Category: Health & Wellness

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Direct-To-Consumer Health & Wellness
health and wellness scaled 1
health and wellness scaled 1

Health and wellness brands know self-care matters more today than ever. Learn how to understand the current landscape and connect with customers at home.

No doubt, the coronavirus pandemic delivered a tough blow to many parts of the beauty and wellness industries. As an example, concerns over hygiene and social distancing measures hurt the incomes of professionals who need to touch people to perform their jobs.

Locally, these kinds of professions could range from hair stylists to massage therapists. The problem also spread to these professionals’ support staff, landlords, and suppliers. Of course, the coronavirus has also impacted companies that sell health and beauty products in stores.

On the other hand, both the beauty and wellness industries have proven themselves adaptable and resilient during past downturns. People might consider beauty even more of a luxury than wellness. Yet, according to McKinsey, the beauty industry grew seven percent during the worst years of the Great Recession.

During the current crisis, growth may have slowed in some sectors. During the Great Recession, businesses did not need to contend with social distancing and shutdowns. Even so, from the vantage point of a beauty and wellness marketing agency, many of the strongest brands have pivoted rapidly during this downturn as well. One way they’ve adapted includes helping their patrons attend to self-care at home.

Why is self-care a perfect marketing niche during the pandemic?

Even the Mayo Clinic and other health experts have emphasized the importance of self-care during these times. People need to take care of themselves to strengthen their immunity and to deal with the sometimes overwhelming nature of additional social isolation and abrupt change.

So, creating a wellness brand can tie into measures that average folks already know they need to take. For examples of areas that beauty and wellness brands could help people with, consider some of the steps that the Mayo Clinic suggests for self-care:

  • Maintaining physical health: The Mayo Clinic suggests getting plenty of sleep, enjoying physical activity, eating well, staying hydrated, and taking the time to relax.
  • Maintaining mental health: The Mayo Clinic urges people to maintain social relationships through phones and computers, focus upon things they can control, and look for ways to help other people.

Examples of pivoting health and wellness marketing to self-care

If customers can’t or won’t visit a salon or store, businesses have cleverly found ways to deliver at least some of the benefits of their services at home:

  • At-home dye kits: When one colorist couldn’t serve his clients in the salon, he began taking orders for at-home delivery of dye kits that he customized for each client from professional products.
  • Virtual massages: The Motley Fool published a story about a massage therapy clinic that successfully offered virtual therapy and coaching sessions to replace in-person massages.
  • Hand sanitizer production: It’s tough to find a wellness or health marketing agency that didn’t advise clients to start marketing high-demand items during the coronavirus outbreak, like hand sanitizer or face masks.

Glossy brought up the example of digitally-native Nécessaire. The brand noticed that not only had engagement risen on social media posts about self-care topics, sales of these products had also increased during the pandemic. To their credit, they didn’t just ride the wave of increased online sales.They also worked to focus their social media posts on having conversations about self-care at home.

Social topics include self-care tips and quizzes. They also included mentions of their own self-care products and even those of other companies. Their strategy has paid off with an engagement spike of 200 percent. To maintain momentum, the brand intends to expand its presence to YouTube and email marketing. Plus, they want to engage additional features on Instagram and Facebook.

According to Randi Christiansen, the CEO of Nécessaire, businesses like hers can’t just talk about the benefits of their products. They also have to engage in some creative storytelling and conversations. This way, they can let customers know why taking care of themselves matters so much and that it matters to the brand, too. They’ve focused upon branding themselves as more of a self-care and wellness brand than they even viewed themselves as before. 

Creating a wellness brand during coronavirus

Any beauty or wellness agency should consider the times and the state of mind of the people they’re trying to connect with. The pandemic has created a situation where self-care really matters, but it’s hard for many customers to visit the businesses that delivered their products and services in the past. That means smart businesses have striven to understand the situation and helped customers bring self-care home.

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CBD CBD Products CBD Services Direct-To-Consumer Health & Wellness
CBD marketing agency
CBD marketing agency

Use our CBD marketing agency tips and tricks to successfully and purposefully break into this growing market rife with opportunity.

