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Why peer to peer marketing is the best sampling method for your brand

Posted on: May 16, 2017 9:36 am

There are many different ways in which a brand can use sampling to reach new customers, with peer to peer being just one of them.

The question is, which one is going to deliver the best results to your target audience?

Often this is not a cost-led decision, as sampling is more than a simple transaction of passing a product from one person’s hand to another; instead, it’s about ensuring people try the product, like the product, remember the product, consider using the product, talk about the product and, ultimately, purchase the product.

Elective Sampling vs Proximity Sampling

In sampling planning terms, there are options known as Elective Sampling and Proximity Sampling.

Elective is where mums choose to sign up online for a free sample, while proximity is where a sample is given to a consumer at a specific location or event. Currently, over a quarter of mums are using Elective Sampling, i.e. they go online and sign up for selected samples. Why? Because they’re finding that there aren’t enough opportunities to get free samples any other way. In fact, our recent survey revealed that 25% of UK mums with dependent children aged between two and 16 aren’t getting samples at all. That’s a massive untapped audience!

If we break that down even further, one mum of every child at every school table in the country isn’t being reached. Imagine the possibilities if they were?

Is peer to peer the key to making your brand messaging stick?

There are three distinct groups of sampling: in-home, out-of-home and peer to peer.

In-home includes goodie bags, retailer shopper bags, online sign-ups, door drops and magazine cover mounts. Out-of-home is sampling at an event, a train station, on the high street, in-store or at the office. Peer to peer is when a mum gives a product to another mum. We asked our mums which of those methods would not only make them remember a product more but also which ones would enhance the likelihood of them talking about the product and make them consider purchasing the product. The results showed that peer to peer sampling is by far the most effective method, with nearly one in two mums telling us they would be more likely to remember the product if it was given to them by a peer.

Why? Because, put simply, mums listen to their friends, and if they’re shown a new product by a friend, it’s more likely to stick in their mind.

Peer to peer sampling – how the numbers stack up?

Mums are 33% more likely to remember a product if it is given to them by a friend than through in-home sampling method.

They are then 38% more likely to remember a product if it is given to them by a friend than through any out-of-home sampling method. Specifically, they are 45% more likely to remember a product if it is given to them by a friend than if they received it through an online sign up, and they are 52% more likely to remember a product if it is given to them by a friend than if they saw it on a magazine cover mount. Finally, mums are 22% more likely to remember a product if it is given to them by a friend than if it is given to them in-store.

So it’s clear that peer to peer sampling is the best way to not only get your brand or product into the right hands but also for your brand or product to be remembered, talked about and ultimately purchased. As one of the mums in our network recently told us: “I love trying new products as it helps add variety and excitement to the shopping each week and means I’m more likely to look for that product on the shelf, rather than scan over it, as there are so many brands and products in the shopping aisles these days.” Mandy Morris, mum to three kids aged four, eight and 10.

Talk to Mums is an influencer platform that connects brands with close to three million women with children aged two to teens through sampling and surveys. Get in touch today to find out how we can help you get your brands into the right hands.

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