Online Marketing Strategies for the Meat Department

As more and more people surf, shop and communicate online it behooves the manager of the meat department to develop an online marketing strategy and plan to drive sales of his goods

by Ronnie P Cons – a Canadian Meat Business exclusive

Avoiding doing so and just sticking to conventional old school tactics can leave him prone to losing his customers to a growing number of online and brick and mortar meat stores that will employ exciting and targeted online strategies to attract his client base. Below is found some advice on how to develop such a strategy.

“Get your online marketing strategy in line for maximum sales growth!”

 

First, Start with the Basics:

1) Firstly, the meat department manager must develop, if he hasn’t already, a value-added proposition and positioning and messaging strategy that will consistently be used in all his communications with existing and prospective clients. This means deciding where he wants his store to be positioned in the customer’s mind along certain key proposition elements including: Low price average quality product vs high priced premium quality product; demographic targeting – for example, targeting young professionals or middle aged couples; promoting extensive personal service vs self-serve; delivery vs pick up; promoting health conscious meat cuts vs traditional possibly tastier cuts, as well as deciding other key elements in the product and service mix.

2) Once the above-mentioned target markets, value proposition, positioning strategy and core messages have been developed the next step is to find the most cost effective online mediums to communicate these messages to existing and targeted prospective clients. For instance, if one decided to target young professionals this would entail focusing on different online channels than if one was targeting middle aged couples who surf different web sites and use social marketing in a different manner.

Next, Develop the Specific Elements of the Online Strategy:

A) A good professional web site is a must. This could be the store’s section (page) found on the chain’s main site where the individual store promotes local specials and promotions. An independent store would have its own site. The site should be used to communicate the main theme and value proposition as mentioned above. It should have an option allowing persons to join the store’s regular email newsletter which helps to retain existing customers and educate and covert new clients. Online shopping or order processing are things to consider. Barbecue contests and recipe blogs inviting customers to submit recipes will energize the site and engage customers. The site should be made by a professional and only top-quality meat photos should be used.

B) E-mail marketing is still very used by marketers even though it often gets negative talk. One study revealed that 89% of marketers consider it as the primary means of lead generation. Developing an email list of current clients and persons registered to the newsletter will allow the store to email specials and store events. Opted in marketing lists of locals living in the area can be used for mass mailings to promote events or limited time specials to drive new client growth. The e-mail link should go to particular landing page set up for that promotion in order to enhance conversion rates. A quick call to action is essential (print rebate voucher; sign up for newsletter; come to a store open house).

C) A Google AdWords campaign focused on the geographic zone around the store can be used to drive new client growth by targeting persons Googling for “meat stores” in his area. Thus, the Google AdWords ad could offer a discount to these persons who are already looking for a meat store in his area. Testing different key words and ads and measuring the effectiveness of the ad campaign with Google analytics is pretty easy to do for the non-expert marketer even though a professional may be worth hiring to tutor you at first or run the campaign.

D) Facebook ads and Instagram can be used for social marketing and promoting events in order to create a hype and having readers share them with their friends. These platforms are also useful for educating readers on meat and poultry by sending out articles which will interest them.

E) SEO optimization is important to get one’s site ranked higher and thus get more visitors to the site. One method is to ask satisfied customers to give a positive Google review. This has been shown to not only increase the SEO ranking but also heavily influence the prospective client’s perception of the quality of the vendor’s goods and services.

So, get your online marketing strategy in line for maximum sales growth!

Ronnie P. Cons is CEO of C&C Packing Inc., a leading Canadian distributor of meat and poultry. He can be reached at Rcons@ccpacking.com www.ccpacking.com