The days of “spray and pray” sampling are over! Today’s product sampling is all about recruiting qualified leads, generating rich first party data and uncovering actionable insights to support your business objectives. While those things are great, if the consumers don’t closely align with your key demographic, it’s ultimately not very useful. This is why it’s paramount that your samples are getting into the right hands. But how do you make sure your samples reach the right people?
Get your targeting right
It’s important to get the targeting right, whether that’s ensuring your target audience is closely aligned with your key demographic, or geotargeting based on proximity to your retailers. While it’s tempting to broaden the targeting to allocate samples quickly and cheaply, it’s better to take steps to ensure that samplers will convert to customers. The closer you align your targeting with your brand, the better the long term results will be.
Ensuring high quality leads
As well as reaching the right people, you’ll likely want to ensure your sampling offers aren’t abused. Sampl’s powerful AI authenticates all requests to filter out any duplicates and ensure campaign parameters are followed, whilst optimising sample request approval and validating the data that’s submitted. This ensures that your samples reach the right people, and also that only high quality data reaches your database.
Qualifying questions
Another way of ensuring that your samples reach the right people is by adding qualifying questions onto the request form. This could be to determine which is the right sample for each person, or whether to send one at all. For example, if you’re sampling a product that targets dry skin, it won’t be beneficial for consumers with other skin types. Asking what their skin type is on the sample request form will help to ensure the samples reach the right people. It could even allow you to send the best SKU for each person based on their answers.
Use our NearStore technology
If you’re wanting to support D2C stores or retailer listings, our NearStore technology is a fantastic way of driving footfall. To ensure that samples reach the right people, all you do is upload a list of the stores into Sampl. Sampl will then automatically approve sample requests based on proximity to these stores, provided the consumers align with your targeting. After trying the product, consumers will receive an email directing them to their local store with a map and directions.
Tracking and monitoring
With these measures in place, it’s just as important to make sure that your results are being tracked and monitored. Whether that’s ensuring all email communication links are tracked, including a QR code on a leaflet with the sample, or monitoring live results of the media campaign in Sampl. Following the results in real time using Sampl enables you to adjust the campaign and optimise targeting as you go.
Analysing results
While this won’t necessarily impact a current campaign, it’s important to analyse the results to inform future sampling activations. Our powerful analytics tool enables you to interrogate your data to help uncover actionable insights. From understanding market trends to identifying purchasing behaviour, this won’t only help you optimise sampling campaigns, but other marketing too! Understanding these trends and behaviours will undoubtedly help you ensure that your samples always reach the right people in future.
If you’ve had trouble reaching the right consumers with your sampling campaigns in the past and you’re looking to take your efforts to the next level, click here to contact us. For more inspiration, follow us on LinkedIn.
