Business
Taylor Verbeck is the President and CEO of Social Sampling, a company that utilizes the force of social media and influencers to engage consumers before shopping and up to the moment of purchase. She started her career at the age of 14 after an in-store event put on by a national marketing company. After high school, she was promoted to Regional Manager at Mass Connections, managing over 5,000 events a month at stores like Walmart and Target. In 2011, Taylor partnered with her mother to start Social Sampling, adding an innovative social media approach to the world of in-store demos. Keeping it in the family, she added her husband, Brandon, to the team and has continued growing the business. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: How Taylor Verbeck's business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how Social Sampling pivoted How Taylor found her first contact list when she started Social Sampling Taylor talks about her background, the future of demoing, and her primary customers Social Sampling's expansion strategies and how the company targets different audiences How sampling boxes work and some of the manufacturers the company works with Taylor talks about some of the products she has sent out and how she works with small brands How Taylor's husband joined Social Sampling and her future social media plans for the company How manufacturers receive feedback about the results of their product’s demos Taylor's advice to fellow entrepreneurs on growing a business In this episode… Handling demos during the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a big challenge for many CPG brands. One of the obstacles has been the restrictions put in place. With regulations limiting in-store demoing due to physical distancing, how can you get your product in your audience’s hands — and out the door? The team at Social Sampling came up with a great idea for demos: do them at home. Instead of having consumers come to an in-person event, Social Sampling sends sample boxes to consumers for testing. Then, consumers are able to sample products at their own leisure, from their own homes. This has since helped many emerging brands get feedback from users about their products. Plus, it’s helped them make better business decisions. Taylor Verbeck, the President and CEO of Social Sampling, is Steve Cleere's guest in this episode of the NexxtLevel Brands Podcast, where she talks about building a product sampling business serving CPG brands. Taylor explains how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted her work and how she had to pivot to thrive during the crisis. Stay tuned. Subscribe and Listen on: iTunes Spotify Stitcher Google Play Deezer iHeartRadio TuneIn Radio Public Amazon Music Player FM Resources Mentioned in this episode Kitchen2Shelf NexxtLevel Marketing NexxtLevel Marketing Blog Social Sampling Social Sampling on Facebook Social Sampling on Instagram Social Sampling on Twitter Staying Connected Taylor Verbeck on LinkedIn Stater Bros. Markets Chobani PepsiCo STAR Fine Foods Beam Suntory 99 Cents Only Stores Cool News: The NexxtLevel Brands Podcast has just been named as one of the Top 15 CPG-Themed Podcasts on the web!!! We're at Lucky #7 and you can get more information about Feedspot and how you can watch more of your favorite shows here: Top CPG Podcasts – Thanks to Feedspot, Rise25 and our Production Team! Sponsor for this episode... Our podcast today is sponsored by Kitchen2Shelf, the educational arm of NexxtLevel Brands. Kitchen-2-Shelf provides online and in-person courses and workshops for CPG entrepreneurs at any stage of growth. Whether you're an early-stage startup, a local growing business, or if you want to just expand your distribution to a national level, Kitchen-2-Shelf can help you learn what you need to know to grow. Visit their website to get access to some free tools that can help you understand where your business stands. Contact them today to find out how they can help you grow your brand and expand your business to reach its full potential.