Sampling types. Sampling. Good old sampling

Sampling is a marketing technique that aims to promote a product by giving away advertising samples to potential buyers for free. The term comes from the English "sample" - "sample". Sampling is a very effective means of increasing the popularity of your product, as well as a withdrawal tool new products To the market.

Sampling is a response to the consumer's belief that you shouldn't buy a pig in a poke. A free sample to try or test will give you an initial idea of the product target audience, which means that when choosing between your product and a competitive one, a trained person is more likely to choose yours. A cheaper, but tasteless package of milk is not so attractive against the background of a “favorite” by the customer. Spending a small part of the display at the outlet for tasting, you will acquaint the audience with your product, after which it will be able to make an informed choice in your favor.

According to the observations of the marketers of the Effect company, sampling works very well in the CIS. In big cities like Moscow and small villages, people love free samples, which are handed out to them in stores or given along with a purchase. A domestic buyer is open to everything new and can easily change his preferred brand if he is shown something superior to it in certain parameters.

Tasting and sampling are methods that are close in meaning. The difference between them is that during the tasting, the consumer receives an open sample, which he can use only on the spot. Sampling, on the other hand, provides the product in a package, so, if desired, a potential client can take home a "sample" and test it there. It is also important that the tasting concerns only food products, while sampling covers all categories of goods.

When is it better to use sampling?

Sampling works very well for promotions and audience building periods. Customers who have no idea about your product are not motivated to buy in any way. Advertising campaign and POS materials, of course, influence their decision, but nothing agitates for a product as much as the opportunity to try. Cheese may look beautiful in packaging, but it can take a long time before a customer decides to purchase it. If he tries in advance and finds it tasty, then the chance of purchase increases significantly.

Sampling to expand your audience is always effective, so you can use it at any time. True, the more the product is known, the less the sampling effect: it will be difficult to find those who have not tried your product yet. Therefore, the most popular products are sampled only in rare cases. For example, when there is a batch with an expiration date.

Seasonal sampling is very effective. During a period of natural increase in demand for groups of goods, it will be a good decision to additionally advertise your products. The most striking example can serve as the May holidays, which are traditionally taken to go to barbecue. These days, sampling of meat, ketchup, sauces, light alcoholic beverages and the like brings the maximum effect.

The second application of sampling is the launch of new product lines. This is true both for new products from popular companies and for products from unknown manufacturers. The principle of operation is similar: until potential buyers try, they are not motivated to buy. Sampling makes it possible to attract buyers and form a target audience in the shortest possible time.

The sampling technique allows you to collect data about your customers. Calculate the age and gender of potential buyers, their habits and preferences. Thanks to this information, you can make timely adjustments to the advertising campaign and thus avoid financial losses. In summary, sampling is always effective, but you shouldn't use it too often. A repeated promotion after a short period of time in the same place will be ineffective, since the audience of potential buyers will not have time to change.

Sampling types

There are several basic types of sampling. All of them, in one way or another, are aimed at ensuring that a person receives a "sample" of your products. The mechanisms for the transfer of goods vary, as well as the places of their distribution. In the CIS countries, it is customary to carry out sampling directly at the points of sale - this will allow a potential buyer to become a valid "without leaving the checkout". The effect of "spontaneous purchase" is triggered - a person "grabs" the product he likes just "at the same time".

In the West, samples are also offered simply on the streets or door-to-door. These types of sampling have not taken root in our country due to the peculiarities of Russian buyers.

According to the transmission mechanics, the following types of sampling are distinguished:

pack swap- or simply "exchange". As part of such a promotion, promoters offer to replace the half-empty packaging of a product of the same product group with a full one of the brand being promoted. Advantage this method the fact that a person has the opportunity "on the spot" to compare the quality of the used and promoted product. The exchange is popular with buyers, as they do not have a subconscious feeling of "free cheese". Everything is fair - they changed their packaging for another;
dry sampling- promoters simply distribute individually wrapped goods. It could be like chewing gum or a packet of milk and shampoo, soap, care products household appliances... This technique is called "dry" sampling because a potential buyer takes the product home and uses it a little later. This distribution method is good enough, "probes" with it disperse very quickly, but no one guarantees that people will use them. The reaction of the consumer will also be unknown. A subtype of "dry" sampling - a "gift" upon purchase. Buyers take such presents with almost 100% chance, but it is not known whether they use them;
wet sampling- the opposite of "dry" sampling. With such distribution, individual packaging is not provided, the consumer is obliged to use the product on site. The clearest example is tasting, with the only proviso that "tasting" not only products, but also soaps, shampoos and so on. Wet sampling is less popular with buyers, but it is easier to collect feedback and opinions with this technique;
HoReCa sampling- sampling alcoholic beverages and cigarettes in restaurants, hotels and cafes. Promoted brands are offered as a "compliment" from the establishment or as a gift when ordering for a certain amount.

