Are your healthy food messages turning your customer off?

Healthy meal options available through the food service sector has grown significantly over the last two years, and nowhere is that more evident than start-ups in the retail sector. According to a report put out by NPD “growth for health-motivated meals has outpaced the industry growth both this year and long term” by as much as three times the going rate.

In our own experince, we’ve seen healthy eating outpace every other trend that’s come through our doors. Most have a clear and unique selling point of delivering health benefits of eating that product.

The majority of these healthy meal products have been created through a change in their creator’s own health or lifestyle and a desire to create a healthy alternative. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being your own target market, however, there are many reasons customers seek out a “cleaner”, therefore, “healthier” product, but it may not be the single compelling reason to purchase. Taste will often be an important priority, closely followed by convenience (easy to heat/serve), or it is an ingredient that can easily change a standard dish into something more exciting.

In focusing communications only towards the health conscious customer, you may be turning off other potential customers rather than engaging them. That’s OK if you really only want to have one customer audience, however, it is a rare business that can afford to make that type of decision.

Here are our 5 tips to engaging your ideal customer.

1) Engage a broad range of customers quickly.

Instead of focusing just on health conscious customers, we suggest having general information about your product, touching on your USP, as the focus of your communications so you can attract any customer to your product. Health conscious customers will then look beyond that for the information that matters to them.

As an example, imagine you sell a healthy raw chocolate and nut ball that is Keto friendly. A visually appealing product is the first step to attracting your customer, then the flavours, the price, any specials i.e. buy six and get one free and how to store it at home if buying a few of them (this last one will help you upsell).

If the first and loudest/most obvious thing customers see is that the product is Keto friendly it will turn a significant number of people off: those who don’t know about it; feel judged about what they eat; think it is a fad; or assume it will taste bad.

2) Have clear information about the health aspect of your product as your secondary information

The secondary information on your packaging / marketing / point of sales collateral is what customers see after your product has caught their eye. Customers actively looking for a health option / a product that meets their allergen needs will look for is a list of ingredients. Using your NIP section and list of ingredients to be very clear on what is included rather than hiding it in small print.

If you have an unusual ingredient in your product i.e. lentils in a dessert or using a lesser known ingredient i.e. teff flour, have information on that to hand. Interested customers who are health conscious or buying for someone with an allergy will ask questions.

3) Make the most of connecting with potential customers in person

Giving more information about your healthy product and its unusual ingredients is easy when selling directly, as you have the luxury of chatting to someone the first time they see your product and ideally they taste and like your product as you talk to them.

Sharing more information in person with a potential customer - without being too pushy - has a much higher engagement rate regardless of any other information. The longer you chat to someone, the more you can determine what matters to them, then refer them to that information on a brochure, or your website or the NIP label. Best places to do this: farmers markets; food focussed festivals; demonstrations within retail stores stocking your product.

4) Make the most of your packaging to attract retail and online customers

For retail sales the label does the talking, where key information is on the front of your pack and everything else on the back. Keep your messaging clear and simple on the front, with a great picture/image of the product. The front of the pack is literally about getting the customer to pick the product up off the shelf and turn it around to read the info on the back. That’s where you can reinforce your healthy choice information.

With the significant shift to online shopping in 2020 that has continued in 2021, your website design also needs to layer information for your customer. Consider the first page as the front of your pack and whenever possible match up the wordings, font and your product images on your retail pack with your website to reinforce your brand. Then when they have clicked on a product description, have an ingredient list readily available and a ‘more info’ option which can have any health claims, your NIP, any other detailed message you want to share with your customer.

With a website you have the opportunity to maximise the ‘about us’ section to share your brand ethos and explain more about the health aspects of your product.

5) Keep your communication and brand messaging simple and consistent

Remember that at all times, your aim is to be able to clearly communicate with a customer making a decision to buy your product based on lots of different factors. These include: taste; the visual appeal of the product; price; ease to consume; culturally appropriate; where/how it was made; or health factors such as allergies and dietary requirements, etc..

Keep your messaging simple, easy to understand ‘bite size’ messages work well; and make sure all your messaging across social media, your website, your packaging and any point of sales promotional materials is consistent.

6) An extra tip for those feeling overwhelmed as you understand the theory but struggle with the practical.

Sometimes you can be too close to your business to understand how your passion is overwhelming your communications and not resonating with your target audience. Get an outsider to take a look - a relevant expert, not just a friend as they will be able to provide strategic advice and support to you and best of all a fresh objective view..

If you need assistance reviewing or developing communication materials for your brand or product, it’s our bread and jam and love doing it, so get in touch to arrange a 1:1 coaching session.