While food brands constantly fight for shelf space at retail, a well thought-out online marketing strategy can give your brand prominent placement on the web.
There was a time when food businesses relied heavily on walk-in traffic, newspaper and magazine reviews, and word-of-mouth. In the days of tablets and smartphones, however, people increasingly scour the internet for information and buy products online.
With the right marketing and branding approach, even small, local food merchants have many opportunities today to attract customers to their tasty products, including foodies around the globe.
For over 17 years, LaunchDM has been providing marketing and web design services to small and large businesses in virtually every industry – manufacturing, finance, health, real estate, etc. Our food industry clients include Sweet Street Desserts, Reppert’s Candy, Giorgio Foods and Unique Pretzels.
Whether you own a restaurant, operate a mobile catering truck, or manufacture gourmet products, we offer the following online marketing tips for increasing your brand exposure.
Enable eCommerce
The days of using your website strictly as a business card are gone. If the food products you sell can be packaged and shipped easily, making it possible for visitors to buy online via your website can have a huge impact on sales.
If you’re a restaurateur, you may be interested to know that the smartphone app NoWait, which helps users find nearby places where they can be seated immediately, claims to have connected over 116 million people to dining establishments.
LaunchDM provides eCommerce websites for any sized company on multiple platforms, including Magento and WooCommerce. We can also provide innovative apps and tools for table reservations, digital self-service ordering, and electronic payments.
Optimize for Local Search
The potential for attracting new customers via local search is enormous. Google receives over two billion searches each month from busy people who are looking for something to do with little advance notice. Over 100 million people each month use Google Maps on their phone to locate a nearby business.
Make sure customers can find you by using location-related keywords. No matter how large or small your geographical footprint, LaunchDM’s Search Engine Marketing services can boost your conversion rates and result in strong, profitable returns. We can also help you implement a geo-targeted Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign if you’re in a highly competitive location.
Optimize for Mobile
When people are out and about, especially in an unfamiliar area, they’ll turn to their smartphones for recommendations on where to find food. We can help you make sure your website looks good on mobile devices.
Consider Pinterest
While Facebook is still the most popular social network by far, Pew Research studies show that more than 20% of U.S. adults now use Pinterest in greater numbers than Twitter or Instagram. Food and drink is the number one overall Pinterest category and the top category for both men and women.
Not only do 28% of consumers decide where to eat using social sites, Monetate reports that customers spend more money when they convert from a Pinterest referral than any other social referral. We think food-related businesses should seriously consider integrating sites like Pinterest into their Social Media Marketing strategies.
For more information about our food marketing strategies, get in touch with LaunchDM. We can help you shape your brand, establish trust, build loyalty, edge out the competition and reap the profits.
