When you start doing market, you eventually realize that marketing revolves around understanding human behaviour and leveraging this knowledge to build meaningful relationships with your customers. One such effective strategy is the implementation of reciprocity, a principle deeply rooted in human psychology.
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What is Reciprocity?
As a principle, reciprocity is based on the innate human tendency to respond in kind when offered a gift, a favour, or any form of value.
As humans, we are wired to respond positively to acts of kindness and generosity. So when a company gives something away for free or at a discounted rate, it can create a sense of indebtedness in us. For majority of us, the drive is to return the favour.
This sense of obligation to reciprocate the favour creates a productive ground for businesses to engage with their customers, run successful marketing campaigns, and pontential drive more sales.
How Does This Principle Work?
You can use the reciprocity principle in your marketing campagns as a powerful tool. But the tool works when these 3 basic components are satisfied:
Offering Value to Customers
The first component in implementing reciprocity in marketing is to offer something of value to your customers. This could be valuable content, personalized experiences, or even small tokens of appreciation like freebies, discount codes or gift cards. The aim is to provide your customers with something that they find useful and practical. In this way, you are creating a sense of obligation to return the favour.
Creating Positive Experiences
The principle of reciprocity is most effective when it creates positive experiences that promote a sense of gratitude. You can foster this emotional connection by understanding your customers’ needs and preferences and providing tailored experiences that meet these needs.
Encouraging Reciprocal Actions
The final component in leveraging the principle of reciprocity is to encourage reciprocal actions from your customers. This could be in the form of making a purchase, sharing their email address, or even spreading the word about your brand through their networks.
What are the Benefits?
Using reciprocity in your marketing campaigns can help with the below among the other potential benefits:
Trust and Goodwill
One of the key benefits of incorporating reciprocity into marketing campaigns is that it helps to build trust and goodwill with customers.
Positive Word-of-Mouth
Reciprocity also encourages positive word-of-mouth and customer referrals. When customers have a positive experience with a brand, they are more likely to share their experiences with others. This can help attract new customers and expand your customer base.
Long-Term Relationships
This principles can help strengthen long-term relationships with your customers. By offering value and support, you can establish yourself as a trusted partner, which will help drive a sense of loyalty and long-term engagement.
Types of Reciprocity Marketing Techniques
The principle of reciprocity in marketing involves offering something of value to customers with the expectation that they will feel obligated to return the favour. The favour can be anything ranging from a buy to the publication of a positive review, or even sending a referral. Here are several types of marketing techniques that work well due to the underlying reciprocity appeal.
Lead Magnets
A lead magnet is a valuable resource that is given away for free in exchange for a customer’s contact information. This could be a free eBook, a whitepaper, a webinar, or any other type of valuable content that your target audience would be interested in. The goal of a lead magnet is to attract potential customers and get them into your sales funnel. Successful lead magnets are relevant, valuable, trustworthy, engaging, and shareable.
Free Samples
Offering free samples is another powerful reciprocity marketing technique. By giving customers a chance to try a product before they buy it, companies can increase trust and reduce the perceived risk of purchasing. Free samples provide a tangible experience of your product, which helps convert prospects to buyers and makes it easier to collect reviews. In industries like beauty, samples are a significant driver of product purchases. Small businesses that cannot afford this cost usually resort to small fees charged for samples.
Free Trials
Free trials are commonly used in the software industry, but they can also be effective in other industries. A free trial lets customers use a product or service for a limited time, giving them a taste of what they can expect if they decide to buy. The best practice is to favour relatively short trials (less than a month). Shorter trials encourage your perspective customers to explore the product more quickly and can lower sales cycles. Also, don’t rush to ask for a credit card during a free trial as it may hurt conversion rates.
Free Courses
Offering free courses is an excellent way to provide value to customers while also showcasing your expertise in your industry. This can help to establish trust and credibility with your target audience. Here it’s not about freemium courses, where the customer is expected to upgrade to the premium model. Here’s it’s rather about true sharing of expertise and knowledge with your service or product being the main highlight of the course. We are actively using SEO tools like Ahrefs and AnswerThePublic, who offer free courses – Ahrefs’ Academy and AnswerThePublic’s course, which promote their own platforms, but still offer a ton to learn from the industry.
