We've recently been offering a free downloadable guide about starting a business with one of our systems. It's fascinating to me to hear the reactions from distributors about whether to offer this type of information to every person who fills out a request form, or only give it to customers. This goes back to a frequent discussion we have about the value of lead engagement on the web.
Some distributors prefer content to be available to everyone, while others want to limit the content's availability to only our customers. In my opinion, when we offer more tools on the web, we see increasing numbers of repeat visits, visitor engagement is at an all time high, and people are invested in returning to our site to see what's new. I love going to a trade show and having a competitor's customer come into our booth to rave about our website and how they are up there all of the time. I know that those people are going to purchase again, and that we will be in the front of their mind as someone to compare.
Of course there are arguments for limiting access to these features to customers only. By giving them a tool that they receive when they buy, we can increase customer loyalty and can use it as another feature that only they receive.
In situations like this, I don't look at offering a guide that people register for as a 'freebie.' If contact information is collected, we are receiving incredibly valuable information. What's your opinion? Do you see more value in providing information to everyone, or using the website as a tool for customers to increase their loyalty?
