How Social Media Trends Help Health Nutrition Marketing

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Social media marketing  continues to grow at a popular pace and should play a more significant role in health nutrition marketing.

You have probably heard amazing stories of success and fame arising from social media marketing for music artists and even sports stars. Building awareness and appeal for health nutrition products works just the same. The right use of social platforms such as  Twitter and Facebook has the potential to create significant buzz from your brands followers and fans.

The upward spiral of social media marketing trends can dramatically improve your cash cycle by providing better measurement and ROI for your marketing spend.

In my experience it seems the types of social media that helps promote health nutrition  products are Twitter, Faceook and YouTube. But content marketing through blogging is also becoming an important component to social media marketing.

It is a difficult step to put so much trust and effort into social media. How my  do we know if it is working? How can you accurately measure and optimize it?

Phil Mershon, director of events for Social Media Examiner, shares some interesting social media marketing statistics that provide good reason why you should invest your time and budget.

1. The Benefits Derived from Social Media are Increasing

According to research conducted by Wildfire, a comprehensive social media management platform company, nearly all marketers find value from social media and 75% of marketers plan to increase the social media spending.

In my opinion social media is quickly becoming a better way of increasing brand awareness in your heath nutrition marketing.

2: More Businesses are Investing in Social Media

Small and medium sized businesses will double their social media advertising budget in the next year, says Borrell Associates.

From my experience I am already seeing the value in social media marketing and it should continue to grow and expand within the health nutrition marketing industry.

3: Measuring ROI is One of the Top Challenges Faced by Marketers

In a recent study Awareness Networks found that most businesses know how to track their social media presence and traffic, but the confidence declines when measuring lead generations and sales.

I think that it is important to have an in-depth social media measurement system in place that will help build your confidence that the time and effort you are putting into the social media is getting the ROI you want.

4: Marketing Agencies View the Value of Social Media Marketing Differently

A survey conducted by the Marketing Sherpa found that social media clearly helps search results, but the largest majority of companies benefit from posting content on their company blog.

All the social media marketing can all be intertwined, if you have a blog be sure to integrate all your other social tools you use within. And vice versa.

5: An Integrated Social Media Plan Leads to Greater Financial Results

According to an Insites Consulting study, less than half of the enterprises surveyed have fully integrated social media into their business processes

For health and nutrition marketing an integrated social media plan will help get you the ROI you are looking for if you strive to have a fully integrated social media marketing plan.

Click on the following link to read Phil Mershon’s complete article, “5 Social Media Marketing Trends: New Research”    

Marketing Health Nutrition Using QR Codes

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4 reasons QR codes are a fit for your market

Tech-weary marketers are skeptical about trying new tactics, and QR codes are one of those that are not always top of mind. Many assume that only a small group of tech-savvy consumers respond to QR codes, and the risks of using them incorrectly seem to outweigh the benefits. While some of this is true, here are 4 reasons I believe QR codes are a great tactic for connecting with your customer:

1. Health-conscious people are motivated people

Consumers who are interested in wellness are willing to seek out information and products that help them reach their nutrition, fitness and other health goals. They are dogged about online research and are often the earliest adopters of new products. These consumers are not easily deterred by new ideas or technology, so if you serve up relevant content, they will respond.

2. Health and nutrition consumers are hungry for information

Athletes, health nuts and those managing a disease or health disorder are looking for information. They want to know about every ingredient in your supplement or product. They’re interested in every detail of how it can help enhance their health or performance. QR codes add value to your product by providing information and education. With a QR code, you could allow your target to connect to detailed nutrition charts, safety information and other health benefits, as well as useful tools and educational videos.

3. Consumers love to share their success stories

QR codes encourage check-in behavior, which gives your target audience a reason to keep interacting with your brand. For instance, suppose you are marketing a sports drink. A well-placed QR code on your sports drink’s packaging can lead a purchaser to a website where they share how that drink helped lead them to victory. A mom might share a story about her child winning a soccer game. A marathon runner might share their running time or other personal victory. Suddenly, that QR code has started a conversation and created a community with your brand at the center. It’s that easy.