Extra Features or Services
Including extra features or benefits in your products or services can also create a sense of reciprocity. This could be anything from a complimentary service, extended warranty, or more features that enhance the value of the product. Did you know that Apply offers a free 30-min consultation after you buy some of its devices, like iPad? Such addons help build trust and authority even before the purchase is made.
7 Real-Life Reciprocity Marketing Examples
Let’s explore some real-life examples of how businesses have successfully used the principle of reciprocity in their online marketing.
1. Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a classic example of reciprocity marketing. This membership program offers a host of benefits including free two-day shipping, access to streaming services, storage for your Kindle, and more. By offering these benefits, Amazon creates a sense of reciprocity with its customers, who are more likely to stay subscribed for years and make frequent purchases from Amazon.
2. Dropbox
Dropbox uses reciprocity in its referral program. When existing users refer new users to Dropbox, both parties receive more storage space for free. This encourages users to promote Dropbox to their networks, leading to increased customer acquisition for the company.
3. Sephora
Beauty retailer Sephora uses reciprocity through its Beauty Insider program. Members are offered various rewards and perks for their loyalty, creating a sense of reciprocity and encouraging repeat purchases.
4. HubSpot
HubSpot, a marketing software company, offers a plethora of free resources such as eBooks, templates, and tools. By providing these valuable resources for free, HubSpot creates a sense of indebtedness in their audience, who are then more likely to consider HubSpot’s paid offerings.
5. Netflix
Netflix used to offer a free one-month trial to their streaming service. That allowed potential subscribers to experience the value of their service first-hand and created a sense of reciprocity. That, in turn, helped increase conversions once the trial was over.
6. Grammarly
Grammarly, a writing assistant tool, offers a free version of its software with the option to upgrade for access to additional features. By providing a free tool that offers real value, Grammarly creates a sense of reciprocity with its users, who are then more likely to consider upgrading to the premium version.
7. Canva
Canva, a graphic design platform, offers a vast library of free templates and design elements, with the option to purchase premium elements. The free resources provide immense value to users, instilling a sense of reciprocity and increasing the likelihood of purchases within the platform.
These examples illustrate well how businesses from various industries and sizes are using the principle of reciprocity in their marketing strategies. Whether it’s with free samples, trials, courses, or valuable content, reciprocity is a powerful tool for driving conversions.
How to Use the Power of Reciprocity in Your Marketing Strategies
Starting with a genuine desire to provide value to your customers is the first step to make. It’s not about manipulating customers into making a purchase, but rather about building strong relationships based on trust and mutual benefit.
Here are a few tips on how to effectively incorporate reciprocity into your marketing strategies:
- Provide Real Value: Whether it’s a free sample, a valuable piece of content, or a useful tool, make sure what you’re offering real value to your customers. This not only creates a sense of reciprocity but also builds trust and credibility with your audience.
- Be Genuine: Customers can tell when a company is being insincere or manipulative. Ensure that your reciprocity marketing efforts come from a genuine desire to provide value and help your customers.
- Follow Through: If you promise something, make sure you deliver on it. Failing to follow through on a promise can harm your relationship with your customers.
- Surprise and Delight: Unexpected acts of kindness can have a big impact! Consider surprising your customers with a free gift, a discount, or a special offer. These unexpected gestures can create a strong sense of reciprocity and leave a lasting impression.
In conclusion, reciprocity is a powerful principle that can be effectively used in your online marketing to increase conversions, build brand loyalty, and improve relationships with your customers. Provide value upfront and create a sense of indebtedness – by doing so you will be able to motivate customers to reciprocate in ways that benefit your business. Free samples, trials, valuable content (ebooks, checklists), or extra features will drive reciprocity in your campaigns. To be successful with this principle, stay genuine, provide real value, and always follow through on your promises.
Need to understand if your current content marketing efforts include a high level of reciprocity? Get in touch and get expert content marketing advice from our team. We have a solid record of content campaigns that drove leads through reciprocity.