by Matt Weik
I’ve watched so many supplement brands copying each other, using the same marketing techniques, even the wording on their labels and website are similar. So, how can a supplement brand differentiate itself from the rest of the companies out there? It’s simple, put yourself in the shoes of your consumers. What are they doing? What are they engaging with? Where do they spend their time? If you were paying attention to them, this wouldn’t be an “ah-ha” moment.
Times Are Changing – Change with Them or Be Left Behind
One of the best ways that I feel a supplement brand can differentiate themselves from everyone else out there is to leverage podcasts and videos. Think about it. More and more people are leaving cable and moving towards other streaming services or skipping it altogether and only watching content from YouTubers. People are skipping the radio for podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience.
According to Oberlo, YouTube has two billion users across the globe. It’s the second most popular social media platform out there. At least 90% of those who use YouTube are between the ages of 18 and 44 (the same demographic many supplements brands are going after). Every day people watch one billion hours of YouTube content. 62% of businesses are using YouTube with 90% of consumers saying they learned about new brands or products on the platform. So, the question becomes, why isn’t your supplement brand using it?
When it comes to podcasts, MusicOomph.com gathered some statistics that showed there are over 700,000 active podcasts right now with over 29 million episodes to listen to. One of the top five most popular podcasting genres is health. When they looked at consumer behavior, they noticed that those who listen to podcasts are more likely to follow companies and brands on social media and that 69% have said podcast ads made them aware of new products.
Again, let me ask you… “Why are you not leveraging these platforms?” Creating a YouTube channel or podcast is extremely easy and ties in nicely with your social platforms.
What Type of Content Would Be Best?
For starters, the last thing you want to do is make either or both platforms you choose to use be solely about your supplement brand. Constantly hearing you push your products and supplement brand will turn people away extremely quickly. That’s not to say you shouldn’t have a few content pieces around key products, ingredients, or new launches. Just don’t make it the focus.
What you want to do is write content that resonates with not only your target audience but also the people currently purchasing your products. If your target demographic is elite professional athletes and you come out with content about how to help your nails grow, exactly what response are you expecting? In that example, you would want to create content about training and nutrition for performance. Sure, somewhere in there you can mention one of your products, but the subject shouldn’t scream “go buy my supplements.”
You want to focus on bringing VALUE to your audience. When you do, you become an authority in your niche/industry as well as earning the respect of your audience.
It would be wise to come up with some sort of content strategy for your YouTube and/or podcast platform. Even better, what I would recommend is that you record your content for YouTube and then extract the audio for a podcast. Essentially, you’re killing two birds with one stone. You get content for two extremely popular platforms from recording just one piece of content. This saves you time by streamlining the process.
How Often Should You Post Content?
I would recommend you post content once a week or every other week. Get a feel for what your audience wants and record a few different types of content. One about fitness, one about health, one about supplements, one about nutrition – and find out by checking the views and downloads which episodes did the best so you can gauge what your audience is into. From there you can better strategize. Also, don’t be afraid to ask what content people would like to see. Ask them to tell you down in the comments which also helps boost your engagement and get picked up by the algorithms.
As your audience grows, consider adding more content to the calendar – anywhere from two to five pieces of content per week if you feel releasing more content is beneficial and helping to grow your supplement brand.
What’s the Investment?
The nice thing about starting a YouTube channel or podcast is that the investment is next to nothing. You don’t need a professional production just to shoot a YouTube video or podcast. With a couple hundred dollars worth of equipment, you are good to go. You can then edit using free software that can be downloaded online or you can upgrade to better editing software if you wish.
Don’t have the time to do content? Hire someone to do it for you.
While you worry about the investment of time and money, there are always ways for you to see a return. Remember, this is YOUR channel and you can push people to your supplement brand website not only by asking people in the content itself, but you can also have links in the show notes and description. The more people you can send to your website to increase the traffic, the greater chance you have of converting some sales.
So, what’s the take-home message? Your audience is listening to podcasts and watching YouTube. Why not get your supplement brand out in front of your consumers to help drive sales and awareness? Need help? Let me know. I’d be willing to chat with you to help you understand the power behind these platforms.
