Marketing is vital to the success of any brand within the food and beverage industry. With competition continuously emerging, food brands are having to utilize a variety of marketing methods across all channels to help promote and maintain a positive brand image to consumers. Some of the most successful and established brands are continuously enhancing their marketing efforts to increase customer loyalty and maximize sales. Oreo is among the many pantry staple brands that is innovating their marketing initiatives constantly by considering trending topics, current events, consumer eating behaviors, and more.
Things to Consider When Developing Your Marketing Plan
Brand Image & Positioning
To be competitive among comparable brands you will need to define the type of image you want to portray to your ideal customers. Differentiate yourself from competitors and highlight those distinct attributes throughout all your marketing efforts. This will help create a definitive brand image and position for your products and will highlight all the key selling points to a consumer.
Digital Marketing Presence
Many people are utilizing the internet and social media platforms for their buying decisions. Because it’s one of the most accessible ways for a food or beverage brand to access consumers, stay ahead and saturate your business in all digital aspects from website to social media platforms. By connecting with your customers at multiple touch points early on in their purchasing journey, you’re more likely to build a loyal customer base.
Paid Advertising
When you are an emerging brand, one of the best ways to get in front of your audience is through advertising. Utilize all forms of paid advertising: search, display, video, social media and more. This will allow your brand to directly jump in front of your target customer’s eyes and allow them the opportunity to learn more about you. The best way to create a good base of clients is to capture them with creative visuals and your key selling points. If you look like every other brand, more than likely they will not want to learn more. If you can show them what makes you different in a matter of seconds that will give you an opportunity to rise above your competition.
Promotions & Seasonal Offers
Providing discounts and coupons on products is a significant way of attracting customers. People are more willing to try something new if they have an incentive of saving money. Once they are hooked on the product, not only will they come back but they will recommend it to loved ones. Be strategic and tactful with the promotions, try to relate it to the season to increase more purchases. For example, run a promotion on cold drink products during the summer seasons.
Blogging & Influencers
Blogging is utilized by almost all industries and is one of the key ways to get consumers to know your brand and products in a unique and personalized way. Many consumers experiment with new foods and drinks after being influenced by personal opinions, reviews and recipes. Several brands will hire the bloggers and influencers to advertise its products on their own platforms. This allows brands to grow their audience, as many people look to these influencers for product recommendations and find them trustworthy resources. Research some of the top bloggers and social media influencers in your vertical and consider working with them to market your product.
Demo & Events
Consider offering product samples for the customers to try. The best way for a customer to decide whether they like a product is allowing them the opportunity to try it. Not only will this help get your customers to fall in love with your product, but more than likely they will purchase the product soon after the sampling. You can also host a seasonal event to try to promote products and allow customers to network with your brand in an individualized way.
There are many ways to market your food or beverage brand outside of the store. Allowing your brand to utilize all aspects of its marketing landscape will increase your customer following and loyalty. Consider adopting these methods into your marketing plans to see significant growth in all aspect of the brand.
Contact us to develop a comprehensive marketing plan for your brand.
