Before you set up Sampling, you should understand the following key concepts.

Member acquisition

A community of your customers and best brand advocates is the basis of your sampling program. Community members are the consumers who will provide reviews based on samples they receive. When you define your community, you identify your most passionate consumers and enable them to be the voice of your brand by creating content for your products.

Time frame: 1-2 weeks, although this varies based on factors such as brand equity and awareness or consumer interest in product categories.

Campaigns

A campaign defines all of the program parameters: 

  • Product samples that will be offered
  • Selected community members who will review samples
  • Who will fulfill product requests (suppliers, manufacturers, or an in-house shipping team)
  • When and how long the campaign will run
  • How you will communicate with members

Time frame: 3-4 weeks, depending on whether the offer window needs to extend for more than one week, such as if fulfillment takes longer than a week because of arrangements with a fulfillment parconsumer-tner or if the evaluation period is longer than usual.

User-generated content (Reviews)

This is the goal of your sampling program—to generate reviews submitted by consumers and to enhance your Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews program. When shoppers see content from people like them, they are more confident to buy. Thus, the more content you can generate for a product, the more likely consumers will purchase it. Reviews are then displayed on your website or syndicated to retail sites.

Note: All reviews from a sampling program are badged according to the Bazaarvoice Authenticity Policy.

Time frame: 2-3 weeks, which also includes time for a review to be approved for display by moderation and available for syndication.