PRODUCT SAMPLING MARKETING and Why It's Essential
Product sampling increases brand awareness, shares your story, and drives sales
Get your brand sample into people's hands, homes, and workplaces
Reach audiences at the right time with product sampling campaigns
Align your brand with ideal customer profile lifestyle activities
Incentivize sales with onsite incentives and promo codes
Extend your product sampling impact with social media
Share your brand and people will remember you
What is product sampling marketing?
Product sampling marketing is the distribution of trial-size samples to spark interest and transform people into customers.
A strategic product sampling campaign ensures the activity is relevant, memorable, and shareable for your audience.
Product sampling occurs in various environments; on public sidewalks, at stadiums, outside transit stations, and in-store.
Typically brand samples are presented by a well-trained brand ambassador to entice people, answer questions, and demo benefits.
Ideal product sampling is a multi-sensory experience involving smell, taste, touch, and sound.
Engagement is more impactful when samples are combined with brand experiences.
Strategic creative product sampling marketing weaves the brand story throughout the presentation, conversation, and call-to-action.
Product sampling is leveraged to launch new products and create a continual flow of new customers.
Product Sampling Services
1.) Learn about your brand and goals
2.) Develop a product sampling strategy to attract, engage, and move people
3.) Ramp up product sampling initiative logistics, staffing, training, and shipping
4.) Activate, manage, document, and assess your product sampling program
5.) Apply insights and improvements every day
How to plan your product sampling marketing campaign
1.) Establish your goals (e.g., awareness, demoing product relevancy, sign-ups, immediate sales, etc.)
2.) Know your ideal customer, and choose locations they frequent
3.) Integrate sampling booths or signage to pique people's interest from afar
4.) Utilize well-trained and outfitted brand ambassadors
5.) Support with a logistics team to receive, store, and transport, specifically for sampling products at events
6.) Use trial-size, packaged product samples so people can easily place them in their pocket or purse
7.) Include an irresistible call-to-action to incentivize purchases
8.) Integrate social media activities, contests, and promotions whenever possible
9.) Budget for an onsite manager to oversee setup, make improvements in real-time, and document the sampling
10.) Measure estimated impressions, engagements, consumer comments, and social media impact
11.) Secure proper insurance to cover the public, location, and the sampling staff
Top 10 product sampling ideas and tactics
1.) Surprise-and-delight commuters with a product sample outside transit stations
2.) Standout with costumed characters and attention-generating signage
3.) Activate sampling near locations where people can make a purchase
4.) Integrate influencer visits as part of your sampling campaign
5.) Promote sampling activations before, during, and after on your social media channels
6.) Target trade shows, competitor shops/happenings, and people heading to festivals
7.) Incentivize people to share the sampling experience on social media
8.) Complement sampling efforts with geotargeted social media buys
9.) Tie in your sampling concept with a holiday, national days, and awareness months
10.) Build in a charitable or cause marketing call-to-action
Availability
Product sampling teams available in every US city:
New York City, NY
Chicago, IL
Los Angeles, CA
Houston, TX
Phoenix, AZ
San Antonio, TX
Boston, MA
Philadelphia, PA
Washington, DC
San Diego, CA
Dallas, TX
Seattle, WA
Denver, CO
Portland, OR
Nashville, TN
Baltimore, MD
Austin, TX
Columbus, OH
Indianapolis, Indiana
Atlanta, GA
Miami, FL
New Orleans, LA
Milwaukee, WI
Raleigh, NC
Buffalo / Rochester, NY
Takeaways
Product sampling marketing is a natural fit for most consumer product goods (CPG) brands, especially for food and beverage companies.
Go beyond basic sampling, and be story-centric to give people a memorable, shareable experience.
Enlist a product sampling agency to streamline planning, inventory management, builds, shipping, management, and reporting.
Connect
We'd love to hear about your brand and goals; please introduce yourself.
Get your brand into people's hands!
Product sampling marketing FAQ
Product sampling marketing is the act of giving trial-size samples to people for them to experience your brand.
This form of marketing takes place in supermarkets, on-the-street, at events, and host of other locations.
Product sampling is primarily utilized by consumer product companies (CPGs) as it converts a high percentage of people into customers.
Connect with ALT TERRAIN to learn more about product sampling strategies and pricing.
Product sampling best practices:
1.) Focus on one main goal (e.g. on-the-spot sale, online purchase, etc.)
2.) Select sampling locations where your desired customer frequents
3.) Train your staff on the brand history, story, benefits, and FAQs
4.) Create a presence that piques people's interest, represents the brand well, stimulates the senses, and functions for your logistical needs
5.) Ensure safety and cleanliness of your space, setup, staff, and customers
6.) Outfit your sampling staff with, at a minimum, branded caps and shirts
7.) Include a irresistible, time-sensitive offer people to purchase the product
8.) Document your sampling activation in real-time for quality assurance and content marketing purposes
Product sampling marketing rates vary widely depending upon the venue, setup, number of activation dates, staffing needs, and numerous other factors.
Share your brand sampling goals with ALT TERRAIN and we'll be glad to provide you an estimate.
Product sampling conversion rates depending upon the product, location, and offer, although it tends to be in the 5-25% range making it one of the more effective ways to create new customers.
Here is a list of the most common product sampling marketing strategies:
1.) Sample products as close to the purchase point as possible
2.) Sample products during people's mass transit commutes
3.) Sample at festivals, concerts, and similar events to associate your brand with people's enjoyable memories
4.) Sample products to students on-and-off campus
5.) Sample at or near high-profile locations or happenings for content marketing purposes
For product sampling marketing strategies for your brand, please get in touch with ALT TERRAIN for a complimentary proposal.
Essential information to share with an agency to produce an effective product sampling marketing initiative:
1.) Brand goals
2.) Ideal customer profile
3.) Cities
4.) Dates
5.) Size, weight, and type of product sample
6.) Product sample logistics (e.g., pick-up, storage, etc.)
7.) Offers available to incentive purchase
8.) Marketing assets available (e.g., sampling booths, table covers, tents, outfits, props, etc.)
9.) Any existing supermarket or venue partnerships
10.) What other marketing elements are in-the-mix (e.g., digital, sponsorships, outdoor advertising, etc.) at the same time as the sampling initiative