Sampling as a Valuable Instrument to Attract New Customers To Your Product

Sampling is not a new phenomenon, but its organization is still a problem for many companies. It was originally used in the introduction of new food or cosmetics. In any supermarket, you can enjoy free samples of food, and in the cosmetics department of any mall, you can sniff perfume samples. In other industries, from toys to high technology, sampling is traditionally much less common, but can also be used to familiarize potential buyers with the assortment.

The sampling procedure itself also changes. Along with the traditional schemes of distributing free samples in stores and through distributors, new creative solutions are emerging that allow companies to enter new sales markets to distribute their products. Companies are increasingly looking to bloggers, trendsetters and celebrities to act as “promoters.” However, despite the fact that sampling methods change, its purpose remains the same.

Decide why you are distributing free samples
Whatever your product, you need to clearly define why running a promotion is so important to your marketing or sales plan. Before developing a sampling strategy, remember your company’s core values ​​to better understand and communicate to the potential buyer why your product is worth trying.

Young companies run promotions that give shoppers the opportunity to learn and experiment with a new product before making a purchasing decision. For example, you can test new software for a short period to see if it will be convenient for you to use it.

But even more often the distribution of free samples, especially cosmetics, is carried out for the convenience of the consumer’s choice.

Skin care and makeup products can be really expensive, so you need to make sure you are making well-informed choices. Today’s consumers are guided by common sense, they do not want to spend their money on what they are not sure about. Therefore, in many major cosmetic stores you will be asked to take a small amount and try it at home.

Choose your product
First you define WHY, and then you decide WHAT. For new companies, this is a simple solution. And companies offering whole product lines have a choice. For such companies, which have a potentially large and diverse sales market, conducting different sampling allows you to reach a large part of the target audience using various marketing techniques in different segments, such as education, business and leisure. For others, choosing only new products for sampling provides greater impact.

Whichever direction works for you, make sure it works for your customers as well.

Find your target audience
As with any marketing tactic, targeting the right audience is critical to successfully distributing trial samples of your product. You can divide your market into several important parts and use different promotions for each one.

Make a plan
Note that giving away free samples is expensive. You need to know the size of your market and how sampling will affect it. You can’t just come up with a number and say, “I want to give out so many samples!”

However, you can always schedule additional samples for distribution. For each major product line or especially for the holiday, miYim is increasing the number of its promo samples by about 20%, taking into account unexpected events or emerging demand. The company also saves money 6–8 months in advance by scheduling free samples to avoid unexpected expenses. They also limit their audience to keep shipping costs down.

Takeaway

As you see, free samples is a good tool to attract new customers and promote new products. However, it comes at a cost. Sometimes, giving away free samples can be too expensive for small business owner. So you should deside whether to do it or not depending on how big your company is.