The ninth video in Social Soup‘s What Good Influence Looks Like content series discusses strategies for effective product sampling.
When done well, providing people with hands-on experiences with products can supercharge customer engagement to create lasting behavioural change and brand growth.
Here are the six essential considerations to elevate your trials and product sampling strategies for a successful campaign:
1. Product Value and Targeting: The value of the product is determined by its relevance to the target audience. Sending out fewer products to the right people can generate better returns, brand affinity and reduce wastage.
2. Supported Trial: It’s important to ensure that trial participants experience the product in the right context. Consider whether they should receive a sample size or full-size product. Allowing them to trial it in their home environment can increase relevance.
3. Drive Reciprocity: Providing trial opportunities can create a sense of reciprocity. When people receive a trial from a brand, they’re more likely to purchase and provide reviews, recommendations and insights.
4. Create Conditions to Share: Encourage sharing experiences with the product, especially if the product is naturally shared between networks. Facilitate inclusivity and provide tools for participants to share their experiences more broadly.
5. Personalisation: Personalised experiences drive significantly higher purchasing and advocacy rates. Brands should allow participants to feel that the trial is tailored to them, whether by allowing them to choose their own sample or through personalised communications and activities.
6. The Social Soup App utilises scan and collect technology to engage consumers actively, encouraging them to scan barcodes and receive micropayments for purchasing the product, effectively guaranteeing in-store momentum and creating a personalised engagement with the brand.
The realm of trial-based marketing offers a remarkable pathway to forge authentic connections between products and consumers. The journey beyond just platforms and content into tangible, everyday moments hold the key to enduring influence at a grassroots level. By allowing individuals to encounter products firsthand, trial-based strategies unlock the gateway to trust, loyalty, and emotional resonance.
Explore more of the What Good Influence Looks Like series here.