Sampling

Sampling seems expensive on a straight CPM basis, but if you look at cost per trial or cost per conversion, it can be significantly more efficient than other marketing tactics.

There are a couple of keys to making sampling more efficient. First, have measurable objectives and plan against those objectives. For example, if the objective is to maximize trial, then challenge every dollar in the budget: will this generate more trials, at a lower cost per trial, than the alternatives?

Compare sampling alternatives on the total delivered cost (cost of goods, printing, co-packing, freight, cost to deliver to consumers, coupon redemption, etc.). This provides the truest measure of your best option.

Last, when determining your consumer target, consider HH category spend or volume, not just if they are a category user or not. That is, if you are sampling a laundry product, a mom with three kids is significantly more valuable than a single person household, even though both are in the category. Sampling to heavy users may have a higher CPM, but produces a much higher ROI because of the greater purchase and consumption.