According to Market Watch’s 2020 study, the global value for the CBD marketplace will grow to over $1.2 billion by 2024, up from 2019’s value of $311 million. Some optimistic analysts predict even higher growth. Still, a CBD marketing agency would advise any new brands to prepare for challenges. For instance, startup companies need to focus on product differentiation in a competitive marketplace. Also, many consumers still don’t really understand how CBD might benefit them or even exactly what it is.

Consider some informed CBD eCommerce tips to help inspire a robust, effective, and safe marketing plan.

The CBD marketing agency guide for eCommerce

Even though CBD comes from cannabis, it’s not psychoactive, like THC. Also, unlike THC, another cannabis extract, the 2018 Farm Bill made CBD legal federally and in most states. Studies have offered support for claims that it can help relieve a range of health issues, including seizures, migraines, insomnia, inflammation, poor appetite, and anxiety in both people and animals.

With all of these benefits, it’s important to understand that the growing popularity of the product and ease of entering the market have generated plenty of competition and more than a little scrutiny from the government.

Five ways to improve CBD product sales

These five CBD advertising and marketing suggestions can help a new or struggling CBD business meet competition and stay out of trouble with regulators:

1. Define the Product’s Market

It’s impossible to give a one-size-fits-all solution for CBD advertising because businesses might deliver their offers as pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, pet, or other kinds of products. That’s why it’s important for businesses to map out specific benefits they hope to promote. Then, they can offer this solution to the best audience.

For instance, one company may promote a high-grade pharma product to help reduce seizures. Another brand may have a topical solution to ease skin flareups. Still, another business may offer pet supplements that they promote to help reduce anxiety or joint issues in aging dogs.

Obviously, these very different products will need specific buyer personas and marketing approaches. They may also need to meet different standards for the sorts of claims that can be made to stay within legal restrictions for medical vs. consumer advertising. Mostly, it’s helpful to market to people with problems the product might solve and not just look for consumers with an existing interest in CBD.

2. Explore Alternative Programmatic Advertising for CBD

Programmatic advertising refers to buying ad slots with bids on an automated system. They can benefit marketers because they keep a lot of information about their audience. That allows advertisers to use very specific attributes, like age, location, or even past viewing habits, to select who will see the ads. Obviously, this kind of advertising can offer value to CBD advertisers who understand their market.

Some of the most common platforms that use this kind of bidding platform include Facebook and Google. These are mentioned because they’re familiar to most marketers. At the same time, these and other common  platforms impose restrictions on the way companies can promote any cannabis product, including CBD.

As a note, these kinds of platforms tend to get associated mostly with internet marketing. It’s also possible to find programmatic advertising for TV, radio, and other kinds of media.

Either alone or with the help of a CBD marketing agency, businesses can also explore some programmatic advertising advertising platforms that offer more flexibility for both products and the way companies advertise them. As an example, Cannabis Creative, a marketing agency. mentioned that Facebook and Google account for a large share of total advertising spend on programmatic ad platforms. At the same time, other paid platforms still attract very large audiences can can open up less-restricted promotions on such large and well-known outlets as ESPN, USA Today, and Politico.

3. Remain aware of legal and platform CBD advertising restrictions

Even though CBD doesn’t have the psychoactive effects that some people may associate with cannabis products, it hasn’t been legal in most places for very long. Brands need to take care to conform with marketing regulations, both at the federal and sometimes, at different state or local levels. In order to maintain accounts with various marketing platforms, companies also must take the time to understand the terms of service. And sometimes, these can prove hard to understand because the language isn’t direct.

Avoiding legal problems

According to Bradley, a media law firm, the growth of consumer protection regulations has paralleled the overall expansion of the CBD market. As an example, both the FTC and FDA have sent warning letters to companies that didn’t exercise enough caution when making claims that their products could treat various medical issues.

As a general rule, neither CBD packaging design or advertising should not:

  • Mention specific diseases
  • Cite dubious sources to backup explicit or inferred claims
  • Use words like treat, cure, or prevent
  • Guarantee results

Obviously, marketers need to promote potential benefits in order to attract the attention of customers. Doing this well without attracting negative attention from the government takes some craft and attention to only linking to or mentioning credible studies or professionals. For instance, it’ might be fine to claim that a CBD cream may help soothe skin but not that it cures eczema.

