The approach of product sampling isn’t a new one. It’s an age-old strategy engaged by brands and retailers to get people to try a commodity – with the hope they’ll love it so much they’ll buy it on their own when the sample eliminates under-sampling company.

For instance, pre-COVID, a beverage brand might distribute free samples of a new product at the grocery shop. Or a CPG brand may mail out pieces of a new laundry detergent to get consumers absorbed.

Product sampling for feedback is a similar concept – with a different end goal under free product samples.

Samplrr

With our white-label sampling methods, we re-merchandise and remarket old or slow-moving stock or offer them as freebies to form strategic alliances between multiple brands.

A brand transmits free samples of a product to a specific customer. And it doesn’t have to be the commodity itself; it could also be an advertisement or gift card that the buyer redeemed for a free product in a store under the sampling company.

After the customers have had a chance to examine the product, they’re asked to share their honest judgment by writing a response. Those customers can also include a photo or video of the result in their reviews.

Elements of a great product sampling campaign

A solid aim

The first stage of any product sampling campaign is to determine your aim. Without a clear plan, it’ll be impossible to execute a successful campaign – and measure its success or failure under free product samples.

The right audience

It’s not a practical approach to send samples to a random group of customers. For instance, you don’t want to spend money sending makeup samples to buyers who don’t wear cosmetics. You are better off throwing the models into the trash!

Instead, you’ve got to ensure your samples reach the right customer. An excellent method is to send a survey to potential samplers with questions applicable to the product to determine if they’re a good fit under the sampling company.

A means for fulfillment and distribution

Once you’ve determined how many samples you’ll send and who you’ll send them to, it’s time to get them in the mail.

In reality, manually distributing product samples is inefficient and time-consuming when you handle it internally.

It is especially true if you’re planning a high-volume sampling campaign.

A better approach might be to partner with a product sampling partner equipped to handle your entire campaign – including distribution under the sampling company.

The right communication cadence

The ultimate goal of a product sampling campaign is to generate as many reviews as possible. Of course, some consumers will submit content soon after receiving their sample from the sampling company.

So, send regular communications to your samplers to ensure the highest collection rate possible.

Tools to measure campaign performance

Measuring the performance of your product sampling campaign is essential. If you don’t, there’s no way to determine if your campaign achieved what you set out to do.

It’ll also be impossible to understand where your campaign fell flat – and identify ways to improve future campaigns under the sampling company.

Instead, check your progress throughout the campaign.

Tools to identify actionable insights

Reviews generated from product sampling campaigns give brands and retailers unique insight into what consumers love about a product under free product samples. These insights are used to improve outcomes and customer experiences.

The review is a treasure trove of actionable insights. But the thing is, combing through each study to identify trends and uncover insights isn’t precisely effective or efficient under the sampling company.

Authenticity and transparency

Buyers trust reviews because this content comes from others like them. To preserve that trust, brands and retailers executing product sampling campaigns must prioritize authenticity and transparency.

Of course, it’s important to moderate reviews from product sampling campaigns to ensure the content is authentic, written about the correct product, and free of slander and profanity.

But reviews are never filtered out simply because they’re negative.

Negative reviews are an essential tool that helps shoppers make better purchase decisions under the sampling company.

Start generating more reviews with product sampling.

A whopping 99.9% of consumers read reviews when shopping online, at least sometimes. And 57% do so when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores.

Brands that consistently collect and display reviews are better positioned to meet customer expectations – and drive bottom-line results under free product samples. The pressure’s on to manage and shows as many high-quality reviews as possible under the sampling company.