A lot of effort goes into getting food and drink listings – I’m sure you all know that, even more than me! It’s not just the writing of the presentation, sending the emails and making the calls, it’s all the hard work prior to that – creating a great brand, getting the product to taste amazing and building awareness. So, it’s vitally important that you nurture your listings to ensure you don’t lose them – and that they are a success for you and grow. It’s much easier to keep a listing and grow it, rather than gain a new one.
Don’t forget – all the time you are on the shelf of a retailer, there will be other competing brands contacting the retailer asking for that shelf space and giving their arguments of why they should be there instead of you. It’s important to remember that the retailer only has a certain amount of space, if another brand comes along and the retailer thinks they will sell lots in their store – they will have to make tough decisions about what to delist.
This is why it’s so important to have a robust marketing plan with plenty of activities to help support your food or drink listings and drive sales. For example:
- Social Media – use this to let people know where they can buy your product and do features on your different stockists showcasing them
- Email marketing – again use this format to let people know when you get new listings and where they can buy your product from
- Website – an up-to-date list of stockists on your website is always a good idea
- Events – if you do fairs or shows, why not have a leaflet highlighting your stockists
- Instore support – always look at ways you can support your listings in store – sampling being the key one which always drives sales
- Awards – this is a great way of standing out from the crowd in store – and could help a consumer to choose your product over a competitor product
As well as marketing support, good account management and offering the retailers great customer service will help you keep your listings. Make sure you keep in touch with them regularly to check everything is running smoothly – and don’t forget to tell them any new news e.g. award wins, new flavours or product developments.
So in summary – make sure you have a good marketing plan to support your food or drink listings, provide great account management and customer service.
To learn more on this subject, head over to our FREE webinar which goes into more detail.