A sampling campaign is one of the best advertising campaigns a company can carry out to attract customers. This article will show you how to prepare a successful sampling campaign, i.e. one that will bring profit to you.
Sampling – what is it?
Sampling, the distribution of product samples, provides an opportunity to:
- consumers – to learn about, experience, and try the product, compare it with products from other brands;
- companies – to acquire customers, explore the product’s target group, get feedback on the product, increase sales, establish relationships with customers, build a positive reputation.
As a company, we can describe our product, create adverts, and establish cooperation with celebrities who will advertise or review it, but none of this will be as convincing – as sampling. It is by actually testing the product themselves that customers can convince themselves of its performance, appearance, character, texture, and taste, and can see the differences between it and our competitors’ products. Our own experience of a product is so important because we use the impressions it gives us when buying a product. We are quicker to trust our senses than intangible opinions.
In addition to its primary role of distributing samples, sampling is also a good way to establish a relationship with the client. We can attach leaflets, business cards or other information about our business to the samples. It is also beneficial for us to invite people to follow our website, social media or subscribe to our newsletter, or even give feedback. This can additionally be combined with small discounts.
What does an effective sampling campaign mean?
Sampling must be carefully planned and thought through, as mistakes can be very expensive for us and doom the entire campaign to failure. The effectiveness of a sampling campaign depends on how we plan its course; we must plan it carefully. Sampling will not be effective if our product is of poor or dubious quality. The packaging of the product should be of the same quality as the product itself; unaesthetic and inappropriate packaging can dissuade people from buying the product. The way samples are distributed should be as polished and thoughtful as possible. Below you will find a detailed description of how to plan your campaign effectively.
How to plan a sampling campaign well?
When planning sampling, we need to answer the following questions:
- What is our goal – i.e. what do we want to achieve with the sampling campaign?
- What product will we use to carry out the sampling?
- What will be the form and distribution of our actions?
- Who will be the target audience, will it be aimed at a specific group?
- How do we measure the results of sampling?
Defining the objective of the campaign is the first and most important point. Is it to result in increased sales, is it to increase product or brand recognition, or is it to re-brand our business? Suppose you are an established company that is changing direction and launching a product in a new industry. Then sampling would be a good solution to convince customers. They already know our brand, but associate it with completely different products, and with samples, they can be sure of the quality of our new product. In this case, we will aim to increase product recognition and sales.
Deciding which product to sample depends on the objective of the sampling campaign. For example, if we want to increase awareness and recognition of our brand, we may opt for sampling our top product. There are often cases when sampling is simply planned for a new product, and this step is then obviously skipped.
We should determine how we will distribute our samples. There are a number of options to choose from, we can distribute them: online, by hostesses, for free with another product (in collaboration with another brand), by adding them to the press, or by handing them out in public places. Sample distributions can be combined with gathering feedback about the product. The way we distribute them can help us to get feedback on our product.
Determining the target group for sampling depends on the type of product to be sampled. The product defines our audience, and it is among this audience that sampling will be most profitable. In the case of a product offered to a wide range of consumers, it is not as important to determine the target group as it is, for example, with a product aimed exclusively at women. If we offer, for example, hygienic products for women, it is exactly to them that we will direct the sampling action, because it is among them that we have potential customers. Identifying the target audience for our sampling will save us money.
We need to establish, before we even start sampling, a suitable way to follow up our sampling action and measure whether we are satisfied with its effect. Planning how we will measure the effectiveness of our sampling campaign is important because, with such data, we will be able to easily analyse the effects and identify possible mistakes.
Having a plan and already knowing our goals, possibilities, and market – we will be prepared to conduct an effective sampling campaign.
What to look out for in a sampling campaign?
A sampling campaign can also be carried out in the wrong way and bring us losses instead of the expected benefits. Products of poor quality may impact the image of the whole brand and have the opposite effect. It is better to polish a product we are unsure of than to sample too early. Samples should be aesthetically pleasing and beautiful (as well as their packaging) so that they entice you to try and ultimately – buy.
It is important to determine which target group you are aiming the sampling at; it may turn out to be so misguided that it will result in a loss instead of a profit.
Also be careful what products you sample, not all products are designed for this, read more about this in the article: What products can be sold through samples?
Remember that sampling is an action that supports other marketing activities, so you cannot rely solely on it as a promotional campaign for your company.
Summary
When planning an effective sampling campaign, we need to define its objective, select the product to be promoted through it, determine its form, distribution channels, target audience and the method of measuring the sampling results.
Burgopak Poland can help you run an effective sampling campaign. Contact us – for years we’ve designed and produced sample packaging for companies in Poland and internationally.
Sources:
https://commplace.pl/blog/akcja-samplingowa/
https://poradnikprzedsiebiorcy.pl/-sampling-wzmocnij-sprzedaz-bezposrednia
