Sales promotion is a crucial activity for businesses. One effective means for sales promotion is to distribute free product samples. When consumers are given a free full- or trial-sized product, they are more likely to try the product and decide the like it and want to purchase it.
Usually, free samples are given out as part of a new product launch. The other time when samples are passed out is when a company wants to increase the market share for the product. When either situation exists, distribution may be done in a variety of ways. The goal must be to get the product into the hands of consumers.
Health Promotion
One method is called direct mail sampling. When this method is used, free samples of a product are mailed directly to consumers' homes. The area where mailings are targeted are based on demographics. If sampling to the masses is preferred, newspaper distribution can be used.
Door-to-door delivery of free product samples has the benefit of saving money for packaging and mailing. It is more targeted, and has a shorter lead time as well.
Another way to distribute samples is to package the sample with other items for sale. This is a great way to get people interested in a new product. If you distribute samples in high traffic locations like malls or theaters, this will be very effective.
The most common means for sample distribution is in-store sampling. This is very simple. What happens in in-store sampling is that shoppers at a store are given free product samples.
Because of this, they often then will make impulse purchases of this line. In fact, this boosts business so much that many companies will permit consumers to request samples via the Internet.
That doesn't mean that there are limitless samples. Every company still has to make money, and they only budget to much for giveaway or promotional materials. If you want to get a sample or a coupon via the internet, it's important to request this as early as possible.
How do companies decide when product sampling will be appropriate? Generally, they distribute product samples when they can't get that kind of effect with simple advertising alone. It also has to make financial sense â" it should not cost more to distribute the samples than is reasonable.
Promotion of Products Through Sampling
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