Here is an example of a business engaging loyal customers with a 12th birthday contest and generous online discount:. A poll is an interactive way to get valuable information from your prospective customers by asking them simple multiple-choice questions.

This information can give you insights into their opinions, desires, and interests. Here are 5 contest-marketing examples that use polls to engage participants:. A great way to get user-generated feedback from your customers.

With six choices of prizes, this polling contest from Practical Parenting shows how you can use this form of interactive marketing to find out which products your customers are most likely to buy.

A giveaway is an interactive and fun way to attract leads by offering them the chance to win a prize with a high perceived value. The winner is usually chosen at random from a pool of participants. Here are 5 contest marketing examples that leverage giveaways:.

Everyone is familiar with travel-related prizes. Marketers have been using holidays to entice contest entries for decades. Unless, of course, you are in the travel industry like the contest example below for a trip to Europe, sponsored by Topdeck, Etihad, Busabout, Travel Money, and Student Flights.

Another tried and tested contest giveaway prize is a dinner voucher. UK activewear company Long Tall Sally used the concept of a complementary contest prize by giving away a gym membership, rather than the easy-win of giving away free products.

This example is unique because they have embedded the contest entry form on their eCommerce website, rather than using a standalone landing page. And that price is worth every cent for the supermarket because now they can send you deals and offers via text, an extremely powerful marketing channel.

Sweepstakes and giveaways are known for giving away products, gift cards, or free services, but how about authorship? Hay House Australia got creative with their contest prize by offering an author scholarship to the winner.

Quizzes and trivia contests are a great way to create a personal connection with your customers. Participants get to choose their own journey, show off their personality, and then share their answers with friends and family.

They have built-in virality when it comes to sharing! Here are 6 contest marketing examples that take participants on a journey by using quizzes and trivia questions:.

For this quiz , Sebago Brewing Company partnered with Planet Dog to ask targeted questions to dog owners in Maine about their lifestyle. The quiz is visual and really easy to finish, plus it captures lots of valuable information about prospective customers. Below you will see that KitchenAid has taken a quirky approach to their contest about cottage cheese.

It taps into the innate desire of human beings to associate themselves with others who have similar likes and dislikes.

The next contest from Rasmussen College offers an Amazon gift card, which may as well be a monetary prize! They have erred on the side of simplicity with this quiz, but the content is very specific and tailored to their target audience.

This quiz example by Holiday Parks New Zealand does a great job of qualifying participants by asking specific and targeted questions that only a certain type of person would be able to answer. Warning: Simple is hardly ever the same as easy.

Keep reading below. TL;DR Product sampling dates back centuries and is a simple yet effective marketing strategy.

Product sampling involves giving away free goods, merchandise, or services to the public. Types of product sampling include direct, indirect, traditional, cashback, samples, limited-time samples, mail drops, and virtual samples.

Product sampling is effective because it lets people try products before purchasing, building trust and increasing sales. It boosts brand awareness, generates user-generated content, attracts new customers, and increases retention.

Product sampling also helps in testing new products, gathering data, and improving existing ones. Work with a product sampling agency for better results. What Is Product Sampling? Some examples of product sampling marketing strategies would be: Giving a taste of small servings of a new food product at sampling stations in a grocery store Handing out free beauty product samples at a department store Offering a travel-sized product with a full-size product Note: Product sampling is different from product seeding.

The advantages, in this case, are saving time and resources. By type: Traditional: The standard practice of offering potential shoppers freebies.

Limited-time samples: Like the category above, but within a limited time frame to create scarcity and FOMO. Virtual samples: Allowing people the opportunity to try a product online, usually by using Artificial Reality AR. How Effective Is Product Sampling? Why would they be skeptical?

For example, people who never went to the gym before would appreciate a free one-day pass to one to see if they like it. They never tried your products before. Handing samples to people in the area or handing out coupons would help passers-by decide to return to your cake shop. There are situations when you cannot return the products you have bought.

But do statistics back the effectiveness of product sampling? The conversion rate is high, too. Benefits of Product Sampling The statistics above help us infer a slew of product sampling benefits: 1. Increase Brand Awareness Increasing brand awareness is essential for every business, especially those facing extremely high competition.

