The supplement industry is on an upward trend in the US with total revenue of $33 billion in 2019 alone and an annual growth of 1.9 percent since 2014. This positive growth is a result of people making more health-conscious choices as well as the rise in population of the elderly (people aged 50 and above) who seek vitamins to supplement their diet. This is great news for suppliers in the industry as well as private label brands.
This is not to say that the upward trend ensures the success of any and every brand as the industry is saturated with several private and national brands (1,453 to be exact). Success here requires more than a working product in a niche market. Luckily, the market already works in your favor as any marketing guru would agree that it is much easier to sell products to people who are already looking to buy, and the market trend tells us that people are willing to buy. All you need to do is to establish your label as a trustworthy player. These five tips should help you do that.
Market Products That Work
Before marketing, first, ensure that your products are of the highest possible quality or at least that they do what is written on the pack. You’ll need to find a manufacturing company that consistently produces potent supplements. There are things to look out for when choosing a manufacturer to supply your private label supplement.
The FDA has a guide that you can refer to but the main things to look out for in a manufacturer include adherence to FDA guides, regular and independent inspections of their facilities, transparency in how they source materials and who from, references from brands they’ve worked with and the level of quality provided, among others.
Go For Effective Packaging
Even if your supplements work wonders, if you can’t get them to look that way from the outside, then people may never be interested enough to find out. An article from Chron.com says that your packaging reinforces your brand’s value, and another article by Forbes lists things that your packaging must accomplish.
Use SEO And The Internet
Even if you market your brand offline to local stores, the internet is still a powerful tool that can be used to drive offline sales. The mobile internet is now so available that people use it all the time, to check the showtimes of the new movies that are out, to update their social media status, and to find out information about a product before purchasing. You need to have a website with relevant information ready and available, and you need to carry out SEO to ensure that your site is on the first page of Google’s SERP when potential customers search for more information about your products or other products related to it.
You can also make your SEO efforts more effective by concentrating on the areas where your products are sold. This can be done by using paid SEO or SEM. When people within proximity of a store that stocks your products search for information about said products, your brand is shown in the SERP as a paid ad. There’s also a way to implement organic SEO for multiple locations.
Give Out Free Swag
The term “swag” is probably outdated, but the strategy is evergreen. Giving out free products always attract people because humans love free stuff, it’s in our nature. Giving a few samples away free is a good way to quickly get the products into the hands of the people, enabling them to get a feel of it. If they like it, they come back.
This plan is not foolproof and things may be awry. And because this eats into your profits, some may not want to go this route. If this is the case, you can still show customer appreciation by giving out free stuff, just not your main products. Luckily, “swag” includes products like pens, promotional calendars, notebooks, etc. and who wouldn’t want a free pen?