How using prequalification questions can boost the ROI of your sampling campaign

More than 80% of consumers want to touch or try products before committing to a purchase. This makes sampling a perfect way for your brand to acquire new customers or even fortify loyalty with existing ones. 

However, to see real results, you need to get samples in the hands of your ideal customers, which can be a tall order.

Advanced targeting helps you minimise unnecessary spending on sampling campaigns and, most importantly, get your products into the hands of the right consumers. By combining this with a well-written prequalification survey, you’ll be sure to find prospects who will actually engage with your campaigns.

How to qualify customers for sampling campaigns   

Qualifying leads with advanced tools will help you identify customers with the best fit for the product sampling campaign — and likelihood of purchase. Customers with high levels of engagement and a connection to a product category are most likely to become buyers, leave reviews, or opt-in to brand marketing after receiving a sample. What’s more, precise targeting cuts the cost per lead by 60%, allowing your team to make the most of the marketing budget. 

For example, a sampling campaign for Flexitol’s Rescue Heel Balm targeted Meta users within their ICP. Not only did they minimise unnecessary spend, but they also put products in the hands of customers who fit their target profile, with 93% of them indicating intent to purchase.

Any successful sampling campaign starts with two central considerations: your brand’s goals and your ideal customer. 

Consider your brand’s goals

The criteria you use to qualify participants in your campaign should align with your brand’s overall goals. This won’t just affect who you target but also where ads and prequalification surveys are placed. 

In general, new product adoption can be achieved with offers sent to existing customers in your CRM or promoted with website banners or pop-ups. On the other hand, customer acquisition and driving brand awareness may rely entirely on ads with segmentation via Meta or targeted publisher media.

Let’s say you want to introduce current customers to a new product. In this case, you should focus on emails or pop-ups on your site. In a campaign for dog food, Caledon Farms targeted their existing customers with a pop-up ad for a free sample of their dog food product. Caledon Farms’ free sample worked for acquisition as well, but they first needed to increase awareness and find new leads with a paid ad campaign on social media. 

Ensure alignment with your target segments

Most products have specific genders, ages, and shopping habits that make them more or less likely to purchase your product. So it is important to define demographic criteria upfront. 

• Age: An anti-aging cream is probably not as desirable for people under 25, who are unlikely to need a product to fight wrinkles. What’s more, placing your ads on Meta will reach an audience closer to your ICP than a platform with a younger audience like TikTok. 
• Ability to use the product: Determine if there are any roadblocks to a customer using the sample. For example, in a campaign for wellness supplements, candidates may need to respond that they have normal blood pressure to qualify. 
• Shopping preferences: The amount of money someone spends on a product category, the brands they’re loyal to, concerns they’re trying to address, etc. are all important considerations. In many cases, only 25% of shoppers are looking to switch to new brands or try new products. Identifying brand loyalists will help you avoid including them in the sample base. 

Casting a broad net and sending samples without prequalifying leads can result in an audience of people just looking for free goods, with no intention of ever purchasing the item. To avoid these freebie hunters and narrow your targeting, you also need a prequalification survey.  

How to formulate prequalification questions to find the strongest leads  

Prequalification surveys help you gather basic information to determine whether a customer is a candidate for the product you’re sampling. These questions will vary greatly depending on your industry, but they all accomplish the same goal of aligning your campaign to the right target segments. 

Keep questions simple but specific

For the best results, prequalification questions should be direct and specific. Oversimplifying questions or leaving them too broad will harm your ability to segment, including customers who aren’t likely to engage with your brand or purchase products. 

For example, if you’re running a sample campaign for a face wash that’s intended for acne-prone skin, simply asking, “Do you use face wash?” will not be enough to find consumers with those specific skin concerns. Instead, try asking leads if they struggle with breakouts. 

Use straightforward language

On the other hand, questions that are difficult for consumers to understand can exclude consumers who are a good fit. To avoid this issue, write your questions in a way that someone with no prior knowledge of your product will be able to understand. This means excluding any technical jargon, complex language, or lengthy sentences. 

For example, a regular consumer may not be familiar with the uses of peptides in skincare products, such as Ole Henriksen’s Strength Trainer Peptide Boost range. For this reason, instead of asking “Would you use a peptide product?” it is important to educate and inform consumers to generate quality engagement. Preceding such a question with a quick rundown of the product’s benefits can help customers decide. 

How 3 key industries qualify leads for sampling campaigns

While there will be overlap in the foundational questions, such as demographics, the rest of the prequalifying process is unique to the needs of different sectors. The point is to narrow this list to lifestyle (or psychographic) characteristics of your buyer personas. 

Let’s look at how questions differ between three key industries in specific use cases. 

Pet food: How Caledon Farms focused their prequalification survey on dog owners 

In the Caledon Farms campaign mentioned previously, the company wanted to acquire new customers while also acknowledging their existing customers. To achieve this, they used targeted Meta ads to prompt consumers to answer a few questions to request a sample. 

The ad featured a brief rundown of their product offerings, as well as three simple questions:

1. Do you have a dog? By narrowing the question to dogs only, they weeded out owners of other pets, such as cats, fish, or reptiles. Just asking, “Do you have a pet?” is not specific enough.
2. What is your dog’s name? Asking for a dog’s name is a good way to customise campaign messages, allowing you to add personal touches in follow-up emails.
3. Have you heard of our brand before? The product samples provided to customers differed depending on their response. Someone who had heard of the brand would receive a different product from those who had not. 

Skincare: How brands like Estée Lauder stand out in a crowded industry

The skincare industry is big business, with brands offering products to address a massive array of concerns. Nearly half of customers say they’re loyal to their most recent skincare brand, making it important to establish their shopping habits. But skincare is also highly personal, so many questionnaires as about the customer’s main skin concerns. 

Some questions that may help certify skincare leads include: 

1. How much would you normally spend on skincare? If a product exceeds a customer’s typical budget, they are not likely to purchase the product — no matter how effective it may be. In one American study, only 10% of participants indicated a desire to spend more than $50 on a product.
2. How often do you buy new brands of skincare products? If a lead has strong brand loyalty to their previously purchased skincare brands, they may be reluctant to try a new product. 
3. What are your primary skin concerns? Estée Lauder used a similar question to find customers concerned with red, sensitive skin to sample a new skin serum. 

Wellness: How two brands aligned their sampling campaigns with health needs

The wellness industry is also highly competitive. Customers are skeptics about new products in their daily routines, so sampling is a great way to give customers a risk-free opportunity to try a new product. 

The Good Patch optimised their sampling campaign by matching their daily patches to people with a variety of concerns, including sleep, energy, or menstrual symptoms. Their prequalification questions were designed to capture fundamental information. 

1. What needs would you consider to be addressed with this patch? With a large range of patches, customers could select from needs such as sleep, recovery, energy, women’s health, relaxation and relief. 
2. Do you have any of these ailments? The Good Patch used a similar question (in multiple-choice format) to find the right product to send. Similarly, Amberen, a perimenopause and menopause relief supplement brand asked whether leads had normal blood pressure and at least one ovary — to avoid any complications with the product.  
3. Have you ever used CBD products and are you of age to purchase them? Ensuring leads are of age first and foremost is a legal must when selling age-restricted goods, such as CBD. Once that is established, getting an idea of their experience with CBD products can determine whether they are likely to use your products, as well as get an idea of the level of education you should provide while sending the sample.