Notice that the page for a pet product called Calming Chews does not feature another mention of that benefit. The list of features simply talks about the product’s purity, that it doesn’t contain THC, and that it was grown organically. It also mentioned that the product was tested in a lab for safety and effectiveness, but it never says what it was tested to be effective for.

Further down, they offer some vague language that says the product combines CBD with some calming herbs. They’re implying their benefits, but they’re probably avoiding a direct statement to remain in compliance. That’s why startups may want to work with experienced marketing agencies and even media lawyers to ensure they understand the dynamic legal environment.

Avoiding service violations on advertising platforms

While businesses need to prioritize staying out of legal trouble with regulatory agencies, they also need to focus on maintaining their advertising accounts. As recently as late in 2019, Huffington post published an article about Facebook’s “secret” CBD ban. Marketers found that Facebook had terminated their advertising accounts for violating terms that were hard to even know existed.

Apparently, Facebook didn’t have any specific, public policy at the time about CBD. At the same time, they apparently did have an internal policy. It’s just that even first-time offenders of this policy had accounts completely terminated. Meanwhile, other advertisers who may have just been lucky at first, found ways to promote landing pages with topical CBD products; however, they didn’t specifically mention CBD in the ads. The pervious statement was not intended as advice but just an example to illustrate the caution.

As a note, the Pinterest terms of service for paid ads specifically prohibit products with CBD. Other platforms, including Instagram, Google, and YouTube, also have complex terms. In any case, before using any marketing platform to promote CBD products with paid advertising, it’s important to do some research or work with an experienced CBD marketing agency to ensure compliance with platform rules that can change at any time, not be well documented, and may even not get enforced exactly the same way each time.

4. Benefit from social and content marketing

The section above mentioned that many advertising platforms for social sites have restrictions or even outright bans on CBD products. These same rules don’t necessarily apply to the kinds of social posts that aren’t promoted via the advertising platform on the site. Social Media Explorer said that many CBD advertisers had managed to fare very well by using content, inbound marketing, and non-promoted social posts.

These are some examples of tested tactics to promote within this strategy:

  • Create informational videos: Even with all the buzz about the Farm Bill, lots of people really don’t know the difference between non-psychoactive CBD, THC, and other cannabis substances. Even if some of these consumers do know, they may not realize that CBD might offer a solution for some issue they might have. While it’s still wise to take care when making claims, an informational video that uses credible studies and sources to back up the benefits that some people say they’ve experienced should work well.
  • Brand ambassador programs: Lots of eCommerce platforms create a program that helps reward loyal customers for spreading the word about products they already buy and love. Typically, the brand ambassador will get a unique that they can use if they mention the product, and if somebody else buys, the loyal customer will get rewards the can use for discounts or free gifts. This sort of word-of-mouth advertising generally works very well and can prove much cheaper than paying for ads anyway.
  • Influencer marketing: Social influencer refers to people who already have a targeted audience on various social platforms. Depending upon the product, good influencers might work within the fitness, health, beauty, or even pet care niche. Having them demonstrate or even mention a brand can provide new companies with a lot of name recognition and a boost for their own social platform.
  • Try multiple platforms: With social marketing, it’s not possible to target as precisely as it is with programmatic ads. Still, content and even CBD packaging design can work to attract the right audience. At the same time, it’s probably best to consider the pros and cons of various social sites to see which ones have the most receptive audience. For instance, Twitter users tend to be younger than Facebook users, while Pinterest is known for attracting a lot of women. While short videos may perform well on Instagram and Facebook, YouTube has a reputation for more engaged viewers for longer videos. While it’s important not to get spread too thin, it’s also a good idea to focus on a few platforms to see which combination yields the best results.
  • Build connections: These days, consumers do turn to social platforms both to research products and even to get help with customer service. It might sound trite to say this, but some businesses still ignore comments about their brands or even direct messages. In order to benefit from social media, companies need to engage. In addition to monitoring messages and their own pages, brands can use software that will monitor any mentions of their brands to help them make timely responses.