4. Active people take the road less traveled

QR codes seem to be the most successful when they are integrated into the world around us: on posters in subway stations, inside trains, on kiosks in malls. Luckily, the health and wellness consumer often includes athletes who are constantly out and about. Think about placing your QR codes on bus shelters near parks or along running trails. If being active is a part of your customer’s culture, it should be a part of your brand culture. Go where they go, and they will respond.

To easily generate your own QR Code, you can visit http://qrcode.kaywa.com

5 favorite web marketing tactics to drive traffic to your health and nutrition website

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How to drive more visitors to your health and nutrition website without substantially increasing your marketing budget.

Whether you are marketing a pharmaceutical brand or herbal and nutritional supplements, you have most likely put vast amounts of effort into creating a website that is informative and engaging. Unfortunately, if potential customers can’t find you, all of that hard work is wasted.

So, how do you drive more visitors to your health and nutrition website without substantially increasing your marketing budget?

A recent article written by Ilya Pozin of Forbes offers 10 proven suggestions. Some of these suggestions may seem obvious, but as marketers we often take for granted that we “know” things that we aren’t actually doing. I think this is an excellent list of marketing tactics to use as a gut check. As you review it and ask yourself if you are doing as much as you can to bring in new traffic to your website.

Here are the five of my favorites from Pozin’s list for health nutrition marketers:

1. Blogging and guest blogging

Offering free, original content on your site can help bring new visitors and set you apart from the competition. Writing guest blogs can also be beneficial, as you can include a link back to your own website. 

2. Retargeting

Retargeting ads work by placing a tracking cookie on each of your visitor’s computers. Then, when they leave your site, they start seeing ads to come back.

3. YouTube

Creating videos and posting them to YouTube can help your content get found on YouTube itself. From there, not only does Google index your content, but others can embed your video on their blogs and share it via social media.

4. Word of mouth (forums/Facebook fan pages, etc.)

Focus on building connections with your fans and followers in order to gain positive reviews and word of mouth recommendations.

5. Email marketing

Email marketing is a great tool because most people need to be engaged multiple times before they buy. It’s been around for years, and is still one of the strongest ways to engage potential and current customers.

If you’re serious about driving traffic to your website, I suggest working down this list and asking yourself why and how well your marketing department is keeping up.

You can read  Ilya Pozin’s entire article at “10 Proven Ways To Market Your Website”

4 Ways to Use Pinterest for Health Nutrition Marketing

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Pinterest has many uses for health nutrition marketers.

I’m the first to admit that, in the past, I never would have suggested that health and nutrition brands bother with Pinterest.com, the social website that allows users to “pin” videos and other content they like on a pinboard other users can rate. Pinterest is one of the newest social networking platforms, and the site itself forbids direct sales content. Like many marketers, I put it on my mental backburner, and I hadn’t thought about it since, until I read a recent article by Susan Gunelius.

Gunelius outlines 10 ways that marketers can use Pinterest for indirect marketing without violating the Terms of Service of the site itself. Many of these creative ideas can easily apply to health and nutrition marketing, and you are only limited by your imagination.

Here are a few of the ideas listed for using Pinterest to indirectly market your health nutrition brand:

1. Custom product pinboards:

As a health and nutrition brand, you could create custom product pinboards that indirectly market those products. For example, you could pin images and articles about the benefits of the ingredients you use, or pin “how to” pin videos that support the use of your product.

2. Market research:

One of the best suggestions in this article was to use Pinterest for informal market research by publishing images of products in development and asking for people to share their thoughts through comments.

Pin It button: You can add a “Follow Me on Pinterest” button to your website as well as a “Pin It” button which lets people quickly and easily pin your image and video content.

3. Cross-promotion:

To get broader exposure, you can publish the content you publish on your blog, Facebook Page, and other social media profiles on Pinterest pinboards. You can also create a contest on your Facebook page and ask people to “pin” items to Pinterest as part of that contest.

4. Coupon pinboards:

For health and nutrition brands that use coupons, creating a pinboard of those coupons is a great way to share them with a wider audience.

This is just a sample of the many great ways you can use Pinterest to promote your brand. Click on the following link to read Susan Gunelius’ “10 Creative Ways to Use Pinterest for Marketing”

Nutrition Counseling and Marketing Health Nutrition

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These nutrition “experts” could impact your bottom-line.

