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“Gotta Smell To Sell” sachets and sniffies


TallTayl

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Most of us start out with in person events, like fairs, craft shows, office swaps, etc to introduce our scented wares to potential customers.  The scents will often sell the product easily. What happens when you stop meeting in person? 
 

for over a decade my shop shelves were bursting at the seams with smelly goodness, but then the world changed. Online only shopping  is a much different venue to offer scented items. I found that people would gravitate toward things that were already familiar, bypassing unique scents that were more “risky”. This was especially true for more spendy items like candles.

 

In the last I sent simple sniffies to customers. They were simple foil wrapped absorbent paper with a little scent inside.  That helped a little.  But it missed the mark on branding and wasn’t the pro look I had aimed for.  It was also not generating any income for the time involved. 
 

winter is long, but can be a perfect time to do something that is out of the ordinary.  Have you ever smelled sachets in boutiques and seasonal stores and thought about making them? The hard part was finding the right envelopes.  After many tests, I figured those out and offered them over the holiday season.  They are pretty easy, but cost $ to ship.  
 

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I knew there had to be an easier option to get sniffie scents to people affordably.  While on the phone chatting  with a forum member in Texas about gardening, seed packets came up.  I found some plain white envelopes and went to work designing something totally new.  These are nifty because I can print them with whatever I want for the purpose.  For my co-op dupes I print pertinent info like IFRA limits on the back.  For retail I add a story. I can fit several in an invitation envelope for the cost of a first class stamp.  I am in love! I use both these and traditional sachets in my car to waft my scent of the day during my travels.  They’re surely prettier an better smelling than a little tree! 

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How do you market your scented products in an online dominated world? 

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A fe weeks back I saw something similar but it was for soap samples, and it struck me as “oh that cute” and it was solely  based on the size of the envelopes. As a consumer (I know I’m not the average consumer), I’d want to know some of scent notes and what products it would be available. Or maybe it could be a “sneak peak” for seasonal scents.

 

I’m also thinking about how do I pick FO from companies that don’t send samples? I know what I like (woody, some floral but not sweet floral, citrus, etc) and what I don’t like (sweet, vanilla, baked goods, water, etc). I told you I’m not the  average consumer 🤪😆. It’s more work, but based on the customer’s order you could include the sachets with you might like these. Again a lot more work in terms of time, but on your product page you could include links or images “if you like x, you might like y.” Then again, lesson learned from my jam company, less is more and too many options creates a certain type paralysis.

 

Not sure if any of my ramblings were helpful but there’s my two cents.

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57 minutes ago, Kris10Tackles said:

A fe weeks back I saw something similar but it was for soap samples, and it struck me as “oh that cute” and it was solely  based on the size of the envelopes. As a consumer (I know I’m not the average consumer), I’d want to know some of scent notes and what products it would be available. Or maybe it could be a “sneak peak” for seasonal scents.

 

I’m also thinking about how do I pick FO from companies that don’t send samples? I know what I like (woody, some floral but not sweet floral, citrus, etc) and what I don’t like (sweet, vanilla, baked goods, water, etc). I told you I’m not the  average consumer 🤪😆. It’s more work, but based on the customer’s order you could include the sachets with you might like these. Again a lot more work in terms of time, but on your product page you could include links or images “if you like x, you might like y.” Then again, lesson learned from my jam company, less is more and too many options creates a certain type paralysis.

 

Not sure if any of my ramblings were helpful but there’s my two cents.

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Sampling is a very big part of the online business, absolutely. I send product samples with purchases for people who like samples. Believe it or not, some people complained about getting free samples. 

 

One issue to consider is postage.  A soap sample can be several dollars to ship first class as it is too thick for the post office to consider a letter. A thin piece, like the old Avon samples, that can go out first class mail for a  regular stamp have a big place in a marketing campaign!  In the past for fragrance co-ops I had used foil around absorbent paper, which did the job, but was not really memorable.  I found little heat seal packets that might work, though they can be kind of $... 

 

Offering samples in product is an avenue I've been trying to make worthwhile. As you figured out, the scent in soap, room spray, lotion or candles can differ from out of the bottle. Spending hours a day shipping sample orders for little to no profit is not attractive to me.  I learned that hard lesson a while back. If I make the same profit a the end of the day sending sample packets as petting my dog watching old Hulu shows, I'd rather pet my dog :D The sample sets need to be easy to put together, attractive enough for people to spend money to buy and profitable enough to keep everyone happy.

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13 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Believe it or not, some people complained about getting free samples.

Oh I believe it! There are also those who complain the sample isn’t big enough! I still remember being at farmers market with people who would sample almost half a jar of jam and say, “it’s okay.” Or those who say, “your 8oz jar is too big because I don’t go through jam that fast and I’d like a smaller sized jar.” It’s been almost 10 years and I still remember those people. 🤪. What they didn’t understand, that you and I do, is those smaller sized offerings cost more to make than larger sized items. I totally get it!
 

I also wasn’t by any means saying send soap, I just responded to the size of her envelopes. If the scent didn’t change or dissipate too much on paper or be completely overwhelming, filling that with scented card with the need to know details. 

24 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

The sample sets need to be easy to put together, attractive enough for people to spend money to buy and profitable enough to keep everyone happy.

💯💯💯

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30 minutes ago, Kris10Tackles said:

Oh I believe it! There are also those who complain the sample isn’t big enough! I still remember being at farmers market with people who would sample almost half a jar of jam and say, “it’s okay.” Or those who say, “your 8oz jar is too big because I don’t go through jam that fast and I’d like a smaller sized jar.” It’s been almost 10 years and I still remember those people. 🤪. What they didn’t understand, that you and I do, is those smaller sized offerings cost more to make than larger sized items. I totally get it!
 

I also wasn’t by any means saying send soap, I just responded to the size of her envelopes. If the scent didn’t change or dissipate too much on paper or be completely overwhelming, filling that with scented card with the need to know details. 

💯💯💯

It costs MORE to make smaller sizes for sure! When I first started making candles, I thought I needed to offer 3 or 4 sizes. Then when you sit and do the math about how many configurations that is it's mind boggling. Stocking that many containers is too much of a challenge.  Plenty of Instagram people figured out 1 size works just fine.  Do it well and it sells to the right customer. i can't please everyone, but I can sure aim to please "my" people, right?

 

If you want, PM your ship to addy and I'll drop one of these in the mail to you 😃

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1 hour ago, TallTayl said:

... In the past for fragrance co-ops I had used foil around absorbent paper, which did the job, but was not really memorable ...

 

 

 

I wonder how candy foil wrappers might be able to work for that, they are 3" squares with colored foil ... just a thought!

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