How Bloggers Can Use the Rule of Reciprocity in Digital Marketing
When bloggers publish content online, they often find themselves spinning a lot of plates. For example, most should try to adopt the latest SEO techniques while also optimising images (and the page itself) for quick loading over the internet. Amid this long checklist of technical rules, bloggers should remember that content is king. Using the rule of reciprocity, you can make your content more organically marketable when you first write it.
What is the Rule of Reciprocity?
Reciprocity is an ancient idea, and arguably the cornerstone of most human interaction. Its roots go way back, echoing in old principles like The Golden Rule – “do unto others as you would have them do to you.”
Everyone appreciates fairness, and so if someone treats you fairly, then you are more likely to treat them the same. The result is often a productive, mutually beneficial interaction. Now, if you think of marketing as a series of interactions, you may see where reciprocity can make one blog stand out over another. As a blogger, you should also try to master actual customer interactions whenever they happen.
Examples of Reciprocity in Marketing
The best way to see reciprocity in action is by looking at other businesses’ marketing efforts. The single best example is when a company offers a free trial to a service or a free sample of a product. Here, the business goes out of its way to present content for free. People try it and, if they like it, they’ll probably stick around. This kind of give-and-take marketing is very popular in the UK’s large online gambling space, allowing players to try out a game or two using casino funds, casino online uk often give new sign-ups a few hundred free spins for popular games, daily spins of a prize wheel, and other bonuses that sweeten the deal. The business doesn’t need to do this, but they do it to the benefit of both players and the site owners.
Reciprocity is vague enough that it can take many forms. While the best examples are where businesses offer something to their audience for free, blogs constantly offer insight into different topics for no charge. Free content is everywhere online, so visitors might not notice you’re offering them free insights by just reading your blog pages. Organising your advice into a free e-book or forming a mailing list for future insights can be a great way to give back to your audience and make them engage with the blog more.
If your blog sells something, then you can use discount codes or social media giveaways to drive interest in whatever you’re selling. If done successfully, the extra interest will pay for those discounts, and your customer base as a whole will appreciate the gesture. If you have a premium content tier, then you can give new visitors a peek at it to draw them in instead.
This kind of reciprocity marketing has found a life of its own online, where it has become very easy to add discount codes or other freebies without much hassle. It also shows your audience that you are invested in a positive relationship with them, and they should appreciate these authentic, good-faith attempts at getting them on board.
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