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How digital sampling is taking influencer marketing to the next level

August 12, 2019
  ●  
Kelly Stewart

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How digital sampling is taking influencer marketing to the next level

An influencer putting on red lipstick with photos behind them.

Let’s face it–every time you scroll through Instagram or watch a new YouTube video featuring must-have products, chances are you’re looking at a sponsored post. While leveraging influencers to advertise new products is nothing new, brands are actually beginning to use influencers as a medium to drive product sample offers too.

From a brand’s perspective, using influencers as a platform to promote product sampling has a myriad of added benefits. Aside from the brand awareness influencer partnerships can wield, especially if the influencer’s audience is very engaged, sampling with influencers can also drive sales and website traffic.

Allowing consumers to actually try the product at home after watching their favourite influencer adds an entirely new level of engagement for the viewer. Through digital sampling, brands can now make influencer videos leap off the screen and into the homes of consumers, directly immersing them in the product review experience.

Check out Sampler’s recent campaign with o.b. Tampons featuring YouTube influencer Allana Davison:

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From an influencer perspective, product sampling with brands also has its perks. It can be an effective way to boost audience engagement and in turn, viewership–because who doesn’t love sharing a free offer with friends? Sampling also allows the influencer to create an entirely new genre of content, with something different to help them stand apart from their competitors.

With influencer partnerships still being a new marketing channel, though, it begs a very important question for brands: how is a brand able to measure the engagement levels of an influencer?

While the answer might seem as simple as looking at their audience size, it’s not that easy. An influencer may have a high follower or subscriber count, but it’s not necessarily an indication that they have quality audience engagement. It’s important for brands to be able to compare influencer audiences to better understand which influencer partnerships are knocking it out of the park, and which ones are falling flat.

In the end, aligning your brand with multiple micro or mid-tier influencers could be better than 1-2 powerhouse influencers–especially if those micro and mid-tier influencers have better engagement. It’s all about finding the right brand ambassador with the right audience for your brand.

So, how does digital product sampling fit in?

Digital product sampling can provide specific data on how impactful the influencers you are working with really are, and can help you understand if their audience is truly who you thought it was. Brands who add a product sampling call-to-action can collect deep consumer data including: email, age, gender, location and so much more.

Having the ability to know exactly who your influencer’s audience is makes building a campaign so much more effective and rewarding for both your brand, as well as the influencer.

If you’re thinking of adding a product sampling call-to-action to your next influencer campaign, speak to a sampling expert here.

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