Conversion tactics: How "show don't tell" pays off | ft. Ezbot

Hey, I’m Michelle, a product manager at Patreon. My team works on features to encourage free members to upgrade, like email digests of popular paid posts and automated discounts. We’ve spent many hours talking to creators to understand what they want out of connecting with more of their fans here. Ezbot is just one creator who's growing his business by investing in his free community. Here are some other ways we’re seeing creators successfully drive paid upgrades.

While it might seem unintuitive to make some of your best work free, successful creators all say the “show, don’t tell” approach has been the strongest tactic to convert free members. We’ve seen three main types of “show, don’t tell” posts:

• Archival content. Turn your most popular paid posts into all-member posts for free members to enjoy. (It’s also a low-effort way to get more out of your back catalog.) erikathegoober curated a free collection of art resources, with a clear call to action at the top of each free post: “You can access the complete collection of 80+ tutorials when you join The Enchanted Library Tier ($10)!

• Extended clips or outtakes. Whether it’s a long trailer or even the first full episode of a series, these clips often leave free members wanting more. Ginny Di releases bloopers of her paid videos, giving free members a little taste of what her longer-form videos are like.

• Context posts. Give fans a little behind-the-scenes. Talk about what goes into making the work you do, and give another dimension to the paid work you’re indirectly promoting. For his game mod releases, Mohtashim of MkElite creates a free post with details and pictures, with a ‘download here’ call to action that links to a locked post. “In many cases, it converts them to a paid tier,” he says.

I’d love to hear what’s worked for you in converting free members into paying members. Drop your thoughts in the comments!

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