Product Sampling As a Marketing Strategy

!±8± Product Sampling As a Marketing Strategy

Sales promotion is a tricky business. Companies want to encourage reluctant consumers to try new products or to switch to their brand. One important tool to manage this is free product sample distribution. When free samples are distributed, a company makes a full- or trial-sized product available free of charge to consumers. They are able to try the product, then, without risk.

There are two general periods when free samples are distributed. The first is when there is a launch of a new product. The second is when a company wants to increase their market share for an already established product. There are plenty of different ways to distribute products to people.

Direct mail sampling is familiar to most consumers. In this sampling, free product samples are mailed directly to homes in a specific area that has been targeted based on demographic characteristics. Newspaper is also sometimes used to distribute a sample to a large number of people in a given area.

Free product sample delivery can also be managed door-to-door. In this manner, people bring samples out directly to individuals' homes. This is often used when the cost for direct mailing or packaging is too high, or when tighter targeting is needed or there is only limited lead time.

Sometimes there are sample packs of one product packaged along with another item that is for sale. This method is often used in a high traffic area like a theater or a mall.

Most shoppers have had samples at a grocery store, or have been given a sample package while shopping. This is called in-store sampling and is the most frequently used method for distributing free product samples.

Companies know that free sampling tends to increase impulse purchasing. Spending on making free samples available is often money well spent. Many companies even allow consumers to request samples on their website.

Stock of free samples is generally limited however. Consumers who want to request free trial products online or via coupons need to make their request early to have the best chance of being met.

Product sampling is a very effective way to market a product. Samples are distributed when advertising alone does not have the desired effect, and distribution costs are not prohibitive.