Launchmetrics Product Sneak Peek: How to Calculate the Return of your Sample Send-Outs

In an industry where creativity meets commerce, sample tracking software is crucial for your sample-driven strategy. From a design concept to the bright lights of the runway and even sample send-outs, brands still face common challenges throughout the sample journey. Losses, delays, complications in responding to multiple requests and uncertainty about the return of each sample send are just some of the adversities encountered daily.

And in a world where TikTok streams 'sample sales' content that harnesses 80 million views, measuring the return of your sample activations is more important than ever. Brands strategically leverage samples to grab media attention, transforming prototypes into PR assets. Analyzing the impact of media coverage on sample use, brand exposure and engagement provides a strategic edge.

Now, here’s a game-changer: what used to take our customers an average of four hours to track samples is now streamlined to just 15 minutes. That's with a sample loss reduction of 95% and a four-fold increase in fulfilled requests. But that's not all. Explore the highlights in our Infographic below.

Contrary to popular belief, a sample strategy won't simply rely on any old sample tracking software ("old" being the operative word). Yes, outdated processes and platforms are still rife within the industry and hampering well-intentioned marketing efforts. The answer to executing a foolproof strategy lies in having the right sample tracking software that underpins your confident and data-driven decisions.

In this article you’ll learn…

How Does Measuring the Impact of Samples Improve Press and Marketing Efforts?

In our latest blog, "How to Elevate Fashion Sample Tracking (and Quantify with MIV®)", we explored how samples are crucial components of fashion PR. These assets hold significance as they reach the desks of press, influencers and buyers before hitting consumer stores. They lay the groundwork for successful Brand Performance - a powerful tool to generate interest and buzz through editorial coverage.

Samples take center stage in opportunities such as fashion shows, trade shows, showrooms, influencer endorsements and editorial and media photoshoots. So, having sample tracking software that intrinsically understands the concept and power of a sample activation is indispensable.

Let's break down three reasons why measuring these sample activations is vital for PR Professionals:

Resource Optimization: It helps identify which past samples have generated the most positive response and media coverage. This insight allows the team to invest resources wisely. You can direct future budgets toward samples that are more likely to yield higher returns in terms of brand visibility and positive reception.
Strategic Targeting: By measuring responses and engagement from past samples, your team can identify influencers, publishers, or specific pieces that garnered the most attention. This enables you to target individuals and outlets for upcoming events strategically, ensuring samples reach the right audience and generate buzz.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Insights from past campaigns help you to refine communication strategies, adapt to trends and make informed decisions on future sample distributions. This approach enhances planning efficiency as it ensures your efforts align with your target audiences and brand goals.

The ability to measure the impact of sample activations helps teams to make informed decisions, use resources effectively and plan for future events. Overall, you're contributing to the success and visibility of a brand.

What is the Launchmetrics Samples and Discover Integration?

Before we dive into the integration, let’s take a closer look at our sample tracking software and our media monitoring solution.

Launchmetrics Samples

Improve your overall sample control in general to avoid dreaded losses and delays. In turn, this will lead to an easier handling of more complex requests.
Tired of losing sight of your sample movements? Keep track of all your samples in one space for full visibility of current, last and next locations. Arranging by collection will also keep you optimized, organized and accountable.
By minimizing your sample losses you save money and reduce delays - which means even more chance of maximizing coverage.
With a smoother global sample distribution plan and processes, relationships between internal and external stakeholders are vastly improved.

Launchmetrics Discover

Enhanced media monitoring leads to process efficiency, more confident decision making and a much happier workforce.
Having one hub that collates global print, online and social media mentions (including Chinese platforms) means you never miss a mention.
By filtering your coverage by brand, product, channel, language, Voice or even region, you can spend less time organizing and assessing results and more time strategizing.
Quantified coverage - that links back to each send out - allows you to understand the true value of a sample and gather an elevated view of performance. Instant access to this type of data analysis is rate and will set you apart from the coverage competition. Quantified coverage results also feed into future sample strategies and visually demonstrate an instant return on press efforts.

But what truly sets us apart is the integration of Samples and Discover.

The Sample Tracking Software Integration

It bridges the gap between product loans and the ROI of said samples. This suite of solutions empowers brands to directly link send-outs with media coverage across channels. How is this quantified? Through Media Impact Value® (MIV®). In the platform, users can review all press mentions and identify which sample secured the coverage. This helps to truly gauge the success of each asset or collection as a whole. It also demonstrates your most popular publications, engaged Editors, most aligned influencer Voices and more.