I just stumbled upon an engrossing article written by Michael Ellsberg for Forbes Magazine. In this article, Ellsberg puts forth compelling evidence that the American Dietetic Association (ADA) is attempting to position their agency as the only legal provider of nutrition counseling by gaining legal control over the word “nutritionist” itself.

The behind-the-scenes steps the ADA has recently taken to lobby for this new position are shocking, and the implications are staggering. In an internal ADA document which seems to outline a strategy for gaining a monopoly over nutritional counseling, the ADA clearly sets forth a list of other nutritional counseling providers they deem as a threat.

It appears that if the ADA has its way nurses, pharmacists, personal trainers, chiropractors, naturopaths and homeopaths—even those with a Ph. D. in Nutrition—will all lose the right to give nutritional advice to their patients and/or clients.

It’s hard to believe that a health agency would have this degree of hubris. But then healthcare itself is becoming more and more of a commodity and less and less about helping people.

As a true believer in “natural” alternatives to pharmaceuticals such as diet, herbal supplements, and changes in lifestyle, it pains me to think that one of these options—namely dietary healthcare solutions—might become dictated by one, profit-motivated agency.

Companies marketing vitamins, minerals and other herbal supplements should be equally concerned.

While it might not seem like this sort of lobbying will affect the way you do business, here’s why I think it might: If the ADA makes it illegal for naturopaths and homeopaths to give nutritional advice, they will affect the hard-won legitimacy of those professions. Sadly, this could increase skepticism about alternative medicine in general, and before you know it, vitamins, minerals and supplements could be left out of the healthcare discussion entirely.

In my opinion, no one agency has the right to “own” a healthcare conversation. It is between a patient and their chosen provider—whether that provider is traditional or alternative. I hope that Michael Ellsberg’s incredibly insightful article is enough to slow the ADA down, and I’ll be fascinated to see the outcome.

Click on the following title to read the entire article, “Is the American Dietetic Association Attempting to Limit Market Competition in Nutrition Counseling?”

Health Nutrition Marketing: Changing the way pharma sells

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Some claim the future for pharma reps is freelance.

We all know that the pharmaceutical industry is primed for change. Pipelines are shrinking, budgets are limited, and the way we’ve marketed in the past is simply not going to work in the future. The pharma industry is also notorious for being slow to adopt change, so a recent article written by Craig Sharp took me by surprise. In it, Sharp shares the predictions of Richie Bavasso (President of Exploria Sales Performance Solutions) from the 2012 Sales Force Excellence Europe Conference. Bavasso suggests that in 2012 pharmaceutical reps will start to freelance, working for a mix of pharmaceutical clients, not just one employer. 

How will it work? Sales reps will compete for accounts based on past performance. Reps who can provide the strongest ROI will become industry favorites and have their pick of pharmaceutical companies to represent. Other, less seasoned reps will have to claw their way to the top of the pile or perish.

An interesting vision, but I’m skeptical. Yes, pharma reps who are able to create long-lasting relationships with HCPs have a better chance of getting concrete results from their 90-second sales pitch (sadly, this is the length of most rep/HCP interactions these days). Unfortunately, those reps will not have the HCP’s ear for long if they are suddenly pushing half a dozen accounts that they know less and less about.

Bavasso’s vision takes for granted that somehow the reps will willingly educate themselves on the finer points of each brand—and for free. He claims that reps will only be paid for time spent interacting with HCPs, and that they won’t mind this.

To me, there is a gaping hole in that plan. Mainly, it is that pharmaceutical companies spend huge amounts of money to create effective and approved sales training collateral to educate their sales forces. The idea that they should send out untrained, unaffiliated freelancers to “wing it” with those pieces is strange. Stranger yet is that they are supposed to rely on the fact that, of the multiple brands that freelance rep may take on, their brand is going to be given the attention it deserves.

The concept of hiring freelance reps is a nice if you are trying to cut corners. The reality may be a different story. Freelancing works in all sorts of industries because workers are willing to trade company benefits for more freedom. Unfortunately, in a regulated industry such as pharma, freedom for the rep means less control for the company. And less control over what is being said could be perilous.

I may be wrong, and I look forward o hearing more about it. You can read the article, “Pharma Sales Reps Going Freelance in 2012?”, and decide for yourself: 

Marketing Health Nutrition: Innovation in Energy Drinks

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3 ways to differentiate your brand in a growing market

The energy drink market continues to grow at a steady pace worldwide, despite some concerns and a lot of bad press over inhuman high levels of caffeine and other stimulants. Although energy drinks were originally marketed as a way to enhance sports performance, typically they are now marketed to the casual consumer—particularly young people—who is just looking for a rush of energy and great taste.

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz in the energy drink sector calling for new innovations. It’s clear that the top 3 brands (Red Bull, Monster, and Rock Star) have a stronghold on the market, and the industry itself has pushed the limits of energy-enhancing ingredients like sugar, caffeine, and other stimulant additives such as guarana and taurine.

So how is it possible to innovate in such an environment? 

Ben Boukley of beverage daily.com shares a few interesting ideas, which I’ve embellished with a few thoughts of my own:

1. Juice it up

Baby boomers are interested in the energy drink craze, but they are mature enough to care about what they put into their bodies. Yes, there was a time they were up for anything, and they are still an adventurous group, but they know they won’t live forever. Healthy ingredients are a number one priority. Energy drinks represent youthful energy, something boomers will gladly pay money for. The key to success with this demographic will be natural juice or green tea bases coupled with all natural ingredients.

2. Have more taste

Consumers are easily bored, and they are always looking for the next big taste sensation. Think Jones Soda Company (jonessoda.com). From green apple to turkey and gravy-flavored sodas (yes, I’m serious), they are always open to trying something new. The same approach could quickly differentiate your brand. When it comes to new flavor combinations in the energy drink space, the opportunity for innovation is wide open.

3. Get noticed

Never underestimate the power of packaging. New colors can help your brand stand out on the shelf, but there are other ways to carve out a new niche as well. U.S. functional drinks company, Premier Beverage Group, noticed that lot of energy drinks were being mixed with top shelf vodkas and other alcohol in bars. In response, they launched a premium energy drink that will be sold to high profile, on-premise accounts (hotels, restaurants, clubs) in New York. Who says an energy drink can’t have sophisticated packaging? Stay open to the possibilities.

You can read Ben Boukley’s complete article on innovation in the energy drink space here: “The time to innovate in energy drinks is now, Doehler” 

Continued Changes in Marketing Health Nutrition

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A new sports drink may prove that ingredients still matter.

For some time now, it seems the sports drink industry has been losing its focus on health. The main reason for this, of course, is that even sports drinks as popular and well-known as Gatorade have found themselves marketing to the “casual consumer” more often than the athletes they originally set out to satisfy.

Sales in convenience stores vastly outpace those at health food stores or other venues where true athletes might shop. And let’s face it; the average convenience store shopper is more interested in finding an energy boost than a health supplement. 

As an avid athlete, the blurring of the line between sports drinks that keep you fueled up for actual sports and energy drinks that over-stimulate for seemingly no reason has caused me to pull back from purchasing at all. More and more I find myself wondering if I wouldn’t just be better off drinking water.

Luckily, the sports and energy drink industry continues to innovate, and the pendulum may be swinging back in the other direction. According to the Louisiana Advocate, there’s a new sports drink that is actually designed to be healthy. Imagine that!

Researchers at LSU found a way to cut the bitterness that comes with adding electrolytes (those elements that get depleted during workouts). And they do it without adding huge amounts of sweetener.

The sports drink, known as EX5, was actually developed using technology from the LSU AgCenter’s food science department. For now, it will only be manufactured and distributed in Louisiana, but H&B owners Brian Brothers and Craig Hart, are confident that they will soon be increasing distribution. “EX5 is designed for athletes, but it has broad appeal,” said Hart.

Hart goes on to explain what makes EX5 different, saying, “People on low-sodium diets or who are watching their sugar intake can drink EX5 and enjoy it. It has less than half the sodium, one-fourth the sugar, one-third the calories and three times the electrolytes of the competition,” Hart said. “The other leading sports drink brands don’t have magnesium and calcium, which are essential to health. We’re excited to be a Louisiana company with an LSU brand and to launch EX5 here at home.”

I, for one, wish I could try it now, but I guess I’ll have to wait for EX5 to migrate north. Meanwhile, Ill be keeping my eye on the industry and continue to hope for a return to the idea that sports drinks should be made for and marketed to athletes first.

Click on the following link to read Advocate business writer Skip Descant’s article, “New Sports Drink Hitting Local Shelves.”

Marketing Health Nutrition to Baby Boomers Online

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Don’t overlook a big opportunity based on misconceptions

Marketing health and wellness products to the boomer generation may seem like a no-brainer. They are proactive consumers who are motivated to do what it takes to stay active and vibrant as long as possible. They also have a lot of spending power—over $1 trillion annually.

Unfortunately, some marketers of vitamins, supplements and nutritional foods are still a little shy about spending the time and energy creating online campaigns targeting this demographic. The main reason? The myth that boomers aren’t tech-savvy enough to interact with a brand online.

The facts:

Baby Boomers are the large group of men and women born between the years of 1946 and 1964, representing over 26 percent of the U.S. population (according to a recent study by the Mature Market Institute of MetLife).

Boomers have always tended to think of themselves as very different from every generation that came before, so it’s no surprise that they are independent thinkers who are redefining what it means to age. As a group, Boomers tend to be more flexible and more adventurous than their parents or grandparents ever were, which means placing labels and expectations on their behaviors could be one of the worst things marketers can do.

Writer, Spencer Belkofer clarifies some of the myths about marketing to Boomers online, and reminds us why it could be a big mistake to overlook this demographic in the article, “Top 3 Myths About Marketing to Boomers Online.”

Even the author of this article started with misconceptions about how active Baby Boomers behave online. I think the realities will surprise you. You’ll want to read the complete article to really understand how Boomers use the Internet, but here are the Top 3 myths in a nutshell:

Myth 1: Boomers aren’t tech savvy and rarely use the Internet.

Fact: Boomers spend more time online than any other demographic.

Myth 2: Boomers are extremely brand loyal.

Fact: boomers do a lot of shopping for other people, so the brands they choose are based on other people’s needs and wants, not their own brand loyalty.

Myth 3: Boomers don’t feel safe spending money online.

Fact: Boomers outspend every other demographic shopping online—and by considerable amounts.

I think the bottom line for us as health and wellness marketers is that we can’t take it for granted that we know how things are. We have to stay flexible, open, and curious about the world and the people around us. Apparently, we could take a lesson from the Boomers in that regard.

Click on the following link to read Spencer’s full article, “Top 3 Myths About Marketing to Boomers Online.”

Health Nutrition Marketing: FDA action could make supplements obsolete

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FDA action could make supplements obsolete If not for the action of two senators

As anyone in the dietary supplements industry knows, FDA has put forth some disturbing guidelines that would allow the agency to arbitrarily deny the sale of any natural supplement created (or modified) in the past seventeen years, and that would give the agency de facto pre-market approval of pretty much any supplement that comes on the scene.

According to the draft guidance, if you are a natural supplement manufacturer or distributor, and you don’t file a request for approval for every ingredient in every product you’ve developed since 1994, then you may be at some point be considered guilty of product “adulteration,” which is punishable by jail.

Needless to say, this has been the hot button issue in the supplement industry for some time. Not only is it a direct threat to those companies that legally produce and distribute supplements, but also this sort of FDA action could make supplements obsolete. By doubling or tripling the price of supplements and disapproving more and more of them over time, the FDA could effectively ensure that everything left on the market would be considered a drug.

Enter Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Back in January of 2012, these two long-time proponents of natural health took the issue head on by challenging FDA’s authority to, in essence, make new laws concerning supplements.

You can read all about the senators’ arguments against the draft guidance in the Alliance for Natural Health Article titled “Senators Give Supplements a Lifeline”. It is a quick read, but well worth it, as it will help you understand exactly what may be at risk if FDA goes unchecked.

But what has happened since? Very little, as far as I can tell.

There continue to be disturbing reports of FDA classifying things as innocuous as cherry juice as unapproved drugs. It’s true. The FruitFast Company sold cherry juice concentrate with the accurate statement that it helped eliminate gout, and FDA responded by classifying it as an unapproved drug. As someone concerned about health and wellness, this sort of blind, sweeping condemnation of natural items that help people is terrifying.

I encourage everyone who reads this to use the War On Vitamins website to let their political leaders know it’s time to stop the FDA from overreaching.

I will keep this issue on my radar. Meanwhile, I wish you—and the natural supplement industry—good health!