by Matt Weik
While supplement brands put a lot of focus into their product formulations, no one will even know it exists if they don’t market the product(s). And not just any kind of marketing will create demand for the product and get any sort of buzz around the product(s). Far too many supplement brands look to social media as a key marketing platform, but many of them are doing it all wrong. While it’s fine to talk about products and new things happening with the brand in posts, it’s the creative elements that separate the exciting, revenue-producing brands from those who are average at best.
What Creative Elements Should Brands Consider?
Creative is at an all-time high, and brands are leveraging all sorts of creative elements to their marketing spends. Whether they create these creative elements in-house or contract them out really comes down to their preferences. If they have a team in-house who can create unique and high-quality creative elements, it probably makes sense to work with them versus an outside company that can only share their ideas and visions via email or Skype calls.
That said, I really feel like some of the smaller supplement brands are edging out the big boys when it comes to creative elements. You want something that, when you’re scrolling through social media, stops people in their tracks and draws them in.
There is actually one “legacy” brand out there who has been in the industry almost from the very beginning, who has been posting commercials (if that’s what you want to call them) on social media that are so cringe-worthy, you almost wonder if the acting and production quality was purposely made to be horrible. I mean, if these commercials weren’t meant to be a joke, I almost feel bad for the brand the owner in the commercials as it can’t be helping him increase sales.
It should go without saying that you either need to be all in or not at all with creating creative elements. How people view your brand will lie heavily on what you put out on social media and through your marketing.
Some of the key creative elements that supplement brands should be considering include:
Videos
If you want to truly stand out and make something memorable when it comes to creative elements, you can’t go wrong with videos (that is, unless you completely botch the production). Granted, producing videos for your brand’s social media will generally cost you more than the other two options combined. That said, a video that people talk about and love will be shared throughout social media and has the ability to go viral.
For instance, today, I saw a commercial from a supplement brand that was literally about diversity. No, it had NOTHING to do with their products. Did it have some product placement in the video? Yes. But very minimal. The messaging in the video and the production quality made me sent it to several people in the industry, telling them to check it out. And guess what? They shared it with some of their friends as well. See how this has a snowball effect and can quickly get the brand attention?
But again, if you don’t have the money for high-quality production, going the route of videos may not be your best use of funds when looking at creative elements for your supplement brand.
Photos
Product shots for your website and product page, engaging imagery for social media posts, and all creative elements that involve capturing or creating a photo need to be top-notch. Don’t skimp. Sure, you could use your iPhone to take a photo to post on your social media pages, but if you’re going that route, you almost need some sort of photo editing software to improve the overall look, feel, and quality.
Your goal with photos is to stop people in their tracks while scrolling through their never-ending social media feeds. When it comes to which platforms to leverage, Facebook and Instagram will probably be the two main social media platforms you want to focus on. Your end consumer is more than likely on those platforms, and this is a great way to grab their attention and help build brand awareness and improve sales conversions.
If you have a team or someone in-house who can work on this project, it can save you a ton of money. If not, or you prefer to outsource, you’ll generally need someone who knows their way around photography as well as using photo editing software to help create the look and creative direction you want from the photo(s).
Blogs
While blogs don’t really fit into creative elements, part of them does. Blogs are a fantastic way to get information out there and share it with your community and online following. What you put IN the blog is where the creative elements can come into play.
For starters, creating written content will build an evergreen marketing strategy if done right. Meaning, one piece of content can bring traffic to your website every single year.
You should look to hire a quality writer and/or copywriter (my hand is raised) to build out educational content that your target audience would want to read. This content can include specific keywords and build your SEO. Ultimately, this brings more people to your website, where you can convert more sales.
Circling back to how this ties in with creative elements, you have the ability to insert a bunch of different things into the blog post, such as the photos and even videos you’ve produced from what was mentioned above (assuming they tie in with what the blog article talks about). What this allows is for you to better utilize your spends by not only using the photos and videos on social media but also utilizing them on your website to create a better user experience.
All in all, brands that focus on creative elements tend to be the ones who are crushing it right now. They’re fun, playful, and interact with their customers. This helps build brand awareness, which can help grow your sales and overall business.
