Product sampling campaigns are potentially the simplest, and most cost-effective way to generate awareness for your brand, and the item you’re trying to sell. One of the most significant benefits of these marketing strategies is that they allow you to generate more reviews and testimonials from your audience.
As many companies already know, reviews can be the key to creating trust in customers that have yet to sample your services for themselves. But how can you make sure that you’re creating a product sampling strategy that lends itself to increased review numbers?
Assess your audience
Before you even start considering the products that you might have available for an effective sampling campaign, you’ll need to make sure that you know the people you’re marketing yourself to. This will help to ensure that you’re directing your attention towards more engaged recipients, and in turn, this should mean that you can access better results.
Look at the goals you set for your business when you began considering a product sampling strategy. The chances are that you wanted to raise awareness of your brand with at least one target audience. Ask yourself what you need to know about that audience before you start putting your campaign into practice.
For instance, do they respond better to certain items in your portfolio? If so, then you can focus on giving away the free samples that people in your network appreciate most.
The happier a customer is with the sample they receive, the more likely they are to write a review on your behalf.
Choose the right products
Once you know which audience you’re going to appeal to, make sure that you’re selecting the products that best lend themselves to reviews.
For instance, customers are far less likely to purchase a product they know nothing about. If you’re concerned about raising attention for a new product, try giving people free samples to generate trustworthy reviews for future prospects.
It might also be worth thinking about how you can tie your products in with trending topics and issues in the marketplace. This will help to make your brand more conversation-worthy and could enhance the chances that your customers will want to talk about you on social media when they have the chance.
Remember, reach out to your customers and ask them for reviews after they’ve had their sample. People are much more likely to give something back to a brand that has already offered them something of value, thanks to a psychological need for reciprocity.