Sampling facts

sampling - The best way increase the buying audience;
the launch of a new line of products with sampling allows you to collect reviews and promote a new brand in the shortest possible time;
successful sampling can pay off with a 200% profit;
sampling is more efficient on weekends;
sampling is relevant in a crisis;
"Probes" with accompanying advertising materials booklets, for example, are much more effective than without them.

If you have any questions about sampling, please contact advertising company"The effect". We will be happy to answer!

Order the service Sampling

Adapted from Drew Gannon's "How to Use Samples to Promote Your Product." Do you have a product? Hand out samples! By following the six steps below, you can easily and efficiently distribute samples for any product in any industry. Two thousand servings of Dr. Drip The newly formed company decided to distribute coffee - its first product - to NYU students preparing for their final session. An attempt at a "guerrilla" distribution of coffee samples by Dr. Drip precedes its official launch in a few weeks. This is the first attempt for Gordon Grade to distribute free samples. "Of course, I don't really want to give away anything for free," says co-founder Jesse Gordon. "You never know if the result will justify the expense of building a team to distribute free samples." Sampling is not a new phenomenon, but its organization is still a problem for many companies. It was originally used in the introduction of new food or cosmetics. In any supermarket you can enjoy free samples of food, and in the cosmetics department of any mall you can sniff perfume samples. In other industries, from toys to high technology, sampling is traditionally much less common, but it can also be used to familiarize potential buyers with the assortment. The sampling procedure itself is also changing. Along with the traditional schemes of distributing free samples in stores and through distributors, new creative solutions are emerging that allow companies to enter new sales markets to distribute their products. Companies are increasingly turning to bloggers, trendsetters and famous people who can act as "promoters". However, despite the fact that sampling methods change, its purpose remains the same. “I want to reach maximum efficiency Gordon says about distributing samples of his firm's products. "I want to know how sampling will help me grow my business."

Decide why you are distributing free samples

Feelings are important in a toy. There is taste in the drink. There is a smell in perfume. Whatever your product, you need to clearly define why the promotion is so important to your marketing plan or a sales plan. Before developing a sampling strategy, remember your company's core values so that you can more clearly understand and communicate to the potential buyer why your product is worth trying. Five years ago, Hosung NY launched the miYim line of plush toys and accessories for children and babies. Everything was made from certified, non-toxic and recycled cotton. During the distribution of the trial copies in the store, customers were pleasantly surprised by this, moreover, they could touch and cuddle the toys. “When people think of our products, they think of cotton or wool, but our toys are so soft that people are always surprised,” says Serah Chae, president of Hosung NY. "Our promotional policy is based on these two factors: unexpectedly pleasant sensations and the opportunity to experience them while hugging toys." Young companies run promotions that give shoppers the opportunity to learn and experiment with a new product before making a purchasing decision. For example, you can test a new one for a short period of time. software to see if it will be convenient for you to use it. “We are a young company,” says Parinda Malei, Fitango's VP of Business Development. - It is in our vital interests that the client is as comfortable with us as we are with him. We are prepared to incur additional costs if it means that another company is using our platform. " But even more often the distribution of free samples, especially of cosmetics, is carried out for the convenience of the consumer's choice. Skin care and makeup products can be really expensive, so you need to make sure you are making well-informed choices. Today's consumers are guided by common sense, they do not want to spend their money on what they are not sure about. Therefore, in many major cosmetic stores, you will be asked to take a small amount and try it at home.

