Utilize shopper marketing by inviting trial of your food brand

Consumers and their path to purchase has evolved drastically in the past 5 years. The competitiveness of reaching shoppers during their shopper journey has changed. This is due to technologies within the marketing and retail environment. But now, since the shopper is ALWAYS connected (hello, smartphones), they are in control of how they interact with marketing and retailers. That’s why your food brand should utilize shopper marketing. For the Fundamentals, check out our blog.

Moreover, according to a MarketTrack Shopper Insight Survey, 73% of consumers would switch from the brand they usually buy if they saw a different brand on sale. Whether you have a brand-new product or a product that’s been on the market for years, utilizing food brand shopper marketing to inviting trial is a great way to disrupt the shopper’s journey. Here are a few different food brand shopper marketing tools to invite trial…

Couponing

Adding a coupon to whatever marketing tactics your food brand uses is a great way to invite new consumers to try your product. Remember our ever-connected consumer? Load to Card programs and coupons within retailer apps are useful ways to invite trial of your food brand.

By trying your product once, consumers might decide they like your brand over the other. Hello, brand loyalty! Examples of in-store offers include: Instant Redeemable Coupon stickers/On-pack giving a value off, or Tear Pads along with in-store signage. All are other great ways to increase purchases in-store.

Demos

With the changing landscape of COVID-19, in-store demos have understandably taken a pause. However, demos are a great way to interact with the consumer instantly. By having face-to-face interactions, your food brand is inviting trial directly in the store and aiding in a potential purchase. Typically, good demo programs are also coupled with a coupon to further entice the consumer to purchase.

*Bonus Tip: If you plan to add couponing to invite trail, be sure to account for the costs of the coupon/redemption to your budget. Be sure to do this unless you have separate line items for redemption in your budgets.

Retailer Specific Programs

Every retailer has a set of programs that could make sense for your food brand to take advantage of. These are especially useful if you have a new product. These programs, however, can be costly. Yet, these food brand shopper marketing programs give the consumer a sense of “trust.” Customer.com’s annual retail customer loyalty study reports that in 2019, 37% of customers prefer to shop at the same retail location consistently. By participating in retailer programs and discounts, your food brand’s products not only gets in front of consumers but also shows the retailer your willingness to partner with them.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more ways to cause disruption in the marketplace for your food brand, please reach out to the NewPoint team. If you are interested in more food brand marketing topics, please visit our Food for Thought page or check out NewPoint’s Patrick Nycz’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.