Beauty product companies are one such example: Source Sephora offers free samples of beauty products as part of their in-store and online shopping experience. How can product sampling help?

This marketing tactic: Can kickstart the customer journey. Increases memorability and brand recognition. Get User Generated Content Product sampling generates reviews and other UGC to attract even more potential customers.

Why does that matter? Attract New and Unexpected Customers Usually, a marketing campaign is very focused on a specific demographic and audience. A broad product sampling campaign can help you attract them too. Retention is vital because: Loyal repeat customers spend more money on your products than new customers.

New customers have a lower chance of buying, and it costs much more to convert them. Loyal customers are the best advocates for a brand; they are the heart and soul of a business. Product sampling can improve customer retention by: Offering an opportunity for engagement with loyal customers Nurturing the relationship between the customer and the brand Keeping the brand top-of-mind for repeat customers Demonstrating generosity on the part of the brand Increasing consumer confidence Making repeat customers feel like VIPs when they have an opportunity to try new products Pro tip: You can further improve customer retention numbers with an omnichannel strategy and gamification.

This information could lead to an improvement on the item or even the creation of a new product. ICI Paris XL: Advertise Your Sampling Campaign This Belgium-based beauty shop offers in-store product samples to convince more people to try their products.

This traditional sampling strategy works because it solves certain problems that these types of brands face: Beauty products in the same price range offer similar quality.

These products solve similar needs. The platform operated as a VIP club, where new articles, contests, and surveys were published weekly to engage Delhaize shoppers.

Over the years, 20 community-engaging campaigns were conducted. Through this initiative, Delhaize gained a loyal community ready to share their experiences with the brand, contributing to increased awareness and product sales among customers and their acquaintances.

Collaborating with engaged communities brings many benefits to brands, helping them achieve their set objectives. If a brands do not have own brand communities yet, they can also work with already existing ones. TERRITORY Influence, for example, owns an international community of nano and micro influencers, the so-called: TRND platform, which brings together thousands of consumers and brands in European markets.

TRND consists of active social media users who enjoy discovering new brands and sharing their opinions. As a result, brands can swiftly assemble an ideal group of consumers, provide them with free product samples, gather reviews, spark discussions on social media, and obtain user-generated content in the form of photos and videos.

In Germany, Henkel with their brand got2be made use of these advantages. The brand decided to conduct a campaign to support their relaunch of the dry shampoos and heat styling products.

We educated and guided the nano influencers through a printed handbook and a dedicated website so that they could then educate their followers and friends about the correct usage. With blogposts, newsletters and individual E-Mails we inspired them during the campaign to share their experience.

Since we did before and after surveys with the participants, got2b gained real-life feedback and user insights. We definitly achived our goal of raising awareness, over K people were impacted offline through personal recommendations! For me the best dry shampoo. I tried other brands, but I did not like the outcome.

I rarely use dry shampoo so as not to dry out my scalp. I have already shared my experience with my friends and they also tried it.

Utilizing well-known influencers and popular online creators for product testing is a tried-and-true tactic employed by marketers, yielding impressive results for many years.

With the growing interest in such activities, numerous influencer marketing agencies have emerged to assist marketers in finding the best influencers to collaborate with.

Organizing social sampling campaigns using paid influencers can effectively enhance brand visibility, especially considering that many of these influencers have substantial and dedicated follower bases.

Appropriately chosen influencers can reach their trusted followers and provide authentic recommendations, positively influencing how potential customers perceive the product.

As a result, campaigns involving paid influencers may come with certain costs, but they also offer an excellent opportunity to increase brand awareness and reach a broad target audience.

One example is HOPE — a producer of vegan dairy alternatives. The brand decided to conduct a campaign in the German market, with four micro influencers and one macro influencer. The campaign aimed to test the new vegan products and create recipes based on these dairy alternatives.

