Post-purchase anxiety is a common problem stopping customers from buying a product. Up to 10% of a consumer’s money is spent on regretted purchases, where customers don’t actually receive the product that they expected, and are dissatisfied with their purchase.
To combat this phenomenon, many companies offer samples for customers to try their products out before they buy.
Of course, the idea isn’t exactly revolutionary. You’ve probably seen those cute perfume samples, allowing you to smell the perfume before buying. But let’s face it, in a world where everyone’s handing out tiny portions of their wares, you’ve got to do more than just blend in like a chameleon at a paintball party.
It is imperative that you inject a little bit of engagement into your customers’ sampling experience.
So, stick around as we uncover the secrets of turning ordinary samples into an engagement fiesta. Let’s get sampling, shall we? 🎉
Gamification in Product Sampling Marketing
If there’s one way to make the whole experience fun, it’s to incorporate some gamification into the sampling process. Gamification can boost your sales by up to 10%, and it also increases customer acquisition by 700%!
Moreover, you can also use gamification to collect customer-based data, such as their name, their demographic, and their contact details. Simply have them fill out an online form before they play the game.
You can choose to have customers scan QR codes at your store, or on your website to play the game. Alternatively, you can also have a kiosk in your store where customers can play the game there.
Making the sampling experience memorable for your customer helps them to remember you, and they may even purchase your product if they found it enjoyable enough. Here are several ways that you can consider integrating games into your sampling process:
1: Gamified Surveys
One way to make your customer’s sampling experience a more interesting one is to allow them to do a gamified survey after sampling. Not only can you collect valuable information about how you can improve your service, you can also draw customers in with the promise of fun and games.
These games can be sure-win games, where customers will definitely get something, be it a small or a large prize. They can can be digital vouchers for the products that they have tried, giving them an further boost to purchase the product.
2: Let the wheel decide which flavour to sample!
The goal of sampling is to give your customers something to try without themselves spending money on you yet. Though, simply giving samples out to customers may not be as exciting as finding out what they get based on their luck.
You could spice things up with a Spin the Wheel game that works to choose the sample for your customers! Have them spin the wheel and see which scent, flavour, or product the arrow lands on, and that will be their sample.
This way, you can keep things interesting as each sample would be randomly picked from the lineup. Customers may also come back for more since they may want to play the game again to try to win other samples.
3: Points to Prize Games
Instead of a luck-based approach, you could engage your customers slightly more with your brand, using skill-based games like Catch the Falling Objects and Jigsaw Puzzle to determine the sample that your customer gets. The higher their score, the better the sample.
Of course, unlike the previous games, if your customer does not meet the points threshold to obtain a prize, then they would not. With this possibility of failure, customers that do not acquire a reward are likely to come back and try their hand again at the game.
This way, you can make the sampling experience more fun for your customers, and they would feel that their reward is fairer since they would be judged based on skill, and not luck.
Just like any other part of the customer’s journey, the sampling experience is another touchpoint between you and the consumers that you cannot neglect. Gamification is a good way to keep your customer’s attention on your brand and your products, and a fun way to distribute your samples as well.
If you are keen on incorporating gamification into your sampling experience, then be sure to check out Vouchermatic’s gamification engine! We provide a wide variety of games that may suit your fancy, from the aforementioned Spin the Wheel, Catch the Falling Objects, and many more!
We use an API-first platform that allows us to integrate our engine with your existing platforms and systems. Furthermore, we are a managed services company, so you don’t have to worry about the technicalities of working the engine.
Interested? Then contact us here, and our friendly and dedicated team is happy to answer any and all questions you have. We can even provide a free demo upon request!
