Product sampling is used by nearly every industry and in just about every location where humans congregate — from grocery stores to trade shows to marathons to festivals — for the simple reason that it works. People love freebies, and studies show about 2/3 of consumers who sample say they’re likely to buy the product.
As part of a field marketing campaign, sampling helps brands connect firsthand with consumers.
There are as many ways to do promotional sampling as there are brands. Experiential sampling blends product sampling into a larger, multisensory event. Guerilla sampling uses unconventional locations, interactions, and media to grab consumers’ attention. But regardless of the method or medium, there’s more to this experiential marketing tactic than meets the eye. Giving away samples not only puts the product in consumers’ hands, it also triggers a series of emotional and cognitive responses from the recipient.
1. Sampling Makes a Positive Impression
Consumers like free stuff, and they tend to like the people or brands who give it to them. “By offering a sample, companies provide an opportunity for consumers to try before they buy,” says pushmodels.com. That spares the consumer any risk, creating a sense of safety.
But consumers’ positive response to sampling goes beyond enjoying freebies; there’s a feelgood feedback loop happening. Brands that offer samples show that they’re confident about the product, and that makes consumers think more highly of them. This, in turn, raises the consumers’ estimation of the quality of the product, increasing the likelihood of purchase.
2. Sampling Raises Awareness
Sampling is often used in brand awareness campaigns “as a direct way to introduce potential customers to your brand.” This is especially useful in a new market or segment, and for new, smaller, or lesser-known brands.
Sampling also gives consumers an opportunity to learn more about your brand and product. “For products that are innovative, complex, or require some level of consumer education to appreciate their full value, sampling offers a hands-on experience,” says inbeat.co. Sampling is an opportunity for new consumers to gain firsthand experience with the product, which is more emotionally powerful than advertising and more likely to create the connection that is the foundation for loyalty.
3. Sampling Builds Trust
For many of the most-sampled product categories — food, cosmetics, skin care, health and wellness — consumers need to feel they can trust the quality and worth of the product before they commit to a purchase. Skin care products, for example, are expensive; customers want to try a new moisturizer before shelling out for the whole bottle. Once a consumer finds a product that works for them, they’re likely to stick with it — after all, they now trust the brand.
Sampling can also entice consumers to switch from a competitor brand to your brand. “Samples can incentivize consumers to try your product,” says inbeat.co. Customers appreciate getting the chance to try something new for free, and it can encourage them to become and remain loyal customers.
4. Sampling Triggers a Desire to Reciprocate
When someone does something nice for us, we humans like to return the favor. This impulse is called reciprocity bias. This desire to return favors and pay back debts works in the marketplace because it allows the first party to choose the nature of the freebie (the free sample), thus steering the nature of the return favor (the purchase). The free sample might pose zero risk to the consumer sampling it, but reciprocity bias makes them feel obligated to respond in turn.
5. Sampling Puts Your Product in Consumers’ Minds
Two biases help ensure that consumers who take the free sample remember the brand that gave it to them, says peekage.com: the anchoring effect and the availability heuristic.
The anchoring effect causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we learn about a topic or product. An example: A salesperson shows a customer an expensive sofa first; after seeing the price on the first one, the slightly less pricey sofas they see next will seem reasonably priced (even if they aren’t).
If your brand offers free samples, you’re telling consumers “Try me out, no commitment! That’s how good I am!” The sample creates a connection between consumer and product, and the anchoring effect ensures that they’ll value that relationship above others later. That’s where brand loyalty begins.
The availability heuristic is “a mental shortcut” that helps us quickly evaluate a product, topic, or concept. We place outsized significance on the first product or concept we remember — so if we remember something, it must be more important than others. For example, if we see a news story about a bear attack, we may assume bear attacks are more common than they actually are. When shopping for paper towels, we may choose a well-known brand like Brawny just because it’s the first name that comes to mind.
Because free samples establish your product as “available,” it’s more likely to be the brand consumers choose when they’re looking for a product in your category, simply because they’ve heard of it.
Promobile Marketing is a dynamic experiential marketing firm based in New York City. For over a decade, Promobile has collaborated with a range of brands—from budding startups to major CPG brands—on immersive marketing campaigns. Want to discuss your next project? Reach out below.
Get In Touch
Get In Touch
