Food and Beverage Advertising and Marketing for Beginners

How to use food and beverage advertising to help you sell your products
By Kate Esposito If your business involves producing or distributing any type of food or drink, you could greatly benefit from food advertising strategies. They can help you gain new customers and get existing ones to buy more.

Keep in mind that food and beverage marketing is not limited to traditional print ads. In fact, these may not be the best way to sell your products. Other things that you can consider are:

1. Holding sampling events to get new customers to taste your food and beverages;

2. Offering limited-time food and beverage promotions, such as cents-off coupons;

3. Selling your food and beverage items at new venues or at community events.

Start your food and beverage marketing with sampling events

The best form of food and beverage advertising and marketing, for beginners, is to just get people to try your products. If they like them, they will tell their friends, spreading news of your business through word of mouth.
Try:  Read the article on the W. P. Carey School at Arizona State University's site on why this kind of promotion works so well and how to do it properly. Then check out the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Fancy Food Show website and see if you can get an exhibitor table at the event in your area. Also consider sampling at local grocery stores and smaller scale community get togethers.

Use food and beverage advertisement options that motivate customers to act

Those advertising in the food industry know they need to incent consumers to act right away, while their products are new and fresh. Otherwise they may decide they will try them some day, and by then they will have disappeared from the shelves due to lack of interest. A good way to do this is with limited-time coupon offers.
Try:  Go to Home Business Center and read about how you can create your own coupons, with expiration dates, and distribute them in print or over the web. Then check out Wow Coupons' site and submit a request for a media kit. Even if you don't decide to advertise with the company, it can give you valuable insight into marketing strategy. Also, give current customers coupons when they purchase your products. Tell them to share them with friends.

Sell your products as part of your food and beverage promotion plan

Food advertising doesn't have to be mutually exclusive of sales. A great way to advertise, believe it or not, is just by selling your products somewhere besides your storefront or website.
Try:  Go to LocalHarvest and search for farmer's markets in your area. Even if your product isn't produce, you may be able to rent a table. Farmer's markets nowadays have coffee, breads, pet food and more. Then search the MSN City Guide to find a "taste of" event in your area. These events allow a large group of food and beverage distributors to sell their products to a new customer base in a casual and fun atmosphere. It's a good thing to get involved with.

• Consider putting out press releases as part of your food and beverage promotions. Write a new one each time you have a new product you'd like to launch and send it to your local newspaper or radio and TV station.