DEV Community: F and B Recipes

8 Highly Effective Marketing Strategies For a Food and Beverage Business

F and B Recipes — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 11:07:36 +0000

According to Fooddive, the Food and Beverage industry is the only industry that’s growing in 2020. As proof, a Statista report estimates that revenue in the F&B industry will amount to US$236,529m in 2020.

The key to growing in this industry is to adapt to the ever-changing tastes and preferences of your customers. In simple words, the more you adapt, the more you’ll be able to retain.

However, this is easier said than done. To do so, you need to constantly align your marketing strategies to sustain your rank in this highly competitive industry.

What exactly do consumers want from you?
Consumers today are obsessed with a sense of exploration and are on a hunt for new experiences. Hence, you need to work progressively to satisfy their needs with personalized efforts while maintaining quality standards.

I’m listing -- dominant F&B marketing strategies that you need to follow to build a customer base that’s strong and loyal and will help you increase your revenue.

Let’s dive in.

Brand positioning
To begin with, you need to create an exceptional brand image. Positioning it permanently in the minds of your target audience is next. To achieve this, you need to understand the following factors:

How well do you know your target audience?
Do you know the target location well?
Do you have all the necessary resources required to make your customers aware of your brand/product/service?
What’s the composition of your target audience?

These are just a few basic questions you need to keep in mind before charting out your strategy.

Product Packaging
In the words of Steve Jobs, “Packaging can be a theatre, it can create a story.”

You need to create a packaging that appeals to your audience and tells a compelling story.

Every seemingly little detail matters when it comes to packaging. Right from the colour to the font, every element should be in accordance with one single goal: to attract customers.

The logo is another important aspect that can make or break your brand. Your logo needs to be memorable, relevant and a symbol your customers can easily associate themselves with.

Your logo will be used everywhere — from your menu and cutlery to business cards and advertisements.

It’s advisable to have a professional team of designers assist you to design your logo. They’ll help you create a logo that perfectly captures the story you wish to tell your customers and also help you customise it as and when needed for all of your products/marketing requirements.

Revamping your brand image
As discussed previously, the tastes and preferences of customers keep changing. To keep up with the trends and adapt to it is the only way to survive in this industry.

You need to reinvent your brand image in order to be in the game. It includes:

Customising the logo to give it a fresh feel
Launching marketing campaigns in accordance with the on-going trends
Changing the packaging to appeal to new customers
Utilizing creative designs or innovative ideas to stand out from the competitors

Email Marketing
Perceived as a ‘traditional tool’ of marketing, it has the potential to boost your sales more than social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Surprising, right? On average, for every $1 that you spend on email marketing, you’ll be able to generate $40 in sales.

No matter what people think of emails, it’s still one of the most straightforward and reliable ways to generate business.

And the best part about this is it’s applicable to all sizes and kinds of businesses. However, just sending emails isn’t what is going to help you convert potential customers into loyal customers.

It’s crucial that you have a professional team manage your email marketing campaigns.

Blogging
A blog can significantly help you amplify your reach.

How?

You can develop content around any new idea. For instance, you’re planning to launch a Keto menu for a small city in India where people aren’t aware of its benefits.

You can start developing content around the Keto diet, it’s benefits, its importance, etc. and share the same on your social media channels.

You need to educate your customers and show them why it’s important to try your product/service, how it’s different from the customers and why they should trust you.
Additionally, you can collaborate with influencers or food bloggers in that area to promote your content. This will help you quickly reach and impact hundreds of people.

Partnering with other brands
You must partner with brands that are closely related to yours (not your direct competitors).

This will help your brand gain the trust of loyal customers of another brand resulting in new customers for your brand. For example, McDonald’s and Coca Cola partnered to promote their drink and fries.

Make a statement with your USP
Your Unique Selling Point is what sets you apart from your competitors. Just like your logo, your USP tells your audience a story about your brand and has the potential to imprint the mind of your customer for a long period of time.

Generally, the statement used by companies highlights the value(s) provided by the brand. Investors also take your USP into consideration.

When wiring a USP, you should:

Understand your brand values, goal your want to achieve and your target audience
Recognize customer’s problems and explain how your brand can solve them
Determine how your solution is different and better than your competitors
Make a realistic promise to your customers

Creating a USP takes a lot of effort and time. Finalizing the perfect one will help you market your brand better.

Host events
First, your customers will absolutely love it! Second, it’s a great way to remind your customers about your brand.

For instance, if you are a Chinese restaurant, you can have a month-long food festival during the Chinese New Year and offer special discounts and packages.

You can inform your customers of the same by emailing them. Once they see your offers and discounts, they will automatically bring their friends or family.

Bonus Tip
Another way to get more visibility on the web is to submit your brand on online portals and directories. These websites charge a small commission to list the brand that’ll help you increase your presence online thereby boosting your sales.

The Takeaway
You can use different strategies to market your food and beverage business. From catchy headlines and trending social media posts to impressive packaging and email marketing, there’s a lot you can do to increase your revenue.

All these strategies will help you build trust in the minds of your customers without burning a hole in your pocket.

You can study the strategies of your competitors and implement strategies that work for them. Figure out what works for you and continue to optimize it. For instance, if you help people with drug addiction or website design, using these strategies isn't the best idea.

