Give college students a sample of your product and you might get someone to try it out. Or they might toss it in the next trash can they see.
But give college students an opportunity to interact with your brand while they’re sampling your product, and they’ll not only try it out, they’ll share it with others, remember your brand, and be more likely to change their purchasing behavior.
The mobile generation operates in a sharing economy. Pair your sampling campaign with their mobile devices, and you’ll have exponential marketing success.
Here’s just a sampling of methods we’ve used to create a successful sampling campaign for the mobile generation.
Make It Social
Social proof is hugely effective among college students. Take advantage of it by pairing the sampling experience with social media.
In one campaign, our student brand ambassadors sampled 25,000 Sharpie Clear View Highlighters to their peers on 25 campuses. They announced their location through social media and encouraged social media engagement from students who received the highlighters as a way to say thank you to Sharpie. On many occasions, students who received the product were enthusiastic and mentioned in their posts how much they loved the sample they were given.
Student brand reps also organized three trivia nights on campus, where participants used the highlighter samples to mark their answers to the trivia questions. This provided an authentic demonstration of the product in a fun setting. Anyone who posted a picture of their trivia team using the hashtag #sharpieclearview received 10 bonus points toward the grand prize.
Use Email
Students always have their mobile devices with them, so they’re always within your reach. Get the news about your sampling campaign and generate excitement by sending them an email.
Get Video Testimonials
Another client used the power of video to amplify their sampling campaign. Dannon promoted their Oikos Triple Zero yogurt by recruiting student reps to perform a taste test and record a video testimonial. Video responses typically offer a true and unedited view into the mindset of a college student. Video is also hugely popular with millennials, and it can be attached to just about any social media platform. Students can have fun with their videos, and the more creative ones get shared more on social networks.
Get Instant Proof of Marketing Efforts
Brands who use Go Commando get instant proof of student brand ambassadors’ work. When brand reps hand out samples, they can take a photo on their mobile phones and send it to the brand to show their work. Student reps love using the Go Commando app on their phones, and our clients love getting immediate results.
Millennials are wired to ignore unsolicited interruptions. They won’t remember your product sample unless there’s a way for them to engage with it in a way they enjoy. Take advantage of that by building rewarding mobile experiences into your next on-campus sampling campaign. You’ll have a much greater ROI for your efforts, with almost zero additional cost.
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