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Promotion
In order to sell your product, you need to promote it
to wholesale buyers and to consumers through a
combination of efforts including public relations,
advertising and sales promotions. There are two
target groups to reach; those who buy the product for
resale and consumers who buy for their own use.
Each target group should have a specific type of
promotion.
Public Relations
Public relations is the activities an organization
undertakes to create and keep a favorable public
image of itself. One part of this can be promoting
your company through media. If you are successful,
the media generates positive stories about you and
your product that provide you with publicity you can
not buy. It is a third party endorsement that adds to
your product’s credibility.
After you have done the work of building the profile
of your customer (if you also want to reach buyers
and distributors you will need to build the same type
of profile), you can create materials to sell your story
to the media.
You can act as your own public relations firm or turn
to a professional. Getting media attention takes
concerted effort and a working knowledge of what
media yields results. Public relations firms deal with
the media every day. They know the writers, editors
and broadcast producers. They can reach them and
speak their language. They know the mechanics of
sending out media releases, follow-up letters and
faxes. They also know whom to contact and when to
get the information out. They know how to pitch
your product and how to send out samples. But there
is no reason you can not learn all of this, over time,
and handle your own public relations. After all, you
should be the ideal spokesperson for your company.
If you decide to use an agency, pick one that has a
good track record working with other clients who are
also selling specialty foods. A firm that has
successfully represented specialty food producers
understands your market and has contacts with food
editors and writers. It is money well spent. An
agency usually gets a 15 per cent discount on the
advertising space they place, so they should not
charge you for placing ads, just for creating them. It
is important to find an agency that is willing to work
within a limited budget and is clear about costs and
fees. Do not always pick the largest agency. Small
agencies may enjoy the opportunity to grow with
you. You might also receive more attention.
Public relations is the least expensive way to reach
the widest potential audience, but there is a catch. It
takes time to make inroads. You have to allow time
to produce results. It often takes several efforts and
repeated contacts before many editors and writers
acknowledge your efforts. You need a good media
release that features an interesting angle to make
your story a compelling read. And remember, you
can not buy editorial coverage. You can package
information in a compelling way and you can direct
information to the proper people, but you can not
guarantee that you will get press coverage.
The goals of a public relations campaign are to gain
credibility through media coverage, to build brand
and name recognition, to reinforce your efforts to
reach retailers and consumers, and to create a public
image for your company. Be sure to get exposure in
trade publications as well as consumer publications.
Your media list should also include radio and
television.
The media release is a vehicle that gets news about
your company and your products to the media. It can
announce a new product, a milestone in your
company’s history, new people in top management
roles, an award you have won or a special event. A
media release should be concise (it is best to keep
them to one page), clear, factual and well written.
Lead with a catchy headline or subhead, include the
basics (who, what, when, where, why), use active
words and short sentences, avoid overstatement and
jargon, and include background information about
your products/services.