{"id":18925,"date":"2020-07-27T18:41:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T18:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/?p=18925"},"modified":"2022-01-16T07:19:02","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T07:19:02","slug":"a-thousand-year-old-marketing-tactic-that-still-works-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/blog\/a-thousand-year-old-marketing-tactic-that-still-works-today\/","title":{"rendered":"A Thousand Year Old Marketing Tactic That Still Works Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Imagine yourself strolling through the alleys of an ancient\noutdoor marketplace.  The aromas of\nroasting meats making your mouth water, the vibrant colors of exotic spices\npiled high onto their platters, and the call of vendors everywhere, trying to\nentice you to come over and try a sample of their goods. The enticement of a\nfree sample is just as irresistible now as it was a thousand years ago. Why?\nBecause it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today’s sample offer looks a little bit\ndifferent than the days of the old marketplace. But here are some things that\nthe most successful brands in the dietary supplement industry are doing to win\nnew customers with product sampling programs. \n  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplement Sampling & The Reciprocity Effect: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reciprocity effect is basically the theory\nthat says, in many social situations, we want to pay back what we received from others, such as a\nloan, or a favor. As an example, think of borrowing someone’s car. In most\ncases, the borrower will return the car with a full tank of gas as a gesture of\nappreciation. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reciprocity works in many situations, from little\neveryday interactions with our neighbors to businesses trying to gain\nconsumers. It has been shown that a free sample encourages people to buy the\ncorresponding product because of this feeling of appreciation that comes from\nhaving been given something for free. This can be especially helpful in the\ncase of dietary supplement sampling where someone may hold back on making a\npurchase without first trying the product even though they feel a connection to\nthe brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating\na Brand Fan(atic):<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

An effective sampling program today goes well\nbeyond the “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” method. There\nare a multitude of product options in every category, and researching what to\nbuy is as easy as spending 5 minutes on the internet.  So, creating an effective sampling program\ntoday follows most of the same principles as developing any other comprehensive\nmarketing program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Know your consumer<\/strong>. Who is your target audience for this product and how\ncould they use this sample in a way that will give them the best possible\nexperience? <\/li>
  • Be purposeful<\/strong> and strategic<\/strong>. \nSampling is not randomly passing out products to strangers.  It\u2019s putting a product in the hands of a\nlifestyle enthusiast who will love it! Because, if they love it, they\nwill want to share their discovery with their friends and online communities.<\/li>
  • “Micro-influencers”\nhelp build markets<\/strong>. For clarity, a micro influencer\nis a lifestyle enthusiast who is so passionate that they have built a small online\nfollowing (usually 1000-100,000 people) by sharing their experiences on social\nsites.  There are \u201capps\u201d and online\nportals out there that can help you find and connect with these people. Even\nthough “micro-influencers” may not be famous, they are knowledgeable\nand experienced on a specific subject. A micro-influencer who knows about\ndietary supplements is who you want to target your supplement sampling program\nto.  <\/strong>They tend to have a lot of\ntrust built up with their followers, so when they try a product and publicly\nrecommend it, their following will often purchase it without even having tried\nit themselves.   <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Profitably Scaling Your Supplement Sampling Program:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Getting your supplement\nsamples into the right hands can help you to create awareness for your brand,\nand generate word-of-mouth advocacy. So how do you do it? Follow the\n“Three P’s”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Product<\/strong> \u2013 <\/strong>Not all products make sense for\nsampling. Powders have a taste and flavor profile, and people definitely want\nto “try before they buy” so that\u2019s a great option.  On the other hand, shipping liquid samples or\nsoft gels through the mail may not make sense. Identify the opportunities and\nlimitations of your product samples.  Most\nimportant, think about your business strategy\u2026\u2026\u2026which products have the\nhighest market potential and which ones yield the greatest gross margin.  Those are the ones you want to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Packaging<\/strong> \u2013 <\/strong>There are a lot of options for\nthe packaging of your samples, and a lot of logistics to consider. Are you\nproviding a packet with a one-time use sample of a protein? Does your sample\nmanufacturer offer on-demand digital printing so your packet can be printed in\nlower quantities?  Is the printing at the\nquality standard that you want to maintain for all of your packaging? Is a single-serving sample enough to provide an\nexperience for the consumer? Because another option might be to offer a smaller\ncontainer for your product, maybe a week’s supply rather than a full\nmonth.  There are a ton of creative\nsolutions we can use to achieve a successful sample option for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Promotion<\/strong>  – <\/strong>How will you talk about your supplement sampling program?\nIn the old days, it was common to walk through a tradeshow and see samples\nfreely handed out to anyone who walks by, only to find those samples left\nbehind at the end of the day on tables, in hotel rooms, or in the trash. What a\nwaste of samples, and a wasted sampling opportunity. Now, it\u2019s possible to\nreach huge audiences that are highly targeted based upon their interests and\ndemographic profile.  You can utilize\nhigh-volume marketing channels, such as the influencers on social media, to\ndrive qualified<\/strong> traffic to your website consisting of people who have\nactual interest in your product. Best of all, the ability to grab that\naudience’s contact information in exchange for a free sample is a great way of building\nyour email list for ongoing marketing and promotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating and scaling an effective\nsupplement sampling program is a great way to drive awareness and interest for\nnew product launches.Especially in the first few critical months after\na new product is launched. When you hit the ground running with authentic\nratings and reviews, you give consumers the confidence they need to purchase\nyour products on day one.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

    It you\u2019re interested in the\nstep-by-step of creating your own sampling program, please shoot us a note via\nemail or comment on social and we\u2019ll do a more detailed post on this topic in\nthe future.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Imagine yourself strolling through the alleys of an ancient outdoor marketplace.  The aromas of roasting meats making your mouth water, the vibrant colors of exotic spices piled high onto their platters, and the call of vendors everywhere, trying to entice you to come over and try a sample of their goods. The enticement of a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18925"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20095,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18925\/revisions\/20095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutracapusa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}