Choose your product

First you define WHY, and then you decide WHAT. For new companies, this is a simple solution. And companies offering entire product lines have a choice. One option is to vary the distribution of the probes. OleHenriksen alternates between bestsellers, new products and hidden gems - products that the company is confident that they will become bestsellers as soon as they appear. The skincare line of each category is aimed at gaining mass popularity. For such companies, which have a potentially large and diverse sales market, conducting various sampling allows you to reach a large part of the target audience using various marketing techniques in different segments, such as education, business and leisure. For others, such as miYim, choosing only new products for sampling provides greater impact. “For new customers, this is, of course, important,” says Chae. "But even people who already know us want to see what we can do differently." Whichever direction works for you, make sure it works for your customers as well.

Find your target audience

As with any marketing tactic, targeting the right audience has crucial for the successful distribution of trial samples of your products. You can divide your market into several important parts and use different promotions for each one. For example, if the company's product line includes juices, teas and other drinks, then promotions in such areas as charity, entertainment, health and beauty, fashion and art will bring greater efficiency. You should not be limited only to retail outlets, although at first glance this is the most obvious. You need to know where the bulk of your consumers are present and what interests them, and, based on this, choose places for promotions. For example, for its original juices, ROM runs promotions at multi-day events for grocery stores (culinary marathons), and transforms its products into chilled drinks for participants and into ingredients for gourmet dishes. Since it's so hard to target kids directly, miYim takes a different approach, regularly sending promo samples to nearly 100 mom bloggers who have a lot of readers. “They let their two-year-olds touch and chew our toys and see how they feel,” Chae says of the bloggers. "They do product reviews in real time, which is a very strong PR move for us." Using promotional reviews is useful not only for the toy industry audience, but also for hard-to-reach target audiences. When we have decided on the audience, we move on to the plan.

Developing a plan

Keep in mind that giving away free samples is expensive. You need to know the size of your market and how sampling will affect it. You can't just come up with a number and say, "I want to give out so many samples!" However, you can always schedule additional samples for distribution. For each major product line or especially for the holiday, miYim is increasing the number of its promo samples by about 20%, taking into account unexpected events or emerging demand. The company also saves money 6-8 months in advance by scheduling free samples to avoid unexpected spending. They also limit their buying audience to keep shipping costs down. “It's not lipstick,” Chae says of her wares. - Our toys come in different sizes, from 11 to 35 inches. We do not want to be treated carelessly in transit. This is already a marriage. " However, sometimes you need to do it strategically important choice and decide on additional packaging costs. Having started their promotions with bottling samples, ROM quickly realized that the distribution of 0.25 liter bottles would help create a brand. “People can experiment with them,” Sixx says. "Of course, they are more expensive, but it pays off."

Support your product

Sampling requires thinking outside the box: both literally and figuratively. The attractiveness of the product for the consumer depends, among other things, on the packaging of promotional samples. You can pack the juice in fruit bottles to enhance your brand image. By using sustainable packaging, you show that your company cares about environment... Get creative with your packaging, make it visible enough that someone really wants to open and use what's inside. If you are going to run promotions, you can do it in a very casual way or turn it into a whole event for your consumers. The latter will work better.

Sampling should lead to increased sales

Do your promotions work at all? Different metrics are used to determine if they are truly effective. For example, when giving away free samples of your product, ask your fellow promoters to try the product as well and share their impressions via social media. Promo codes are another way to drive sales growth and track performance, almost immediately. What is a promo code? This is a code (word or set of numbers) that is distributed with each probe and can be used on the company's website, for example, to receive a discount or for free shipping. If you see that no one comes to the site and redeems the promo codes, then you may not be using them at the next promotion. For sampling to be successful, the distribution of probes must lead to increased sales. Giving out samples is a waste of marketing money if it doesn't generate any income. You must be mindful of your ultimate goal- to teach the consumer, to help him master the product so that he can buy it. Handing out free samples can be daunting, boring, and exhausting for your company. But if, in the end, your customer base expanded, the effort was worth it. “This is such an important part of the marketing mix. If you want someone to try your product twice, they must try it at least once. ”

Increasing the amount of traffic to your site increases the likelihood that Google Analytics will start saving resources and your time to download reports in its interface. And this leads to data sampling.

What is sampling?

In order to display statistics in reports with a large number of hits on your site, Google Analytics takes only a part of it instead of the entire volume of data.

Have you seen this?