Develop the best content mix 

After deciding to attract attention with content, it’s also important to select the right mix of content types. The platform, target audience, and many other factors might determine which kind of content works best for each particular situation. Common examples of content for social media, business blogs, and even outreach posts include text, graphics, and videos.

Digging even deeper, some CBD companies have enjoyed success with long-form white papers and even live webinars  and podcasts. Some potential topics might include: 

  • Answers to frequently asked questions
  • A discussion of the difference between CBD and THC
  • The history of CBD use
  • An interview with an authoritative guest

Actually, consider any topic that might interest the target market. While a company may want to avoid associating benefits with any specific medical conditions, exploring that medical condition from another angle should still attract the right sets of eyes. For instance, prudent marketers may never want to suggest that CBD is guaranteed to relieve anxiety.

Still, they might produces sponsored videos with stress-relief meditation, yoga poses, or breathing exercises and then incorporate a call to action that leads to a landing page. They can clearly associate their product with stress relief without guaranteeing results.

It may also help to vary the length and format of various types of content for different purposes. As a simple example, short, to-the-point videos may help engage people on social sites. A long and more thoughtful video might help close sales on a business blog or YouTube.

5. Maximize eCommerce site conversions

The previous tips will help CBD marketers attract a targeted audience to an eCommerce site. Of course, the final ingredient to maximize sales means taking steps that will ensure those site visitors convert into customers. According to BigCommerce, average eCommerce sites expect conversion rates of no more than one to two percent. If the right tactics can increase conversions to better than average, they’ll translate into better marketing returns and of course, increased revenues and profits.

  • Respond to abandoned shopping carts: Automated tools can send emails to people who have signed up but failed to click the buy button. A discount coupon or special promo code for first-time buyers will motivate some of these almost-buyers to return to their cart.
  • State the unique selling proposition on each page: Within the confines of legal verbiage, make sure customers understand the benefits they can expect from the product. Beyond that, it’s a good idea to let customers know about return policies and other considerations that might hold them back.
  • Highlight CBD packaging design: As with marketing messages, CBD packaging design can be tricky. Since all new customers see is a photo of the package, companies need their design to create a great first impression and clearly illustrate what the product is, such as a supplement or beauty product. At the same time, SmashBrand mentioned some potential federal and state legal requirements for packaging. In any case, clear images of a aesthetically pleasing and legal design will help build customer trust.

Selling CBD products in a growing but competitive marketplace

Before engaging in any CBD advertising, businesses need to clearly define potential benefits of their products and in turn, their target market. Once that’s done, the retailer can find the best marketing platforms with both legal and platform restrictions on advertising in mind. While programmatic advertising can rapidly increase exposures and sales, some of these paid advertisers have restrictions on CBD marketing, so it’s important to choose carefully and also consider inbound, content marketing as an alternative to only relying upon paid ads. Finally, make sure to tailor both packaging design and the sales pages to maximize conversions and conform to regulations for cannabis products.

Mostly, CBD businesses have a great opportunity to enter this growing market. By marketing aggressively but safely, marketers can stay out of trouble with regulatory bodies and build trust with an expanding audience.

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Health & Wellness
health and wellness marketing scaled 1
health and wellness marketing scaled 1

Outlandish health claims make trouble. Health and wellness marketing needs quality content and credible distribution channels to develop long-term trust.

Since there’s even a Netflix show about Goop, the wellness company has gotten a lot of attention. Founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop has also attracted more than a little criticism for making questionable claims about the efficacy of its products. Not judging, but some of their natural remedies include jade, sexual-wellness eggs and psychological-energy sprays.

Actually, according to NBC News, they were once judged and had to pay $145,000 to settle a California lawsuit for making unsubstantiated health claims. To avoid getting lumped with Goop by today’s savvy consumers or even worse, legal authorities, consider some examples of other businesses that can inspire an effective and authentic health and wellness marketing campaign.