Your brand will continue to impress as long as you understand the behaviour and interest of your potential and loyal customers.

For more information or a food guest post, contact us.

5 Proven Tips to Improve Your Writing

F and B Recipes — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:07:41 +0000

Learning how to write well is a skill that can be improved. Apply these tips to elevate your writing to the next level.

When I started writing, I was paid enough to get by. That was because search engine algorithms were easy to conquer.

The only rule of thumb was to create more content as more content meant higher rankings.

Little has changed since 2015.

The game plan for some people is still to pump-out as much as possible even if that means writing poor quality articles.

Content writers were paid on the basis of how much they could write rather than how well they would write.

Since the algorithms have changed dramatically and ranking on the first page of search engine results is a tough nut to crack, people have started valuing skilled content writers.

Quality content will continue to be everything and the game from now on is only going to get more challenging.

You need to create content that is engaging and relevant.

Here are the 5 most important lessons I’ve learned over the years.

I speak from my experience as a content writer in various niches; from food to beauty and copywriting to ghostwriting for the C-suite.

All of this writing also led to a position of a Chief Content Officer at a prestigious IT company and the publication of my debut cookbook: “7 Salad Recipes For Every Day of The Week.”

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Remain focused at all times Just like a driver can crash a car and mess themselves anytime if not paying attention while driving, you can create unengaging and sloppy content if not 100% focused when you’re writing.

The process of writing starts before way before you’ve written or typed a single word.

This means staying away from all possible distractions — thoughts, you need to have clear and concise vs disorganized and cluttered.

How can you achieve it?

Distancing yourself from anything that distracts you.

Here are some of the biggest culprits:
People
Cluttered thoughts/environment
Notifications including email, chat and chat
Phone (yes, visually seeing it counts)

Managing the notifications bit is easy since you can do that with a minor tweak in your settings.

Keeping your phone away, on the other hand, is something a lot of people struggle with.

I prefer keeping it in my drawer across the room when I’m writing.

I go one step further and disconnect the internet on my laptop or computer.

To combat cluttered thoughts and environments, relax your mind and tidy up your desk before you begin writing.

It can be something as simple as watering your favourite plant, petting your dog or meditating...do what works for you.

To overcome the distractions that people bring, you can simply inform them you’ll be busy during the said hours.

It seems that everyone right from your neighbour to your electrician needs something urgently when you’re completely focused.

Find your most creative hours Understand your circadian rhythms to find your peak creative hours.

We’re all different.

The good news is that you can alter it by changing your sleep pattern using light therapy to assist in changing your circadian rhythms.

Until 2017, my creative hours were from 11 p.m. to the wee hours in the morning.

This was a huge problem since I was juggling with a 9-5 job and classes.

I struggled with creativity during the office hours which resulted in my position at the company.

My only solution was to bring all my work at home and manage it with my classes.

However, this meant wasting most of my office hours staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration to hit me.

And during the rare times it did, my co-workers wanted an espresso break or we were called for a team meeting.

The whole situation was frustrating, to say the least.

This prompted me to change my sleep schedule. The only way I could do that was by applying for a one-week leave.

I remember doing nothing throughout the week — just the bare minimum like making my meals to get by. I did, however, make it a point to read an hour before bed.

By the time my head hit the pillow, I was already asleep like a baby.

What suddenly happened?

I bored myself to sleep every day for a week. When I went back to the office, my body was recharged and my routine had changed completely.

I felt creative during early mornings to mid-afternoons. The key is to alter your routine in a manner that works the best for you.

You will be able to write better and need less time to complete the same amount of assignments.

Avoid ambiguity Confusion will kill your career before anything else does.

If a reader becomes the least bit confused, they’re bound to flee and really quickly.

This is absolutely true when it comes to blogging where the reader expects the article to revolve around the title.

For instance, I should expect a horrible bounce rate if I went on a rant about search engine optimisation within the article that’s intended for you who seek to improve your writing.

Emails also require focus and have little room for any sort of confusion.

If the subject line of your email is about content strategy, don’t include your thoughts on the office party plans.

Make this your other rule of thumb when writing:
Less confusion = better writing

Outline first Outlines are great as they help you organize your thoughts.

It is a great way to visualise how the article will look upon completion.

Like an interior designing plan or a GPS map.

You’ll know where to begin, which points to cover and where to end the article.

I use an outline for every single article I’ve written so far.

I use a small diary that I carry with me everywhere and note down my thoughts as and when they come.

Storytelling and writing shorter sentences We, humans, love stories.

Inserting a small story or a personal anecdote increases your readership by a whopping 300%.

Alex Turnbull from Groove was able to achieve the same by incorporating this simple strategy.

The other points to keep in mind are writing shorter sentences and using active voice.

Short sentences mean no confusion and only clear and concise article.

Active voice, in my opinion, rules.

The cat was petted by Katie.

Katie petted the cat.

The latter not only appear cleaner but also sounds better.

The Takeaway
You can improve your writing by starting today.

Give yourself the time and patience you need. Writing is a slow process that’s best mastered by writing more every day.

Implement the above 5 tips into your everyday writing to develop stronger wiring skills.