Hereby, the main goal was to increase brand awareness on social media and interest in the new, innovative products. Thanks to carefully selected influencers and authentic content, the campaign achieved spectacular success, reaching an audience of , Hence, the value of authenticity and engagement is becoming increasingly significant in crafting effective social sampling campaigns.

Consumers are becoming more aware and appreciative of authentic recommendations and the credibility of influencers, influencing their purchasing decisions. Are you ready for a social sampling campaign? Social Sampling: Revolution in Consumer Product Testing.

Written by Pamela KESNER. August 7, How do social sampling campaigns work?

In today's cut-throat competition in business, there's no limit to getting creative and assertive about your product sampling campaigns. It Choose the right products: some types of products work better in sampling campaigns than others. For example, almost half of consumers won't try Here's a quick sampling of contest marketing campaign types that you might consider for boosting your brand: Event-Based Contests are

Sampling campaigns and contests - Modern product sampling campaigns · 1. eCommerce – sampling in your own deliveries · 2. eCommerce – retailer partnerships · 3. Digital sampling In today's cut-throat competition in business, there's no limit to getting creative and assertive about your product sampling campaigns. It Choose the right products: some types of products work better in sampling campaigns than others. For example, almost half of consumers won't try Here's a quick sampling of contest marketing campaign types that you might consider for boosting your brand: Event-Based Contests are

Where is the best place you can find a big group of people in a happy, positive mood? Social, music, or sports events. Take advantage of the pre-planned events to introduce your new products to the consumers. It totally depends on your budget and how big an event you can sponsor.

In some cases, you can collaborate with the event management team and run your product sampling campaign at a lower cost and without sponsoring the whole event. It can be a fun contest, a street show, or an interactive game on a weekend day when people are more likely to attend your event.

These types of events are meant to help a lot with sales promotion as well. Making a memorable experience for your target audience makes them more likely to choose your product over all other options available in the market. That is because they leave your event with a positive feeling and memory and it sticks with them unconsciously.

Let's be honest: everybody thinks they're special. Many brands use this simple fact to touch the emotions of their consumers and make a memorable image in their head. Yves Roches , for example, gives a gift to its customers on their birthday.

They can order it online or pick it up from any shop. Yves Roches, Sephora , Aesop and many other brands have come up with a good beauty products sampling idea.

They give away free samples every time their customers make a purchase. This way they're sure the freebies are delivered to the right destination at the least possible cost.

Send your samples directly where there's a massive number of your consumers gathered together. It can be a kindergarten if your product is crayon or colored pencils. They get to use your product almost at the same time and share their experience together. This method can be used for any kind of product: fashion, beauty, edibles, e-commerce products, and whatnot.

Let's say you're introducing a new sauce to the market. You can make an interactive and innovative experience by giving away how-to guides or recipes on how to use the new sauce. It is a secure way to make a good first impression on the consumers with the new product.

The same method can be applied to beauty products. If you're making a new facial mask, add a brief guide and explain how it's going to work best for your consumers. Also read: Product Sampling Safe Haven: Contactless Product Sampling. Send a tiny sample of your new perfume to anyone who buys clothes from a specific brand.

Send a pack of cheese to anyone who orders at an Italian restaurant in a specific area. And in order to truly recommend a product, people will need to have tried it first.

One way to tackle this is by driving trial among your target demographic. By offering your target consumers the chance to sample the product for free, this enables them to try a new product without having to commit to a full-size purchase.

Giving you the opportunity to supplant your competition and take centre stage as their new favourite product.

And not to mention, acquire a new customer in the process. Sampl empowers you to build data rich profiles on your target consumers and uncover consumer insights such as favourite places to shop, top social media platforms, lifestyle preferences, etc.

You can use these insights to better understand your audience and ultimately make your marketing more effective and efficient. On top of all of the above benefits which will ultimately support sales, the sampling activation itself will too. Campaigns run through Sampl offer multiple consumer touch points.

Get your samples to the right people, give them a great experience and tempt them into converting. For more information on how Sampl can support your NPD launch, drop us a line on sayhello sampltech. com or click here to contact us. For more inspiration, follow us on LinkedIn.

