Ready to dive into the wild world of field marketing management and in-store demos? If you work in marketing for a growing Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) brand selling in retail stores, this is for you. Whether you’re new to the game or looking to refine your strategy, this guide will break down what makes a field marketing program truly effective. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let’s chat about how to make your field marketing efforts profitable and successful.
What is Field Marketing?
First things first, let’s define what Field Marketing includes. Field marketing involves direct, in-person marketing activities designed to promote your brand and products to end consumers and shoppers. This includes in-store demos, events, street teams, and more. It’s all about getting your products into the hands of as many potential customers as possible, making a memorable impression, being knowledgeable about your product and its benefits, and being able to measure the return on investment.
What it Takes to Run Successful Field Marketing and In-Store Demo Programs
1. Clear Objectives
Every good field marketing program starts with clear, measurable objectives. What do you want to achieve? Is it increased brand awareness, sales, or maybe gathering consumer feedback? Defining your goals upfront will guide all your activities and help you measure success.
2. Target Audience
Knowing your audience is crucial. Who are you trying to reach with your field marketing efforts? What are their demographics? Where or how do they shop? Understanding their demographics, preferences, and shopping behaviors will allow you to tailor your approach and choose the right locations and retailers for your activities.
Pro Tip: Leverage POS sales data by demographic (watch video clip)
Reporting in the Promomash DemoGenius platform includes sales data from Crisp organized by various demographic elements, including gender, age, household income and location. This allows you to validate existing strategies or find new potential audiences you may have been missing.
3. Strategic Planning
A solid plan is the backbone of any successful field marketing program. This includes selecting the right events or locations for in-store demos, scheduling activities ahead of time, and coordinating with retailers or event organizers to ensure there is sufficient stock at the location. Don’t forget to consider logistics like staffing, transportation, and even something as simple as weather can have a major effect on your event.
Pro Tip: Schedule promotions & in-store demos together for greater impact.
Not only will it boost trials, but it will help to drive more of those first purchases and give the shopper a chance to leave the store feeling exceptionally good about what they purchased. Post promotion/demo, analytics in DemoGenius include sales overlaid with demo and event activity, so you can see whether there was actual sales lift during and after the event.
Diving Into In-Store Demos
One of the most effective tactics in field marketing for CPG brands is the in-store demo (otherwise known as sampling events). Here’s why they’re so powerful and how to make them work better for you.
Why In-Store Demos Matter
In-store demos allow consumers to experience your product firsthand “IRL” or in real life – what a concept, right? They can see, touch, and taste it, which significantly increases the likelihood of purchase. But this becomes even more important if most shoppers otherwise don’t know who you are. Driving trial is key for startup and growing brands that don’t have big marketing budgets. These events introduce the brand, its story, and create a memorable experience for the shopper that ideally results in repeat purchases and loyal customers.
For new brands, in-store demos are also virtually a requirement by retailers to drive initial sales. With so much competition on the shelf and so many established brands around you, demos provide an invaluable opportunity to engage directly with consumers, answer questions, and gather valuable feedback at the stores that you are already selling in.
Tips for Successful In-Store Demos
Choose High-Volume Locations
Set up your demos in stores with high foot traffic to maximize visibility, reach and sales. It is always a good idea to try and get more out of your best locations rather than try to get a little bit out of your slower locations. 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your retail doors. Invest in them.
Train Your Staff & Their Staff
Ensure your Brand Ambassadors and demo staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about your products. They are the face of your brand! Don’t forget to train and get to know the store level staff too. These folks are your best salespeople when you or your BAs aren’t in the store. Help them love you and your product.
Offer Incentives
Small incentives like discounts or branded swag can encourage purchases and boost brand engagement with consumers.
Here’s how one brand mastered the art of the in-store demo despite COVID
Effective Demo Management
Managing a field marketing program, especially when it involves multiple in-store demos, ambassador payment, and scheduling, can be challenging. Many brands start by attempting to manage such programs in Google Docs or spreadsheets. But there are so many moving pieces that it soon becomes inefficient and overwhelming.
