Reaching more customers is important to ensuring a steady flow of business and the success of your products. Samples are a great way to do this in the cosmetics industry, offering a demonstration of your product without costing the customer anything. But what’s the best way to distribute your samples?
As the first name in cosmetic sampling solutions, the team at Fillcon have a number of insights on what channel is best for your beauty products samples. In this article, we’ll discuss what the options are and the specific benefits of key distribution channels like subscription boxes and social media.
Interested in finding out more about our services? Check out our cosmetic sampling solutions or get in touch!
What are the Distribution Channels for Beauty Products?
To create a comprehensive strategy for your cosmetic sample distribution, it is important to have a good understanding of the channels through which you can deliver your samples. This will ensure you can reach the right customers, as well as creating a cost-effective solution to reaching the most customers.
Here are a few of the top channels through which you can distribute your beauty products:
1. Magazines
A classic example of a cosmetic sample distribution channel. Magazines have always been a great way to offer a sample of your product, either by attaching a thin sachet to your ad page or by including the sample in the magazine’s packaging.
Magazines are good because they reach a specific target audience, meaning you can distribute your samples through a magazine that aligns with your products and interests. However, with many magazines going digital, this is becoming a less-frequently used avenue for cosmetic sampling.
2. Subscription Boxes
An interesting way that has grown in popularity over the years, subscription boxes provide ample opportunities to show off the great aspects of your beauty products. Since this channel can be a little more in-depth than others, we’ll speak more on it later on in this article.
3. Direct Mail
If you know a customer is likely to be interested in your product, why wait until they’re at your door? Instead, consider mailing your samples straight to them. Our sampling sachets are thin, lightweight, and durable, meaning you can easily deliver them via mail to your customers.
This is a great way to offer your customers something that they don’t have to put any effort into to obtain. The result of this is a better view of your product and brand from the principle of reciprocity, as well as an easy way to demonstrate the benefits of your product alongside a letter than contains further information.
Interested in how psychology impacts consumer behaviour towards free samples? Read our article >
4. In-Store Samples
Handing out samples in-store can be a great way to add a personal touch to your sample distribution. A sales representative can give a demonstration of the product and offer eager customers a way to get more.
In-store sampling with the added benefit of being able to market your samples directly to customers in-line with your target audience by careful selection of which stores you operate your sample distribution in. While this can be a more involved approach than some other entries on this list, it can also yield greater results.
5. Street Samples
Similar to in-store samples, a street sample can be a great way to reach customers and monitor their reaction to your beauty products in-person. This can come in the form of a sachet attached to an informational pamphlet, a free sample of a perfume in a small bottle, or any other application that gives the customer a first-hand impression of your product and brand.
Street samples allow you to reach a wide variety of prospects, and the quality sampling solutions from Fillcon give customers a great first impression. The downside of this method is that you’re less able to home in on your target audience, although considering where you offer these samples (in terms of city, street, or even the shops nearby) can help you to mitigate this aspect.
The Role of Subscription Boxes for Cosmetic Samples
Subscription boxes are a great way to get your beauty product recognised by all kinds of customers. Whether it’s by including your product in an existing cosmetics box, offering a sample alongside related products, or adding it to more broad boxes such as university welcoming packages, subscription boxes offer many ways to distribute your product.
What are the Benefits of a Subscription Box Sampling Model?
Due to the nature of repeat delivery, the specific target audiences for each box, and the bespoke features that are often included to help refine down the products that’ll be included in the subscription box, there are a number of benefits for cosmetics companies when it comes to distributing their samples through this channel.
By utilising a subscription box sampling model, you can:
- Display your cosmetics sample alongside other prominent, quality products
- Narrow the recipients of your samples down to a specific target audience
- Make use of the breadth of customers and visibility that subscription boxes have
- Introduce new, related products on a regular basis
However you choose to distribute your cosmetics samples, you’ll need to have a great provider of sachets to ensure a quality end result – especially when they’re being included alongside products from other businesses. Get in touch to see how Fillcon can provide the solution.
Social Media and E-Commerce for Cosmetic Samples
With much of the world moving to digital platforms like TikTok and Facebook, it’s important to still be able to reach people who might not have as much of a physical engagement with your products.
Using social media platforms (like the aforementioned ones!) will give you an edge in getting your product known and its benefits recognised. There are also a number of other impacts that come from utilising social media and e-commerce channels, such as:
- Increased reach from a global platform
- More interactive ways of showcasing your product features
- Responsive customer service
- User ratings and recommendations
- More adaptability to changes in the market, trends, and current events
You can gather a lot of information about your customers by offering free samples – from getting them onto a newsletter list, to offering discounts and promotional codes, you’ll be able to get their attention and keep it.
Ensure you deliver a premium product first time, with the top name in cosmetic sampling solutions. We fulfil sample sachet orders of 10,000+, supplying you with quality sachets and perfume sample bottles to send to your customers.
Check out our beginner’s guide to selling your cosmetics internationally >
Your Cosmetic Sampling Solution from Fillcon
A wide-reaching marketing strategy that makes use of all the available channels can be the best way to reach the most customers but ensuring that you’re reaching the right customers is always of key importance. Make sure to analyse your target audience, learn their interests, and find the distribution channel that is sure to reach them.
Support your beauty product marketing efforts with cosmetics sampling solutions from Fillcon. We’ll provide you with high-quality sachets and sample bottles, while filling product vessels of all shapes and sizes! Get in touch to find out more or read on with some related articles below.
Find out about perfume samples in our ultimate guide >
Get to grips with the basics in our beginner’s guide to cosmetic sampling regulations in the UK >