Wade Frith. Wade is the Head of Campaign Success at Sampl based in bustling London. A go-to expert in social media strategy and CRM marketing, he loves guiding our clients through setting up a campaign and coming up with new Marketing Strategies.

You can usually find him reading, at the gym or listening to a vintage vinyl record. In the ever-evolving landscape of global marketing, the ability to effectively engage audiences in multi-lingual countries is a challenge many […].

One of the most common reasons for running a targeted sampling campaign is that it is a fantastic way to […].

Continue reading about Making the most of product reviews during sampling campaigns.

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Sampling campaigns and contests - Modern product sampling campaigns · 1. eCommerce – sampling in your own deliveries · 2. eCommerce – retailer partnerships · 3. Digital sampling In today's cut-throat competition in business, there's no limit to getting creative and assertive about your product sampling campaigns. It Choose the right products: some types of products work better in sampling campaigns than others. For example, almost half of consumers won't try Here's a quick sampling of contest marketing campaign types that you might consider for boosting your brand: Event-Based Contests are

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Content AI. Zero Party Data. Shopper Marketing. Personalized Engagement. New Product Launches. Targeted Promotions. Sampling Community. Social Ads. Digital Signage. Managed Services. By Industry. Case Studies. Help Center. State of Community Powered Marketing. Big Online Brand Community Study.

Community Ready Rank. Audience Engagement Index. Request Demo. Get Started. Our campaign sparked thousands of pieces of user-generated content. Brand Manager, TAZO. Impressions from Sampling Community Activation. Turnkey Sampling Community of 1.

Trusted Reviews to Jumpstart Purchase. Collect, Curate, and Distribute UGC Across Your Marketing Mix. Collect Actionable Feedback for Your Brand. Targeted Sampling Campaigns Mobilize ideal consumers to sample your product, share with friends, and drive trial.

Audience and Product Insights Gather product feedback and understand your target consumer better. Why leading brands choose TINT. View Case Study. Learn more about Product Sampling. Social Sampling That Gets Results Learn how social sampling campaigns have the power to supercharge your word-of-mouth and achieve advocacy at scale.

How do you qualify who tries my product in the sampling community? Do the members of your sampling community get paid to try products? What is included in a sampling community campaign? How many samples can I deliver and who handles fulfillment? Launch a Sampling Community Campaign. The presentation of your product is everything.

Present your offerings in visually appealing ways and packaging. You will also want to incorporate branded elements into your sampling event, whether it be branded tents and signs, or branded bags for street team staff.

Additionally, your sampling staff will need to keep areas tidy and clean, and free of clutter. Your product sampling staff holds the key to making connections with consumers and turning them into customers.

When you are planning your campaign, think about the demographics of your consumers and who will relate best to them. Secondly, you will want to make sure that your staff is outgoing, professional, articulate, and dependable.

And finally, your sampling team needs to be knowledgeable about your product and your brand. Provide the team with training materials that outline the activation itself, product specifications, and talking points to ensure that they are fully prepared for the event.

While interactions between your event staff and consumers will typically be short and sweet, you do need to have a few key talking points for the sampling staff to convey. In addition to talking points, your staff should be able to answer basic questions about your company and the products that you offer.

On top of trying your product for free, give consumers an incentive to buy your product. For example, offer a high-value discount offer or coupon. If a consumer tries your product and likes it, a discount offer will seal the deal and most likely lead to a purchase.

Post-event reporting is incredibly important to learn how consumers perceive your brand, your product, and the activation itself. Have your product sampling staff take note on consumer feedback and report back after the event. Product sampling events can be measured in a variety of ways. A few examples include the number of samples distributed, the number of consumer impressions, or the number of visits your website received during or right after the event.

Create KPIs and set goals for your campaign. This will provide you with valuable information about the event and will help you to improve future events. Product sampling events offer companies the opportunity to introduce new products, increase brand awareness, gain valuable feedback, and increase sales.

However, having the right team of brand ambassadors who are outgoing and knowledgeable is essential to a successful product sampling. ATN has helped companies of all sizes and from all industries with their product sampling campaigns.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you take your product to the next level. ATN Talent Site Client Login.