What Is Food Marketing and How Can It Help Your Business?

Food companies are always finding ways to improve their products. Whether it’s a CPG brand, a local restaurant, or a fast food chain, it seems every season brings a new product or a new recipe to the table. This is because food marketing, like all other marketing efforts, is an incredibly fast-paced and competitive industry. As technology continues to change the marketing landscape and puts more power in consumers' hands, food marketers have to shift their focus. To know how to position a successful food marketing strategy, you need to know where the industry is heading. So let’s take a look at what exactly food marketing is, where it’s going, and how the right strategies can help your brand. 

The Basics of Food Marketing

What Is It?

Food marketing is all of the activities that go into selling a product. It’s everything from concept development to packaging design to delivering orders to grocery stores. 

Although the process is composed of many different steps, there are two widely recognized development phases when devising a marketing strategy for the food industry.

1. Research and development
   The first step every marketer should take is researching a proposed product. Initially, to determine if the product is worth the investment and then to start brainstorming how it could be marketed. Food products might meet specific dietary needs or address emerging trends. Overall, this phase is when food brands determine who their product is for and how to reach that target audience. 
   
   
2. Packaging
   Product package design is an important marketing technique. Packaging should be attractive, informative, and eye-catching. It should capture consumers’ attention and stand out on the shelf. Think about how Coca-Cola’s bold red label sets it apart so well that you can probably find it just by glancing down the beverage aisle. Some brands will spend the bulk of their budget on testing package designs and font and color schemes until they find the perfect packaging for their product.

Where Is It Going?

As technology moves forward, so do marketing tactics in the food and beverage industry. More brands are moving to digital marketing to keep up with consumers, who are using online stores and social media more than ever. 

A few of the top digital techniques for today’s market include:

• “Food SEO.” This means popping up in people’s organic searches for nearby food options. It can go hand-in-hand with food advertising by taking measures to ensure an ad pops up based on the customer’s location as well as search terms. If someone is close to a retailer that sells your product, you want them to know. Using this geo-tracing tactic can help brands climb to the top of search results and ensure they’re seen by potential customers.
  
  
• Social media is quickly becoming one of the most important digital marketing channels for brands across the board. These platforms give companies a place to connect and interact with their customers, as well as capitalize on some direct marketing and selling. It also allows companies to generate some brand loyalty among  young people, who might stick with them for years to come.
  
  
• The demand for healthy food that’s sustainably sourced is also on the rise. To meet this need, brands are finding new ways to highlight their nutritional value and adjust their messaging to emphasize how products contribute to overall health. Some brands are focused on developing packaged food options that deliver on key food trends, such as keto, paleo, or plant-based diets. 

How It Affects CPG Brands

CPG brands hold a unique position in the food industry. Instead of physical locations, they specialize in grab and go products that can be found in a variety of stores. In the past, food advertisements for chains like Burger King and McDonald’s have dominated the food marketing space. But recent events have started shifting the focus in favor of packaged goods.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a huge opportunity for CPG brands to break into the forefront of food marketing. People started turning to packaged goods more than ever before in the name of personal and public health. Now, people are more accustomed to searching for packaged food over other options, and the industry has boomed as a result.

Even though CPG products are a different sector of the industry than traditional restaurants, the marketing of food is based on similar principles. People are looking for all the same things in packaged foods—healthy alternatives, wholesome values, eco-friendly packaging—but CPG brands have an opportunity to stand out. Through creative use of messaging, packaging, and brand identity, CPG products can easily stand out as an easy choice over other options.

Brands have to be careful about the direction they steer their marketing, however, especially if their product is geared toward children and adolescents. In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has set strict regulations for marketing to this audience in an effort to mitigate unhealthy food marketing to the most susceptible age groups. The goal is to work with public policy to address childhood obesity.

An example of how this might affect CPG brands can be found in beverage marketing. Soft drinks are subject to specific advertising and labeling laws, specifically surrounding how much sugar is included in a can or bottle. Soda brands have had to pivot their marketing efforts to address these new laws and preserve the appeal of their products to customers.

Food Marketing Strategies for CPG Brands

From product placement to pricing, there are countless ways to market food products. For CPG brands, the playing field expands even more due to their portability and versatility. Let’s take a look at the top five marketing strategies for CPG brands:

1. Brand positioning
   People want to know exactly who you are and what you stand for. So in addition to highlighting a product, also spotlight key aspects of your brand. Include information about your mission or purpose and values consumers might resonate with. This helps to position your brand as a caring and thoughtful creator of quality products.
   
   
2. Packaging
   The reality is that most people judge books by their covers and products by their packaging. That’s why creating quality, attractive packaging can go a long way to convincing potential customers to purchase your product. Choose colors and fonts that match your brand voice and utilize high-quality packaging materials to show your product worth its price.
   
   
3. Email marketing
   Your email list is a great way to stay in touch with existing customers and keep them in the loop of new developments with your brand. You can send out special deals, alerts about upcoming promotions, or even just communications that help people move through the sales funnel. Email marketing is your direct line to loyal customers, so don’t forget to reach out to them!
   
   
4. Social media marketing
   As mentioned earlier, social media is gaining lots of traction in younger consumer groups. Some brands are even opting for viral marketing campaigns on different platforms in an effort to capture more leads or sales. You can use paid ads to pop up on people’s feeds who meet your target audience criteria, and some platforms even let you sell directly through their app. Social media is a great place to implement highly specific marketing because of how much data about users is available.
   
   
5. Seasonal offerings
   Everyone wants pumpkin spice in the fall, but consumers are also looking for unique and innovative options available throughout the year. If you can offer seasonal items, then be sure to put those products front and center at the turn of each season. The limited run encourages people to purchase now and gives returning customers something to look forward to year-round. Plus, once people decide which seasonal item they love, it encourages incremental purchases and builds brand loyalty.

At VDriven, we love helping brands create successful marketing strategies that help foster growth. If you’re interested in boosting the food marketing efforts for your CPG brand, contact us today!