How To Run A SuccessFul Product Sampling Campaign
Getting samples into the right hands and creating a memorable experience for your consumers involves creative thinking, detailed planning, specific targeting and strategic implementation.
A successful product sampling campaign is one that:
- Meets your brand objectives.
- Delivers a meaningful message directly to the target market.
- Complements your overall marketing plan.
- Provides a talking point amongst consumers.
The Strategy
Choosing the right strategy for your product requires a thorough understanding of the brand objectives. Ensure that your chosen agency has a good team of experienced and creative minds who are ready to analyse every element of your product and its current position to design the best possible strategy. The following points should be considered:
- Target Market - Who are they? Where are they? What do they like to do? How do we get their attention?
- Brand Positioning - Is it a new product? Is it the launch of a new variant? Are there set sales objectives for the year?
- Challenges - Are there any challenges to tackle? Is awareness high or low? Are there any concept barriers? Is the product well supported by trade?
- Point of Purchase - Where is the product sold? How do we drive consumers into store? How much support is there at store level and how can we utilise this?
- Creative - How do we best represent the brand? How do we support above-the-line marketing strategies? How do we make it a memorable experience?
Targeting Your Customers
Gaining a simple understanding of the demographics and psychographics of your consumers is not quite enough. Ensure that your chosen agency has a variety of targeting tools at their fingertips. Are you able to tap into the latest census data to match the targeted sampling areas with your defined target market? Can the agency provide maps illustrating where your target market resides in comparison to where they plan to activate your promotion?
Planning
Once your strategy has been agreed upon and the target market located, you should be able to sit back, relax and let your agency take the wheel.
- First, you should receive a timeline detailing all tasks which need to be completed by yourself and the agency, together with exact deadlines for each task. This will help you to understand exactly how the agency intends to implement the strategies they have recommended to you.
- A successful campaign is one with measurable results. The agency will put tools in place which will allow you to access your campaign results immediately after the promotion has taken place.
- If something goes wrong, how will it be handled? You should receive a full risk management plan from your agency during the planning stages of the campaign. This will detail any possible risks and how they will be addressed.
- You will receive initial ideas on all creative elements of the campaign. Working with an agency which has their own in-house graphic designer is beneficial in many ways. The designer will be involved from the very start and will know everything about your brand objectives which means the designs will be in line with your overall marketing strategies. Working directly with your designer also saves on time and money. Perfect!
Implementation
It's the first day of your sampling campaign and you are already receiving calls on your Customer Hotline with positive feedback from your consumers. They love the product and everyone wants to know where they can get it and how soon.
When you open your Inbox, the first email you see is a series of impressive results and fantastic photos from your agency. As you start looking through the photos you see that the staff look amazing, your Point of Sale is outstanding and hundreds of consumers are lining up to ensure they are one of the lucky people to receive one of your samples. The best part is: stores are very quickly running out of stock. Time to get your reps back out in the field to keep those sales rushing in!
All of this makes you feel as though your agency has delivered what they promised. This is how it should be. The creative ideas, the strategy and the planning should all come together as one to serve your most important purpose: to get your product into the right hands, at the right time, in the right place.
