Product sampling programs
Sample boxes and cartons designed, packed and mailed to targeted consumers from one plant in Gurnee, Illinois.
- USPS status
- Premier USPS Customer
- Mail authorizations
- Approved for Optional Procedure · Approved for commingling
- Plant
- 200,000 sq ft, Gurnee, Illinois
- Programs run
- From a single metro drop to a three-year cross-border program
Overview
Product sampling program
Providing sample boxes to targeted consumers is a great way to boost your product marketing strategy and earn more business. MGA Innovation can create numerous types of sampling packages in boxes and cartons, handling both the fulfillment and the direct mailing through a product sampling program.
We will help you get your sampled products into the right hands. Gain new customers and sustain return business with a product sampling program that promotes the products you want to showcase.
Because the samples are packed and mailed in the same building, there is no freight between a co-packer and a mail house, and one inventory record shows how many packs are built, held and dropped.
Sampling, explained
Sampling programs, explained
General notes
What is a product sampling program?
If you are interested in running a sampling of new products, a professional partner can help you create and maintain a product sampling program. While each program is different, all are centered on the same goals: engaging users, acquiring those users and selling products.
MGA will work with you to develop sampling programs that are organized and can accomplish the following objectives:
- Boost product sales (great for beauty products, clothing, personal hygiene items and more)
- Earn higher ratings and reviews
- Answer product questions
- Pair with actionable content on your social media campaigns
- Drive traffic to your product websites and microsites
- Solidify brand recognition
- And more
Why send samples at all?
Sending items to consumers is more than just handing out free products. It is a proven way to raise brand awareness and can influence purchasing decisions.
Is sampling only for new products?
No. Customize your product sampling programs, whether you are product testing or promoting an existing product.
One of the best known diaper brands was not number one on shelf in Canada. Three years and three variations of an expectant-parent sampling program later, it is. Read the program.
Can a sampling program run at volume?
Yes. Use your budget for free product distribution by mailing that inventory through distribution channels that convert prospects. Our team can also introduce product sampling into your supply chain management strategies with ease, even if your orders include thousands of products.
How do consumers ask for a sample?
Either the samples go out to a targeted list, or consumers request them through a page that feeds orders straight into fulfillment. In the second year of Sanofi’s Xyzal program, MGA added an order-capture landing page that eliminated duplicate requests and made the request data available to Sanofi in real time. See microsite hosting and order capture.
Building the program
How do you create a product sampling program?
MGA prides itself as an expert in product sampling program ideation. When you partner with us to determine new strategies, we will help you plan the program, then run it:
Step 1: Align products to target audiences
Share your personas, regional goals and any other research on your target audiences with us. Together, we can create a plan to mail product samples to prospects that have been analyzed and are more likely to convert.
Step 2: Identify inventory
Select the amount of product you want to dedicate to sample boxes or containers, based on your targets. We will assist your order scheduling to account for increases or decreases in your supply chain.
Step 3: Create your design and choose your packaging
You have a wide variety of box, cartoning, labeling and design options to choose from. We can help you develop custom designs and packaging that fit the shape and size of your items. Choose from FSE, two-piece rigid or tuck-style cartons, paperboard or corrugated boxes, and more.
Step 4: Coordinate with USPS standards and pricing
MGA is an expert mailing services provider who can guide you through the requirements set by the postal service. We also help you identify ways to save through commingling and co-operative sampling, and can provide specialized sampling so you gain additional insights to coordinate volume through customer feedback.
Step 5: Pack, address and mail
Samples are kitted, addressed and entered into the USPS mail stream from the same plant, under our approval for Optional Procedure.
In one building
Everything a sampling program needs
Each part of a sampling program has its own page here, and they all run on the same floor.
Targeting
Personas, regions and zip-code demographics turned into a mail plan. For Reynolds, MGA delivered a zip-code demographic targeting tool for the Atlanta area.
Sample mailers and cartons
Boxes, cartons and shrink-wrapped packs built around the sample, the inserts and the postage rate.
Kitting and assembly
One sample or several products in a single pack, with brochures, coupons and printed inserts.
Affixing
Samples bound to cards, printed literature and other marketing materials.
Order capture
A request page that feeds sign-ups straight into fulfillment, the kind that ended duplicate requests for Sanofi.
Lists and addressing
Mailing lists sorted by geography, demographics and customer interests, then addressed in line.
Postage
Premier USPS Customer. Approved for Optional Procedure and approved for commingling.
On the line
The processes behind a sampling program
| Zone | Process | Equipment | Food-grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production area | KittingSeparate items combined into one unit under one SKU: subscription boxes, promotional kits, sample packs. | Portable custom-built assembly lines | |
| Production area | CartoningItems enclosed in corrugated, chipboard and folding cartons for retail, sampling and mail. | Kodiak vertical cartoners · Adco semi-automatic horizontal cartoner · PMI Kyoto semi-automatic vertical cartoner | |
| Production area | Affixing and gluingCards, samples and promotional items attached to mailers and inserts; tipping and gluing lines. | Hot-melt glue systems · Gluing lines with mobile units | No |
| Production area | Inkjet printing and addressingVariable-data addressing, personalization and coupon codes printed in line. | Inkjet printing · Address systems | No |
Proof
Sampling programs we have run
A metro-wide drop ahead of a retail launch, a three-year cross-border program, and an OTC request program engineered around the postage rate.
Sampling a whole metro area ahead of a retail launch
Energy bag samples and educational material, mailed across the entire Atlanta, Georgia area to support a retail launch — inside the requested window.
- Client
- Reynolds
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Atlanta, Georgia metro
- Processes
- Mailer development, co-packing, targeting, distribution
Taking a diaper brand to number one on shelf in Canada
One of the best known diaper brands was not number one on shelf in Canada. Three program variations over three years later, it is.
- Client
- A leading diaper brand
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Canada, fulfilled from Gurnee
- Duration
- Three variations over three years
- Processes
- Printed cartons, kitting, fulfillment, cross-border distribution
An OTC sample program engineered around the postage rate
A carton designed for the best available USPS rate, mailed weekly to hold a two-week in-home window — then an order-capture page that ended duplicate requests.
- Client
- Sanofi
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Category
- OTC allergy
- Mail cadence
- Weekly
- In-home window
- Two weeks
We have worked with MGA for over 3 years and they have offered incredible service from the outset. The team at MGA are so incredibly helpful and have been excellent partners.
Product sampling
See better results with a sampling program from MGA
With MGA, your distribution of sample products will target the prospects you want at the right time, without overextending your budget. A product sampling program from our team will help you turn “giving away free stuff” into profits derived from data and resources. Partner with an expert who can help you convert more prospects into buyers and raise your brand awareness.
For 60 years we have worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, helping them earn success. We can help you too.
Related pages
- To the Mailbox
Sampling, lettershop and mail formats on one page.
- Product sampling custom mailers
The pack the sample travels in.
- Microsite hosting and order capture
Request pages that feed fulfillment.
- USPS mail operations
Optional Procedure, commingling and presort.
- Mail formats
Solo, shared or commingled: which one fits the list.
- What we need to quote
The intake checklist for a sampling brief.
Start a sampling program
Tell us the product, the audience and the in-home date. Contact us today to begin your partnership.