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Written by: Ashley Randall
When was the last time you made a purchase without looking at the reviews first? According to Qualtrics, 93% of consumers say online reviews determine their final buying decisions. If your brand is lacking product reviews, how is that affecting your business? For CPG food and beverage brands, it could be tough receiving reviews from your consumers. If you are a new brand starting out, it is essential to have reviews so that your new customers can trust that your product is good before risking any cost. One of the best ways to break that barrier is to try product sampling.
Product sampling is a marketing tactic that allows consumers to sample your product before they buy. It's an effective motivational marketing strategy to build awareness of your brand, while potentially gaining a new loyal customer. They will have the opportunity to taste your product, leaving them wanting more. Prior to COVID, most CPG brands would set up in-store sampling in retail stores. This was very popular until COVID mandated limited exposure to others and in-store sampling came to a screeching stop.
Now, brands have implemented online product sampling through redemption programs. This way, they are able to reach new consumers online, based on their location and interests. Speaking of online, there are a lot of CPG businesses moving towards digital marketing strategies to reach more of their target audiences. Not only are they using online tactics for product sampling opportunities, they are asking for reviews as well.
Using almost the same tactic, asking your customers for an online review is very essential for your brand. Not only will it build your brand’s credibility, it will create a sense of trust for new and loyal consumers.
Product reviews are important to the brand because it gives you a better understanding of what your consumers like and don’t like about you and your products. Reviews are important to the customer because it gives them insight about you and your product, based on what others are saying. As a CPG brand, you want to generate as many customer reviews as possible, because it's free word of mouth marketing for your products and it helps generate more buzz around them, which results in higher sales.
Positive reviews create buying motives for the consumer, making them have the urge or desire to make a purchase. Customer review images are more convincing to other customers, because they can see the product. This creates great consumer behavior motivation that will be psychologically satisfying to their want or need when it comes to their buying decision. This is what you want for your brand.
Here’s how to receive positive reviews. CPG brands can try giving out free product samples and potentially turn your customers into unofficial brand ambassadors that will help spread the good word about your brand. And the best part about it is free word of mouth advertising from customer advocates.
Now you may be thinking, “This sounds great and all, but how can I use this strategy for my business?” Well, we are glad that you asked. Here are some ways to receive reviews through free product samples.
One way to get product reviews is by simply asking your current consumers. Reach out to them via email, and ask how their experience has been with your product and your brand, or, you can use a solution like Sampoll to implement a product sampling program to get new consumers to try your product, and then write a review.
Besides your brand’s website, social media is a great place for your consumers to leave reviews. Using hashtags, your consumers can do a customer review Instagram post to share their honest opinions about your product. That may sound scary, but it’s actually a good thing. Others who may have never heard of your product before will see the consumer’s post and could be inspired to try it out for themselves.
The same thing works for 5 star customer reviews. Most people consider 5 star reviews as a great thing. Some don’t even bother reading the review, they just look at the ratings. On the contrary, there is a lot of emotion that comes within the review. You can tell how happy or unhappy a customer is by looking into the sentiment analysis using product review data. Here, you can pinpoint any issues (if any) your customer base is having with your product or brand.
Sampoll is an omni-channel product trial solution for CPG brands to empower shoppers through product sampling! To help reach new consumers, based on their interests and location to introduce them to your product through free samples.
Instead of them waiting for their products in the mail, like other sampling providers, they can easily go get their products from their local stores. Once they purchase the product, they snap a picture of the product along with the receipt, upload the picture to the Sampoll chat ambassador, “Sam”, and within 72 hours, they will receive their cashback rebate.
Afterwards, our chat ambassador, “Sam”, will reach out to them asking to share their experience. This is how you obtain product reviews. It is a fun experience for the consumer, and something that they will never forget.
If you need more product reviews for your brand, contact a Sampoll rep to show you how it all works and run a test and learn campaign to see if Sampoll is a good fit for your brand.
Click here to request a demo of the Sampoll contactless and staffless “Grab and Go” product trial solution.