Cosmetic samples are a sure-fire way to entice new customers to try your brand, raise awareness of new products, and keep your loyal customers happy.
Sampling has transformed from the whimsical imaginings of perfume clouds in decadent department stores of old. Now the dynamic is changing. With the rise of e-commerce and instant apps, cosmetic companies cannot simply hope customers will be seduced through in-store experiences. Samples are a great way for companies to put their product in front of customers, without waiting for them to search for it themselves.
Before a cosmetic company gives away valuable stock for free, it needs to consider why it is giving away samples, plan how samples will be distributed and think about the legacy a sampling campaign can have.
So, before you begin giving away your product, here is a helpful guide to growing your business with cosmetic samples.
Benefits of Sampling
You need to ensure sampling is right for your brand, product and business goals prior to giving it all away. As long as your samples encourage sales, you’ve made the right choice.
Try Before You Buy
Customers are scared of the unknown. Therefore, by giving them a chance to try your product before investing in a full-size version, new customers feel assured they will like it. High-end cosmetic products can especially benefit from eradicating this fear as they are viewed as bigger investments. Even existing customers may appreciate the chance to branch out and try another product of yours.
Create Loyalty
Customers can be very loyal and ritualistic; they don’t want to stray from what they know. Keep people happy with free samples and watch them return to you. It costs far more to get new customers than it does to retain current ones. Use your cosmetic samples to show returning customers you aren’t just in it for the money, you want them to like you.
Brand Awareness
No one can ignore your brand if they have a free sample of your product. Cosmetic samples are a great way of getting your name out there and your product into peoples’ hands – even if they had never heard of you before.
A 2018 EventTrack survey found that 91% of respondents had more positive feedback about brands after attending event or experiences, including product sampling. Give away freebies and watch the brand love come in.
It Works
Product sampling is a tried and testing marketing method across a variety of industries. It works great with cosmetics as they are tangible products customers are eager to try before investing in. However, sampling works for a wide variety of products, even including subscription services.
The EventTrack survey also found 85% of respondents were likely to purchase a product after experiencing it. By putting your product in front of customers and giving them a positive experience, you can grow your customer base.
A Step by Step Guide to Cosmetic Samples
- Choose Your Cosmetic Sample
Once you’ve decided sampling your cosmetics is for you, you need to decide which products will be samples. This choice may be impacted by the aims of your sample campaign; if you want to raise awareness of a new product, make it your sample. If you just want to generally drive sales, use your top product as a sample, ensuring it is the fan favourite that attracts positive attention. A very specific product may be disregarded.
- Decide Who to Target
Be sure to target the right audience to make the most of your sample campaign. Your target audience will dictate how your samples are distributed. If you want to target young adults, consider visiting university campuses, for example.
Targeting current customers with cosmetic samples can also be advantageous. If they already buy your products, they likely trust your brand and its quality, making it easier to convert their interest in a new product sample into a sale.
- Package Your Cosmetic Sample
Cosmetic sample packaging is a key consideration, affecting transport cost, production cost, ease of distribution and usability.
Sachets are popular for cosmetic sample packaging due to their lightweight, slim, fully-brandable design, perfect for slipping into a magazine or attaching to flyers.
See more: 4 Benefits of Using Sachets for Product Packaging
Tubes and bottles are also popular cosmetic sample packaging solutions, giving users more product to play with. Whichever packaging you decide on for your cosmetic samples, ensure it is easily branded through colour and print to ensure your brand and product get remembered. Keep branding consistent across all products, samples and full-size, to ensure you stand out from the competition and get noticed on the shelf. You wouldn’t want someone to fall in love with your cosmetic sample just to forget your name or miss it in the supermarket.
See more: Sample Packaging Ideas and How to Get Started
- Distribute Your Cosmetic Samples
Finding the best way to distribute your cosmetic samples is no mean feat. While cost is not everything (and hopefully your samples lead to increased sales anyway), it can have consequences on distribution methods, therefore it’s best to have a set budget. In-store or on-street giveaways require staff and branded stands. Posted samples are logistically handled for you but can be costly. Consider storage, transport, plot hire, stands, marketing collateral, and ambassadors.
Popular ways of giving away cosmetic samples include exhibition handouts, magazine insertion, and cross-selling. Consider selling substantial product samples for a small price to make a return on your sample investment. Customers may appreciate the chance to purchase a smaller sized product for very little to try or even to take to the airport.
See more: Using Travel Sized Tubes for Your Product
- Create Partnerships
A cosmetic company’s relationship with stores, other industry leaders, and marketing partners can be instrumental for success. Partnerships can be crucial for business growth as well as distributing cosmetic samples.
Create partnerships with similar companies, targeting the same demographic, with an offering that compliments your product. For example, online clothing stores may partner with popular cosmetic brands and include their product samples in clothing packages. Loyalty schemes like Sephora’s reward system offer shoppers exclusive product samples when they collect enough points. Partnerships like these are advantageous to both parties and help to maximise exposure as well as distribution.
- Be Smart with Cosmetic Samples
There is much more to product samples than just getting your product in the hands of customers. You can get more out of this unique opportunity. Depending on the aim of your sample campaign, consider other marketing tricks you can implement at the same time.
Include a promotion code or exclusive deal on the sample packaging to encourage sales. Have a QR code printed on the samples to make online sales easy for customers. Run social media competitions encouraging customers to post a review or picture of your product using a hashtag to win a prize. This way, the legacy of your sample campaign results in increased sales, brand loyalty, social media following and word of mouth marketing.
- Reap the Rewards
Once you’ve given out your cosmetic samples, your sample campaign is over. But your success isn’t.
Watch the tweets flood in, the sales pile up and your reputation rocket. Monitor the success of your sample campaign. If it was effective, consider doing it all over again. If not, make new partnerships, sample new products, and target different demographics. Find the ultimate cosmetic sampling solution.
Cosmetic Sampling with Fillcon
Here at Fillcon, we are cosmetic sampling specialists, helping you to showcase your product, drive sales, and create brand loyalty. We can fill a range of sachets, bottles, tubes, and other packaging with liquids ranging from creams, gels, and scrubs, to lubricant, oils and serums. Whatever your product, we can fill it.
Whether you are sampling through magazines, handouts or in-store, our cosmetic sampling expertise can help you create a campaign that works.