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Experiential street team marketing : Do you ever wonder how best to distribute your product samples? / Sally Durcan, Hotcow

Do you ever wonder how best to distribute your product samples?

Modern technology has made it easy to avoid advertisements – we are able to skip through ads when watching pre-recorded shows, and download free software to block most online ads.

This presents a huge problem for brands that invest heavily in traditional forms of marketing.

Ttoday’s marketers must think outside of the box to connect with customers who have grown cynical to advertising. One way to do this is with experiential street team marketing. This method uses brand ambassadors or promotional staff to create outdoor brand engagement in areas where consumers work, live and play. It’s an extremely effective way to deliver your product samples.

Street team marketing

Do you ever wonder how best to distribute your product samples?

Employing a street team to hand out product samples is an inexpensive way to generate awareness of a new product. However, as you’ve probably noticed yourself, not all street teams are effective.

Just think about that time someone tried to offer you a free product sample and you kept your head down or pretended to take an urgent phone call.

Here are 3 nuggets of wisdom to help you succeed with your street team product sampling campaign:

1. Recruit a stellar team

Age, gender, ethnicity, appearance, languages and availability all play a role in selecting the right team to promote your product. If you choose to recruit a team yourself, be mindful of your product and brand image to narrow down the perfect representatives for your product. Who does your target audience relate to?

Alternatively, you can hire an agency like Hotcow to help you recruit an ‘A class’ team that aligns with your brand and values.

2. Research The Perfect Location

You can’t stick a team in the middle of a field and expect them to distribute 300,000 product samples. You also can’t place a street team for organic food in front of a McDonald’s. It’s crucial to select an appropriate time and location for your street team to appear. Figure out where your target audience will be and place the product directly in their path.

3. Provide comprehensive training

If your street team isn’t well informed, they won’t be able to accomplish anything. Be sure to tell them the main features and benefits of your product so they aren’t simply handing out product samples of things they know nothing about.

What makes your product unique? Why should consumers choose you? Relay this information to the street team so they’re equipped to enthuse customers and answer questions about your product.

Do you ever wonder how best to distribute your product samples?

The bottom line is that you get out what you put in, so the better trained your street team is, the better equipped they’ll be to represent your brand.

@Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442

 

Graphics by Shutterstock