Authentic, credible health and wellness marketing

 In contrast to Goop, Sophie Scott serves as the editor-in-chief of BALANCE, a trusted wellness publication from the U.K. She was quoted in Forbes as saying they worked hard to establish credibility. She understands that many people have lost trust in her industry and doesn’t blame them. For one thing, BALANCE focuses upon prevention, so it’s not as easy to document effectiveness than it might be for a company that promoted remedies.

At the same time, she believes that during these stressful times, people need the practical and effective information that her publication offers more than ever. As an example, she mentioned that stress alone causes $1 trillion in global productivity losses every year. In addition, the worldwide wellness industry is estimated to have a worth of $14 trillion, so it’s obvious that lots of people are seeking these kind of solutions. 

Taking a page from BALANCE, these are some ingredients of their success as a credible and successful healthcare marketing agency and publication:

  • Focus upon factual information: It’s important to ensure that all messaging contains only well-researched and factual information. For instance, BALANCED earned a Wellspoken Mark, given to health and wellness companies that adhere to high standards for only making honest claims. No business wants to be accused of Goop marketing tactics, so take care to only promote proven substantiated benefits.
  • Develop a high-performing marketing strategy: BALANCE charges for printed magazines, but they don’t just rely upon hard-copy distribution. They’re also very active with their content on such social networks as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They have a website, Balance.Media, a podcast, and even promote live events. One example of a past live event that’s creative and relates to their ongoing mission was a live saxophone spin class.

What can a healthcare marketing agency learn from BALANCE about distributing content?

While BALANCE covers a broad range of topics in their publication, they’re not really in the business of promoting their own products. Instead, they use their publication to research health and fitness ideas and in the process, often advertise other companies. Because they’ve gained credibility with their audience, they might serve as a perfect publisher to attract a growing supplement, fitness, or skincare marketing agency.

At the same time, health and wellness manufacturers and distributors may want to develop their own marketing platforms, perhaps both online and offline, so BALANCE can serve as a great example. As another example, Casper produces mattresses, and they began publishing their own print magazine, Woolly. Newer businesses might decide to keep their content online but take something away from the idea that a credible wellness publication can also serve as a great place to promote their brand.

Find a niche and establish credibility

To get started, it’s best to find a niche and establish credibility there first. As an example, MyFitnessPal maintains a blog that features articles about diet, exercise, and diet-friendly recipes. They use the blog pages to insert promotions for their newsletter, apps, and other products. Sometimes, in turn for great content, they offer bylines to topic experts.

As an example, a fitness trainer provided an article about easing into weight training. The trainer’s credibility comes from his experience as a college athlete, power lifter, an advanced degree in Exercise Science, and co-ownership of a gym. At the end of the piece, the blog inserted a promotion for relevant features in their app and prompted readers to download it. This serves as a good example of using relevant, valuable content to attract and audience and then taking the chance to market to them.

A wellness business doesn’t need or want Goop marketing

Goop certainly gained some attention from their marketing tactics and perhaps, their celebrity owner. It’s not the kind of publicity that a legitimate healthcare marketing agency would suggest for any company that wants to earn a reputation as credible and authentic. Instead, develop high-quality content that doesn’t rely upon outlandish claims and then find distribution channels with the sort of reputation you want your brand to associate with.

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Consumer & Healthcare Health & Wellness Healthcare Marketing/Business Pharmaceutical
neutraceutical market scaled
neutraceutical market scaled

The nutraceutical market is booming. Here’s what you need to know in order to make your product stand out in the crowd.

With the US population aging and rates of many chronic diseases continuing to soar, consumers are in need of new products that promote health and wellness. Nutraceuticals, with their emphasis on natural health benefits, are one popular option.

Nutraceuticals, which have been positioned as a natural alternative to pharmaceutical treatments of physiological problems, have seen substantial growth in recent years. The global market is worth roughly $241 billion and is projected to reach $373 billion by 2025. 

Nutraceutical marketing, however, can present something of a challenge for people without true domain expertise. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at a few key tips for optimizing your nutraceutical marketing.

Understanding What Motivates Buyers in the Nutraceutical Market

Nutraceutical development is often targeted at physiological conditions that have a nutritional component. