Path of Life
Tasty, plant-based frozen foods are produced by Path of Life using whole food ingredients to support a healthy lifestyle. The company of healthy frozen foods created a sampling agency program to target customers on special diets who made purchases at specific stores and email them a voucher to use in-store. While building a genuine connection with customers at home, the company wanted to simplify its demo process. The campaign produced its most profitable coupon program to date and helped the company quickly expand its retail distribution, email list, and rating and review collection.
In the sampling agency programs, most claimants (81%), who had never known of Path of Life previously, were likely to suggest the product to relatives and friends. With 72% of respondents giving it a 4 rating system or better and 83% saying they would suggest it to a family member, the program was also an excellent way to increase organic referrals and tap into word-of-mouth marketing. Additionally, the team observed a substantial 67% email opt-in rate, which allowed them to create targeted email campaigns that inform customers about new product releases and local merchants and encourage them to become part of their community via social media.
Glade
Glade wished for more individuals to use its room freshener. However, fewer people are going to physical locations to acquire free samples or see product demonstrations as online shopping grows in popularity. They enlisted Walmart’s assistance for a particular product sampling effort to address this issue. Glade filled the packing pillows with its air freshener to preserve the goods during home deliveries.
So, the perfume of Glade’s springtime fragrance filled the air as individuals unpacked various Walmart purchases and blew their pillows. Additionally, a QR code was put on the package, which customers could scan to purchase Glade’s goods instantly. Glade home fragrance sales on Walmart.com increased by 83 percent, according to the campaign’s advertising agency, Ogilvy Chicago, as a result of this innovative product sampling concept.
Sephora
Product sampling is a crucial and essential perk of Sephora’s enormously popular rewards program Beauty Insider. The cosmetics brand is renowned for including complimentary product samples with every online sale. This is a beautiful strategy for a few reasons. First, it encourages online purchases since consumers think they are getting a special “freebie.” Additionally, devoted customers like the sensation of getting prizes for their support and being valued by the brand.
Last but not least, since the sales are conducted online, and clients can choose their own freebies, Sephora can track whether or not those clients go on to buy the product in their online shopping session. Suppose you’re curious about how product sampling is performed for Sephora. In that case, you should know that 17 million members of Sephora rewards through a sampling agency in North America generate 80% of the business’s sales.
Cheerios
In 2018, Cheerios recognized an opportunity to profit from Amazon’s e-commerce algorithms to promote its goods to the more than 100 million US Amazon Prime subscribers. Cheerios became Honey Nut Cheerios, the cereal of preference for Amazon customers, using product sampling as a portion of their campaign to take advantage of Amazon Prime Day (16–17 June). Throughout the promotion, Cheerios gave a family-size box of Honey Nut Cheerios to every Amazon customer who purchased more than $40 on Amazon Grocery, and this same Prime-only program sells inexpensive groceries and household items. The clients also earned a $10 discount in addition to their cereal box.
Cheerios enjoyed two distinct benefits. This transaction generated a Cheerios purchase history for thousands of Amazon Prime subscribers and promoted the brand to prospective customers by providing a free sample. As a result, Honey Nut Cheerios received a significant increase in Amazon’s recommendation system, moving them to the top spot in the cereal category and even becoming the total grocery item on Prime Day.
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch, one of the world’s largest and most well-known breweries, creates a variety of well-liked alcoholic beverages, such as Michelob, Bud Light, and Budweiser. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the firm had already stopped offering in-store sampling programs when Bud Light Seltzer, its hard seltzer brand, was introduced in 2020.
Instead, they designed a digital sampling strategy in partnership with a platform for digital product sampling via a sampling agency to promote first sales, track repeat purchases, generate user-generated material, and even encourage word of mouth. The campaign produced approximately 82 percent positive consumer sentiment in less than two months, with first-time purchasers making up 89 percent of transactions. Additionally, high-quality material was produced and posted on Product 1 and Aisle 9, generating 7.5 views per article, using each user rating of 7 or higher.