This is where we strongly recommend a demo management platform like DemoGenius by Promomash. DemoGenius was literally built to manage every excruciating detail that encompasses the people, processes, logistics and reporting involved in demo and field marketing events. Here is how it makes so many field marketing, brand, and demo program managers’ lives easier.
Scheduling and Staffing
Schedule your demos well in advance – individually, or in bulk – to coordinate with store managers and secure prime spots. With your entire event schedule in DemoGenius, you can alert your staff of Brand Ambassadors and demo reps of upcoming events and assign them to events via the platform.
Day-Of Tracking
As staff arrive to scheduled demos or events, they can be required to check-in via the Promomash app on mobile, so you don’t have to wonder if they arrived on time, or at all. BAs or reps can also record before/after inventory, answer customizable surveys, record shopper feedback, take photos, and much more to ensure you have a detailed and comprehensive post-event report.
Post-Event Reporting and Payment
Once the demo or event is over, your BAs or reps complete the post-event report (which is completely customizable to your needs). The report is submitted for approval, and then payment for the event is issued to the staffer once approved.
And voila! Another event complete with no spreadsheets harmed, and stress levels lowered.
Measuring In-Store Demo Success
Sales Performance & Lift
The goal of an in-store demo is to increase consumer engagement and sales. At minimum, you should be monitoring sales data before, during, and after your demos to gauge their impact, even if it’s not an exact science. Your event staff can also assist with this by tracking before and after inventory.
Data challenges might make it difficult to measure demos against exact sales. As mentioned earlier in this article, the insights available in DemoGenius via the Promomash + Crisp integration provide accurate and daily sales data overlaid with events. This allows you to instantly see sales lift from demos as well as compare sales by location, rep, and more.
Brand Ambassador Performance
Another aspect that influences in-store demo success is obviously the reps conducting them. Having the best Brand Ambassador talent who is passionate and knowledgeable about your products will go a long way. Make sure to measure each individual rep’s performance and compare their results to get a better understanding of effectiveness. In DemoGenius, you can compare all reps’ sales results as reported to actual POS register data. Watch how it’s done here.
Collecting Feedback
In-store demos are a great opportunity for gathering feedback from both consumers and in-store staff to identify areas for improvement. Many of our clients have rebranded, repackaged, sourced innovation ideas, etc. directly from the feedback obtained during demos.
Adjust and Improve
As Peter Drucker said, “what gets measured gets managed.” Your field marketing program can only improve if you know where you’re starting from. Use the data and feedback you’re able to gather to make continuous improvements.
What if an agency is managing my demos?
Many brands choose not to handle demos in-house and hire an agency to take it on. And this is perfectly fine – we have many agency clients who use our platform to manage their clients’ demo programs. Having said that, it’s helpful to understand the pros and cons to outsourcing. Regardless of which way you go, it’s always important to ensure you’re tracking the performance of your events and keep an eye on quality of execution, expenses and ROI.
Pros: All events are handled for you. No headaches on scheduling, staffing, merchandising, or compensating the staff. Your agency will handle all of this for you and report back on their sales successes.
Cons: Working with an agency can be more expensive. You may not have control over the BAs selected, and how your pitch is executed. You also may not have direct visibility into any raw results data and direct consumer feedback.
Final Thoughts
Building a successful field marketing and demo program for your CPG brand is all about preparation, execution, and quick adaptation. By setting clear objectives, understanding your target audience, and strategically planning your activities, you can create memorable experiences that drive profitable sales and build brand loyalty. And remember, an effective in-store demo management platform is key to making your in-store demos run smoothly and successfully.
Ready to take your field marketing to the next level? Get out there, connect with your consumers, and watch your brand grow!
If you’d like to learn more about Promomash and our DemoGenius Field Marketing Management tool you can book a meeting here.