I recently launched a product and have been advertising free samples in my target market. It’s a disposable product and my users would use 5, 10, or 15 widgets month if they liked it and it worked for their situation. I have been offering sample packages that include 2 widgets to let them try it out and get a feel for the product.

I created my web store with 2 listings. One for the free sample package and one for a package of 5 widgets (users can buy multiples to get their desired amount).

I intend to make a few more listings including a monthly subscription option.

So far we have had a lot of orders for samples and only a few orders for paid product. I don’t want to ramp down the advertising of free samples but I would like to push users to buy the product instead, if I can.

I thought about making it slightly harder to order free samples. Potentially pushing them through a few clicks to get to the sample order or asking them to fill out a survey first. It wouldn’t be out of character in my market to ask for information about their predicament before sending samples.

I can automate a email journey to send them a link to free samples…but that felt like too much friction.

What else can I do to make it more appealing to buy vs get the free samples?