A freemium product is a product that has some sort of free functionality, with the option to pay for additional features if needed. The hope with this model is that customers will love the free version so much they'll be tempted to pay for an upgrade. While there are many examples of successful products using this model—think Spotify or Dropbox—the success of any freemium product depends on getting people to try it in the first place.

In other words, customers have to know your product exists before they can fall in love with it and (hopefully) upgrade. But how does a company build awareness for its freemium product? Here are five key strategies:

List your product on directory sites

When building product awareness, you should list your product on directory sites and comparison sites. The more places your product appears, the more likely it is that people will find it — which means that you'll be able to convince them to sign up for a free trial or buy a subscription.

In addition to listing your product on directory and comparison sites, you should also create an account with review sites like G2 or Capterra and product community sites like ProductHunt or AppSumo. These are great places to get initial visibility.

Make a video showing how to use the core feature of your product

Make a video showing how to use the core feature of your product. It’s simply the best way for people who don’t know about your product yet to understand what it does.

Why? Because in just three minutes or less, you can show them exactly how they could benefit from using your solution, which will help them decide if they want to take action and sign up for free trials or paid plans later. And wouldn't that be great if you could help them do this without any effort on their part?

This process also works well for new users who might not know where else they can find information about how something works in detail (e.g., how many clicks are required before getting an email response from customer support). If they see someone else explaining it clearly and concisely with visuals—and perhaps even specific tips—it makes them feel good about trying something new because someone else has already done all of this hard work!

Blog about it

Blogging is an easy way to communicate with prospects and customers without being too salesy or pushy, which is especially important when you're trying to build a relationship with them.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

  • Write about the problems that your product solves. For example, if your company sells CRM software, write blog posts about how businesses can use it to better manage their relationships with customers and streamline sales processes.
  • Use active language in your blog posts; don't just write "Our app will make it easier for people like you." Instead say "We helped Sally increase her revenue by 15% last year."
  • Make sure each sentence has one main point so readers don't get confused by all the information they're reading at once! You don't want anyone's eyes glazing over because they have no idea what any particular paragraph means (and trust me - this happens).

Go for the affiliate model

Affiliate model involves getting other people to promote your products and services in exchange for a commission on sales made through their channels. For example, an online retailer might pay affiliates to promote its products and/or services across social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. When someone clicks on one of those links and makes a purchase at the retailer's site (which has been linked back to with affiliate ID tracking), then that person becomes an affiliate themselves and receives their own commission from every sale they make.

Use social networks

Social media is a great tool to build product awareness. Use it to communicate with users and influencers, journalists, potential customers and partners. Social media can also help you find your investors. In fact, some of the biggest companies in the world including Airbnb and Uber use social media to raise money from investors.

You need to be active on social media before launching your product so that when you launch it has a large following already established for you. A way of building up followers before you launch is by creating a blog where people will subscribe and receive emails from you every week or month about new posts or just general information about what's going on with your company or brand (keeping them engaged). You don't have too many followers yet but this way when they do start coming in it won’t be overwhelming because they were following along all along!

Take these tips and get started!

  • Don't be afraid to try something new.
  • Don't be afraid to fail.
  • Don't be afraid to ask for help.
  • Don't be afraid to ask for feedback.
  • Don't be afraid to ask for advice.

Conclusion

While it may sound like a lot of work to build product awareness, the tips mentioned above should help you get started. Product awareness is critical for a successful freemium business model; without it, no one will know about your product.