One of the best ways to market a brand is through a personal interaction with the product or service you are selling. A small sample of the brand can be all it takes to turn a prospect into a customer. Marketing is designed to grab your attention and get you to focus on a brand. It is meant to do more than just make you aware, but also to provide an experience that features the best aspects of the brand.

I was in a store today and was approached by a guy with a banana-strawberry smoothy sample – you know, the fruity yogurt milkshake. The store was promoting this new drink and, by handing out free samples, they were hoping consumers, like me, would buy their new product. However, there was more marketing going on than just handing out free fruity drinks in tiny little cups. The small deed of offering those samples did three acts of marketing aimed at me. First, it made me aware they were selling smoothies. Prior to this encounter, I had no idea that the product was for sale at this store. Second, it made it easy for me to give it a try. Who doesn’t like free stuff? By trying it, I formed an immediate impression of the brand. (It was good!) Third, it grabbed my attention for that moment. I was not in the store to buy a smoothie, so it was not even on my mind. For a moment, this act of marketing got me thinking about this one particular brand. I looked over all the flavors listed on the sign above the counter, and I saw where I could order a full-sized smoothie. Did I buy one? Not today, but I will be back. The marketing sold me.

One of the hardest progressions in marketing is to lead a potential customer from knowing about your brand to actually buying it. There are a lot of excuses consumers use when asked to put down money to buy a product or service. Most excuses are dissolved when you get a customer to try your brand. Once they have tried it, they can form an opinion based on their experience. Your brand is either good enough to buy or it is not. Most other arguments go away.

So what can you offer to potential customers that would entice them to try your brand? What is your equivalent to the little smoothie cups? Whatever it is, use it to effectively market to consumers. There is a marketing lure in that free sample…it’s hard to say no. If you believe in your brand, put it out there for people to try.