To sum up, you can measure partnership success, identify influential Voices and optimize ROI through real-time analytics. With this coveted information, brands have the agility to adapt store orders, refine PR strategies and focus efforts on specific items or Voices. Every decision is backed by tangible data, as the integration flawlessly connects efficient sample management with media monitoring.

For brands struggling with anything from lost samples or uncertain ROI, our Samples and Discover solutions emerge as true game-changers, transforming common challenges into strategic advantages.

How Does this Sample Tracking Software Integration Work?

Using our sample tracking software makes measuring the impact of your sample activations easy and providing indispensable insights, including the quantified MIV® generated and the reach it garnered. Let’s guide you through the process:

Getting Started With Our Sample Tracking Software

Navigate to the Send-Out Manager Page within Launchmetrics Samples. From here, you'll have a view of past sample send-outs and their associated placements. Integration with our media monitoring tool, Launchmetrics Discover, ensures you see both manually added samples and those suggested by the algorithm. This placements are discovered and evaluated thanks to the editorial details you provided during the send-out creation.

Linking Placements to Your Send-Out

From the Send-Out Manager page, click on the suggested placement for your selected sample. This action directs you to the "Manage Placements" page. Here, Launchmetrics suggests up to five placements matching your editorial details. Easily accept or decline suggestions using the tick and cross options. Each placement provides crucial insights, including the quantified MIV® generated and the reach it garnered.

Handling Multiple Samples in One Send-Out

When sending out multiple samples, you can distinguish each placement on the Manage Placements page. After approving the placements for your samples, you can tag each placement with the specific sample it belongs to. To do this, click the 'plus' icon on the suggested placement and choose the correct sample. This step is important to keep track of different samples in a single send-out.

Managing Sample Status and Editorial Details

In the Manage Placements page, you have the option to manually change the editorial details and status of your sample send-outs. This includes adding extra editorial information and updating samples to differentiate between placed and unplaced ones. You can also identify samples that have been featured based on your chosen placements. Streamlining this process is crucial for PR professionals, simplifying the tracking of placements, MIV® generation, and reach associated with your samples.

Handling Samples Without Editorial Details

If editorial details were omitted during send-out creation, locate placements manually by using the search bar labeled "Search for Placements." This feature directs you to a Discover feed where you can find and link placements by ticking the corresponding box next to each relevant one.

Calculating Total MIV® for Send-Outs

After approving all placements associated with your sample send-out, return to the "Manage Placements" dashboard. In the right-hand corner, Launchmetrics will automatically display the total number of placements and the overall MIV® generated for those sample send-outs.

Assessing Media Performance

For an overview of your sample activations, navigate to the reporting tab and find the new report type labeled "Media Performance". Customize filters based on criteria such as designer, time-period, season, or collection. Analyze overall performance metrics like total MIV®, placement count and conversion rate. Or, delve into individual samples grouped by barcode, style, or external SKU.

For a visual walkthrough of the entire process, here’s a quick tutorial that demonstrates how to link samples to specific media placements easily in our platform.

Optimize your 2024 Strategy with Our Sample Tracking Software and Enhanced Coverage Performance

Understanding the impact of your sample activations is crucial when you work in PR. With our integration, you gain immediate visibility into the status of your send-outs and the MIV® generated by each specific sample. This extends to a detailed analysis of placements, whether manually selected or suggested, allowing you to delve into the historical context and performance of past sample activations.

The "Manage Placements" feature offers individual placement analysis. Gauge an overview of MIV®, the number of associated placements and editorial details. This level of detail is essential for maintaining quality control and staying on top of the status of your send-outs.

Moreover, the Media Performance report is especially relevant for you. It not only provides a review of sample activations - encompassing metrics like total MIV®, placement count and conversion rate - but also enables you to pinpoint publications that have yielded the most value from your sample sends.
By having visibility on these insights, you can fine-tune your PR strategies to ensure a better allocation of resources and efforts based on your objectives.

If you're curious about the connection between Samples and Discover, why not request a demo? Our expert consultants are here for a chat whenever you're ready.

By Charlotte Gillet. Business Marketing Coordinator

Based in London, Charlotte is a Marketing Coordinator at Launchmetrics. Passionate about creating inspiring content, she recently graduated from UCL with a MA in Publishing. Invested in learning more about the businesses of Fashion, Luxury, and Beauty worldwide; she is excited to explore the ever-changing landscape of these industries.