In a world where ‘try before you buy’ is becoming increasingly important, you might be asking yourself, how can online sampling help me achieve my goals? Sure, it’s an excellent mechanic to allow consumers to try the product before going on to purchase, but what other goals can online sampling help you to achieve?
The first step is identifying your specific objectives. The goals of online sampling will differ depending on factors such as the brand and the product. Sampling a chocolate bar vs a premium skincare product might look very different. As will sampling an NPD vs a hero product. It’s important to outline these objectives at the start of any campaign so we can discuss how we can support you.
The second step is to ensure that your goals are measurable and tangible. This way you can be sure that you’ve hit your objectives at the end of the activation. I’m happy to tell you that you don’t need to choose just one objective! There are multiple goals that online sampling can help you achieve. Keep reading to find out how we can help you with yours.
Driving trial with relevant audiences
Whether you’re launching a new product or using a hero product to attract new consumers to your brand, you need to know that the people you are reaching are relevant. Combining Sampl’s ability to integrate with almost any consumer touchpoint with SamplMatch helps to ensure just this. Ads promote your product and invite people to request a sample. Requests are authenticated and validated so that the people receiving your samples fit best with your intended audience.
Samples are delivered for use at home in the way the product was designed for, with bespoke, personalised interactions leading up to, during and following the sampling experience.
Generating rich first party data
This goal is particularly important for brands that will be feeling the pinch of the new HFSS legislation, or preparing for the “cookieless future”. But you don’t want just any old data, right? At Sampl, we ensure the first party data generated is of the highest quality. When requesting a sample, consumers are required to input details outlined by you to match your CRM requirements and can be invited to opt in for future marketing. Getting email addresses of new customers is great, of course. But that’s not the only data you have the opportunity to collect. Whatever information you ask for is made available for your CRM, from gender or age to favourite notes or skin concerns. We can also provide as metadata generated throughout the campaign and review responses. It’s all yours!
Uncovering actionable insight
If your goal is to gather insight, then look no further. An online sampling campaign with Sampl can be a crucial source of uncovering new and actionable insight about your consumers. After your relevant consumers have received a sample from us, we invite them to take part in a survey; fully customisable by you.
This survey is a significantly important part of the sampling process. It allows you to ask questions that can be used to drive important decision making in your business. We’ve helped brands identify their target audience, where they can find them and their purchase drivers. We’ve even helped brands gain leverage to improve and expand their distribution channels.
To identify target audiences, ask about purchase intent, demographics and behaviour and then use Sampl’s analytics tools to highlight the key findings. Not rocket science, I know. But it works. Asking where and how people shop, combined with demographics and purchase intent can provide great insight for your sales team to identify, target and convince new retailers to stock your product or give it more favourable treatment.
Reviews
In an ever-growing online space, where online sales account for more than 40% of overall retail sales and 99.9% of consumers checking reviews before making a purchase relevant and recent reviews are essential. Sampl integrates with leading review platforms to enable the seamless capture of high quality reviews and syndication to retailer sites.
Reviews benefit your business in multiple ways. One of which is giving your product greater visibility by increasing the SEO value of your webpages. They also allow consumers to choose a product that’s right for them, giving them the confidence to purchase, and in turn, increasing your conversion. According to PowerReviews, shoppers who visit a page with 1-10 reviews are 52.2% more likely to convert than those who visit pages without any reviews.
Driving Sales
You might be wondering why I’ve left this one until last. It’s because each of the objectives outlined above will ultimately lead to increasing sales. Driving trial with relevant audiences means more of the right people trying, and loving, your product. High quality first party data enables greater levels of relevance and scale across your marketing program. Actionable insights will help you find more customers and know the best way to position your products. With higher quality, recent reviews, your products will be more visible and people will be better equipped to make favourable purchasing decisions. Each of these factors will combine to increase your sales.
If you have one or all of these objectives we’d love to help you achieve them. Get in touch via sayhello@sampltech.com or find out more here.
