7 ways to right a wrong approach.
Working in a so-called “alternative channel,” foodservice marketers are often asked to do more with less. Fewer resources, less visibility, vague organizational goals, and scant internal champions compared to their retail counterparts.
It’s easy to get discouraged when results don’t go your way – especially when wrangling an increasingly fragmented set of marketing tactics in an already fragmented channel:
“We tried print ads in the past. It was too expensive for the little sales in return.”
“We’ve run some sponsored content on LinkedIn but didn’t get any leads.”
“An influencer made some recipe content for us. It didn’t really work out.”
“We did a couple sponsored e-blasts for restaurants – the results were … meh.”
When it feels like the cards are stacked against you, it’s time to reshuffle the deck. Here are seven reasons your foodservice marketing spend may be underperforming, and what you can do to fix it.
You don’t know what success is supposed to look like.
How can you win if you don’t know the rules? Your strategy needs to start with clear, measurable goals. Think about how you’ll track brand awareness levels, how many leads you need to generate (and close) to demonstrate ROI based on the short- or long-term value of a new customer, and what industry benchmarks to hit so you know how your efforts compare to your peers.
You’re casting too wide of a net.
Foodservice is huge. Basically, any food being consumed away from home is being bought through a foodservice channel which accounts for approx. 50% of all food purchased. Your product can’t be everything to everyone, and your advertising strategy needs to reflect that. A more focused spend will help ensure frequency of message for your ideal audience.
You’re expecting ads to work in a silo.
A paid ad campaign needs to coincide with a broader, integrated brand experience plan. The performance of your marketing spend directly correlates with how you’re supporting it through other channels. Your landing page needs to be designed to convert. Leads should be nurtured with content. Sales teams need to be educated, equipped, and in lockstep with the campaign.
You’re not connecting to a real-life operator pain point.
Beautiful food photography may get some mouths watering, but new foodservice products are adopted in response to a need. Think labor saving solutions, menu profitability, consumer attraction and retention, high yield / low waste products, ease of use, etc.
Your creative just isn’t that good.
We’ve seen it all – overused stock photos, generic positioning, unclear value propositions, clichéd headlines. This is the stuff that doesn’t always show up on the performance dashboard but will significantly impact brand recall and perceptions among operators. Before investing in proper targeting, channel selection, budget allocation, et al. – it pays to get the ad creative right from the start.
You’re not adjusting and optimizing in-market.
Sorry Ron Popeil, but this is not a set it and forget it approach. A winning campaign will be continuously monitored, adapted, and optimized while it’s in-market. Determine what placements, spend levels, and ad creative is working, and adjust accordingly.
You’re giving up too early.
A 6-week run of digital ads around a trade show does not a campaign make. Marketing strategies need time to develop and build momentum, helping operators move from awareness to consideration to trial as your message reaches a critical mass of mind share.
The good news? You don’t have to go it alone – get in touch:
