Free trials are a fantastic way to bring in clients if your paid services are automated or at least semi automated in their delivery.
A free trial should be offered all year round and it should be automated in delivery and sign up. The aim with a free trial is to get as many people as possible into the trial and then convert as many people as you can into your long term paid packages.
What Should be Included in a Great Trial?
A great trial should be easy to follow, so make nothing too hard and nothing too time consuming.
Making life easy for your potential clients will help them feel you're the person that will give them the long term results they have never achieved before... Despite trying every diet and meal plan out there.
This is your huge opportunity to wow people and make them see you as the person to help them. Put everything into your trial that will help them get results, but keep it simple.
The difference between the trial and your paid service is easy. The trial is short term and your paid service is the long term solution.
So, add the things that give long term results:
- Training programs.
- Simple assessments.
- Nutrition and lifestyle coaching videos.
- Habits to track.
- Then pile in lots of communication and huge support.
Should you take card Details Upfront or not?
With a free trial it can be a good option to take card details to activate the trial. This leads on to an auto subscription at the end of the trial.
People giving card details to enter a trial are often more engaged so they will try your programs, watch your coaching videos, read your emails, read your app messages etc... This leads to a higher conversion percentage at the end of the trial.
Of course if you ask for card details upfront you will get less people in to your trial. So, if you're just starting out and you're struggling to get people into your trial don't ask for card details. If you already have a strong demand for your services then consider taking card details to activate the trial.
Emails and In App Messages
Set up an email auto responder sequence that goes out to everybody who joins your trial. This gives additional support and shares some of your most powerful client success stories.
Set up an automated sequence of in app messages. This is for extra support alongside each day of the trial and really lets people know that you care. These are short messages that just give the extra nudge to go and train, or to eat well, or follow the habit they're on etc...
… These in app messages should encourage clients and make life very easy for them.
Having a Facebook Group Alongside your Trial
Having a Facebook group alongside your services is a great idea. Encourage all people that join your trial to join your Facebook group for additional support.
Send links to your group at the beginning, middle, and end of the trial, in emails and in app messages.
A Facebook group allows you to show how good your support is in a public forum. It will also attract new people because Facebook make suggestions of groups and send people toward your group. It also gives you another opportunity for long term follow up.
Many people that join your trial will not be ready to sign up straight away However, if they're in your group they'll always see your support. When they're ready to sign up to something there's a high chance they will chose you.
Free Trial Round Up and Conversion
Have a free trial round up video with a road map to future success. Send your video in the app messenger and put it on YouTube to send a link in an email. Make sure people get this video.
A round up video talks about what your members have done in the trial. It talks about results and success stories of your long term members and tells viewers how to get amazing long term results. Then you offer your long term services as a way to guarantee amazing long term results and (if you haven't taken card details at the start) put a link to sign up under the video.
Delivery of this should be scheduled for the last day of your trial.
You should also make sure there's a separate email on the last day of a trial:
- If you've taken card details and it's an automatic continuation into the paid packages then this email should warn people of this and say if you want to carry on just keep going, you don't need to do anything. If you want to cancel then you can cancel now and you won't pay anything but your access to the coaching and app will be stopped.
- If you haven't taken card details then this email should have one powerful testimonial and offer trialists your long term packages with links to sign up.
Post Trial Follow up
Follow up should be simple, for those clients that join your long term services be amazing and aim to exceed their expectations in every way you can.
For those that don't sign up to your paid packages straight away use the trial to build your email list, Facebook group and other social media following then keep going with the habits that create successful online trainers . Many of these people will come back in to your services at a later date.
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