Now if you’ll excuse me. I’m going back to the mall, I’m hungry again.
COPYRIGHT (C) 2006, Charles Brown. All rights reserved.