This means that Google Analytics took only 10.21% of each day in the date range that you selected and, based on this sample, built a report as if 100% of events have the same characteristics as 10.21% of real data. Simply put, GA multiplied this sample by 10 to get 100%. But what about 90% of the remaining data?

Upload by day with R

Sampling appears if in the exported report for the period:

More than 500,000 user sessions at the resource level;
More than 1,000,000 unique strings.

It is logical that you need to reduce the upload period in order to reduce, for example, the number of sessions in the report, so you can upload data by day from Google Analytics using R. So, what you need for this:

Addition

Do not forget that uploading is going on by day, so you cannot upload calculated metrics (bounce rate,% of exits, etc.) in this way. You can download separately the necessary indicators for their calculation and calculate them yourself for the period you need.

Most of us know that marketing (sampling is part of it) seems to be a critical element both for bringing a new product to market and for increasing demand for an existing product on the market. Of course, advertising has become the main tool that marketers use for a long time. But it is not always enough for her. In this regard, today many companies resort to such a tool as sampling (promotions for the free distribution of product samples). We suggest that you get to know this concept better by learning about its purpose, functionality and varieties.

What is Sampling?

In short, we can say that sampling is a tool by distributing free samples or distributing samples as a bonus when purchasing any other goods. At the same time, samples can be distributed in a store, delivered to potential customers' homes, sent by mail, etc. According to many experts, sampling is one of the the most effective ways promoting a new product. However, the use of this tool shows excellent results, if necessary, to increase sales of products that have been on the market for a long time.

When does it make sense to sample?

The demand for your products is not so great among the consumers of your products, and you plan to improve this indicator.

Do you want to spend marketing research, the purpose of which is to find out how much people like your products.

What is sampling good for?

As we can see, sampling is extremely effective tool... After all, a potential buyer is given a unique opportunity to independently study the packaging, its contents, composition, taste, usability and other characteristics of the product. And all this is absolutely free. The main advantage here is to attract increased attention to your brand, which makes it possible to switch the client from a competing product to yours.

Sampling marketing is a unique tool because it allows you to cover a wide variety of product categories. This includes food, cosmetics, perfumes, personal hygiene products, products for pets, and much, much more.

Moreover, sampling can be carried out not only in the place of direct sale of goods (such as, for example, tasting), but also in open areas (streets, parks, etc.). This allows you to reduce costs and difficulties in coordinating a promotion directly with the management of outlets. So, let's summarize the advantages of this marketing tool.

Sampling benefits

The main benefits include:

Attracting increased consumer attention to your product.

The ability to switch the buyer from competing products to your brand.

Formation of consumer habits to purchase exactly the product you are promoting.

Building as well as strengthening a positive image of your brand in the eyes of potential consumers.

Sampling varieties

There are three main areas of sampling marketing. We invite you to learn more about them.

1. Distribution of product samples. This option assumes that the product is in packaging, which allows a potential buyer to take it with him and, if necessary, use it for its intended purpose at home. This type of sampling is called dry sampling. You can distribute samples almost everywhere: on the street, in the subway, shopping centers etc. It is interesting that such sampling can be seen in maternity hospitals. It would seem that women who are tired after childbirth have no time for advertising any goods. However, some companies that mainly offer baby care products provide new moms with a whole range of free product looks. If a woman is satisfied with the quality of the product, then it is very likely that in the future she will use the products of this particular brand.

2. Tasting. This kind of sampling is called wet sampling. In this case, potential buyers are offered to try the products directly at the points of sale. This increases the likelihood that if the consumer likes the taste or other characteristics of the product, he will be able to purchase it right there on the spot.

3. Ferret. This kind of sampling covers cafes, restaurants and hotels. In this case, as a rule, the following product categories are promoted: coffee, soft or alcoholic drinks, cigarettes.

What you need to pay attention to when organizing sampling

In order for the promotion of your products to be as successful as possible, the following factors must be taken into account:

Correct and attractive design of the stand with product samples, as well as training for promoters. Also pay attention to their appearance, because it is they who will present your product to potential consumers.
Selection of the target audience, place and time of the action. It is important here to calculate exactly when point of sale is visited by the largest number of your potential customers.
Be sure to double-check that the store where you plan to give away free images is available for purchase.
Control the work of promoters. After all, a situation is possible when he simply takes some of the samples for himself, passing them off as handed out.

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