Do you ever suddenly crave a particular dish after seeing an online ad for it? That’s the power of food promotion, which food businesses use to increase sales and brand awareness.
A 2022 study emphasized the significance of online promotion for the food industry, with 48% of consumers using social media to find restaurants, book reservations, and order takeout. Whether a small or large food business, having a strong online presence and effective food promotion is essential for staying competitive.
Implementing the right digital marketing strategies can dramatically impact your business's financial performance and drive growth. In this article, we'll discuss practical food promotion ideas that will give you a substantial return on investment in business and teach you how to promote a food product to customers online.
6 Ways to Promote Your Food Product Online
With the rise of digital marketing, numerous effective ways exist to promote products to your target audience and drive sales. Here are promotion ideas for food products to make your online food business stand out in a crowded marketplace.
- Food blogs
Utilize your food website by creating a blog to showcase your personality and expertise in your field. Share recipes, serving suggestions, and gift ideas featuring your food products or express your unique take on food trends. You can also interview chefs or food critics, review a food book, answer common customer inquiries, or promote your new products.
Feel free to express your creativity and personality on your food blog. Just make sure to maintain a consistent posting schedule to stay top of mind for your audience. - Video marketing
Supplement your blog with videos to retain your target audience’s attention and give them more digestible content. Videos can also make your brand and products more three-dimensional, giving your customers a better idea of your offerings.
You can hire a video team, create content independently, or partner with a food influencer to contribute to your content. They’re ideal for both short- and long-form video content; you can find them on TikTok and Youtube. - Paid ads
To reach wider audiences online, you can run paid advertising on popular platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram. Target specific groups of customers by using their location, gender, age, and other demographic information. You also have the option to schedule your ads to appear at a certain time, like around 6 PM-7 PM, when Filipinos usually arrive home from work and have dinner. - Pop-ups
Pop-ups catch the eye of potential customers and show off your products in a visually appealing way. Strategically place them on your website or other relevant platforms to target a specific audience and increase brand awareness.
If you need help setting up pop-ups, work with an eCommerce website builder like Rush. We take the guesswork out of coding and designing your website and make it easy to navigate, greatly enhancing your customers’ experience. - Online restaurant directories
People nowadays rely on online restaurant directories like Booky and ClickTheCity to check out food brands and establishments. Listing your food business with them is a great way to publicize your catalog or menu, reach millions of prospective customers, and directly take orders. - Delivery partnerships
Grab reports that delivery is expected to be an indispensable part of people’s lives due to its convenience and immediacy, with 7 out of 10 consumers believing in its perpetual existence. They also found that one in three consumers invest in a delivery subscription plan.
These numbers show the wide reach of food delivery apps. With that said, consider partnering with delivery apps to promote your food business and products to bigger audiences. You can also achieve end-to-end capability with eCommerce platforms such as RUSH, which provides a merchant app where you can instantly book riders directly. RUSH has partnered with Grab to empower businesses to manage their delivery options seamlessly. By partnering with RUSH and its delivery partners like Grab, you can leverage the extensive reach of food delivery apps while streamlining your operations and improving your customer experience.
6 Tips on How to Promote a Food Product to Customers
Promoting your food offerings requires a comprehensive and customer-centric marketing strategy. Here are some tips on turning your creative food promotion ideas into reality.
- Create compelling food product descriptions
Regarding food products, the descriptions you write can influence customer purchasing decisions and drive your sales. Food product descriptions should communicate your products' unique features, benefits, and flavors to potential customers. However, writing them can be challenging. Use descriptive language to promote your product while conveying its appearance, taste, texture, and aroma.
You can also incorporate sensory words and phrases to evoke your customer's senses and make your product more appealing. These descriptions can be used on your website and food packaging. - Provide loyalty rewards programs
Many food establishments use loyalty rewards programs to attract and retain customers. For instance, buffalo wings restaurant Frankie's lets customers earn points through online transactions on their official app or website. They can use their points to redeem vouchers for their next online order.
You can apply the same strategy to your food business. Use Rush’s white-label loyalty platform or loyalty program builder to automatically enable a loyalty rewards program on your website or app. - Harness food photography
Professional food photography can make your food products look more appealing. You can take your food photos independently if you’re working on a budget. However, it's essential to remember some food photography tips to make your photos stand out.
You can use props that showcase your dish's ingredients or origins, experiment with various camera heights and angles, and ensure that your food styling and color palette are on-brand.
- Offer discounts and promotions
Many Filipinos actively seek discounts and vouchers when shopping to save money. That said, consider offering these perks to attract and retain customers. However, voucher marketing isn’t easy. First, understand your customers and personalize your offers based on their preferences. Next, use different delivery channels like the RUSH Plus platform to target specific audiences.
Lastly, make time-sensitive offers to create a sense of urgency among your customers. Take advantage of Rush’s eCommerce pricing services to enable these deals. By leveraging Rush's comprehensive suite of tools and services, you can streamline your voucher marketing efforts, improve your ROI, and keep your customers coming back for more. - Launch new products
Launching new food products can encourage existing and prospective customers to check your business. You can offer these new products as add-ons to your bestselling ones and pair them with coupons to incentivize patronage and referrals. - Provide incentives via social media
With around 94 million active social media users in the Philippines, consider attracting customers using your social media channels. For instance, you can give your followers early access to new products or menu items to make them feel valued and create buzz around your business.
You can also incentivize customers to leave a review on your social media channels, showing that their feedback contributes to your business’s improvement.
Put Your Food Business Out There
Running a food business can be challenging but rewarding. Not only do you need to serve food, but you must also connect with your customers in the online channels they’re active in. Retaining customers, in the long run, is always better than getting new ones every day.
Use the unique food promotion ideas above to boost your business. If you need help launching your business online, Rush is here to help. We’re an eCommerce solutions provider committed to giving businesses from various industries an online presence in today’s digital world.
Contact us to learn more about our eCommerce platform.
