Giving something away for free on your website be it an e-book, research or market data, a video or audio file, or something else, is a great way to build your brand online and get your message across to thousands of people.

It’s a powerful tool in your marketing strategy go, but it’s not quite as straight forward as it sounds at first.

According to digital marketing expert David Meerman Scott, there are few basic errors that are made time and time again, which prevent companies getting full benefit from this strategy.

What people fail to realise, says Scott, is that when you give something away for free, it has to be free – completely free.

When websites require an email sign up or subscription, they are putting up a barrier to people to download or access their content. People are naturally suspicious of having to fill in forms or give out personal information.

As a result, these businesses are failing to fully capitalise on the marketing strategy they have chosen, by putting up these barriers.

Scott expands on this point and gives other digital marketing strategy advice on the show. Looking for low risk, guaranteed marketing results?

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