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One of the several strategies adopted by companies to entrench
their brands in the minds of consumers is free trial.
This is a key marketing effort intended to engage consumers and
deepen their experience of the brand. It also helps the brand make appropriate
adjustments in order to enhance consumer satisfaction. Free trial aids direct
connection with the target audience.
The brand connects to consumers through several touch points and
free trial is a major one. It is indeed a veritable avenue to build consumer
loyalty and followership.
This strategy is aimed at selling the values and benefits of the
brand to the consumers, and empowers them to differentiate between brands they
can trust and the ones they should not.
Consumer experience has a great impact on brand equity, as it
helps them experience the perceived quality, thereby encouraging loyalty. This
can be achieved through free trial, which fosters interaction between consumers
and the brand.
Free trial also ensures a renewed focus on the consumers, as it
empowers them to feel the brand to determine whether it aligns with their
aspirations. DStv mobile was an innovation and value added mobile television
entertainment for subscribers and when unveiled in the Nigerian market, the
company announced free trials which lasted for over a year for subscribers.
The ultimate goal was to enable the subscribers experience the
unique service of mobile entertainment on the go and also promote brand
acceptability. The approach yielded the desired results.
The free trial strategy also helps to measure consumer
experience, as it increases the word of mouth effect. There is every likelihood
of satisfied consumers recommending the service to others.
It is important to inquire from them how their experiences have
been in order to offer them premium services. The feedback mechanism put in
place revealed exciting experiences for subscribers, as the DStv mobile service
gave subscribers memorable moments, especially during the World Cup.
When a brand aligns with the lifestyle of consumers, they are
poised to tap into the enormous benefits of value and entertainment.
DStv mobile has a deliberate strategy to stimulate consumer
experience through exciting service delivery and the free trial was a vantage
platform to achieve this. Indeed, there had never been mobile TV entertainment
in Nigeria before the DStv mobile free trial which was relevant and meaningful
for the consumers.
The benefits of free trial are enormous, as it generates a
relationship building direct marketing programme. It definitely expands the
frontiers of bonding touch points that have been created with the consumers.
