Why Giving Free Products to Prospective Customers Should be in Your Marketing Plan

One of the most effective ways to sell many products is to give them away first. Especially if your product is subject to repeat purchases, providing consumers with a free sample may be exactly what it takes to turn them into loyal—and paying—customers.

Food products are a great example. How often have you been in a grocery store and made an unplanned purchase because you were given a sample? Cosmetics, cleaning supplies, paper goods (both for the home and office), office supplies, and more can all be effectively sold through a sample program.

Samples can make customers more comfortable with their purchase decision, particularly when you have a premium-priced product. Use these tips to develop and measure a sample program:

  • Calculate your cost per contact and cost per sale. Track the expense involved in sending out samples and know how much revenue that effort produces. Then compare it with the cost of other marketing techniques to determine how effective and productive a sample program is for you.
  • Send an adequate supply. Be sure your sample is large enough to allow the prospective customer to fully appreciate your product’s features and benefits.
  • Be sure prospective customers know what to do with your product. Snack foods, for example, are easy—people just have to open the package and eat them. But for more complicated products, you may need to put together a kit that explains how to use the item. If you’re providing samples to a retailer, include suggestions for displaying and demonstrating the product.
  • Combine samples with other marketing techniques. For example, you may want to give a sample along with a coupon for a discount on a future purchase. The coupons will allow you to measure your sales results from prospects who received samples.

Remember, samples can also work for non-tangible products. A free trial for a service that will later be purchased on a regular basis is essentially a sample. A hair salon that offers a coupon for a free hair cut is combining samples and coupons in a single campaign.

Don’t restrict your samples to new customers. Include samples of new products when filling orders from existing customers—or even samples of things you’ve been selling a while that they haven’t purchased before. This will give them a risk-free chance to try something new from you that they may begin buying.

Finally, if you send samples to distributors or retail outlets, don’t be too concerned about the fact that your samples may not always make it to the ultimate consumer. If store clerks or buyers like the product so much that they want to hoard it for themselves, they’ll promote it to their customers.

Jacquelyn Lynn
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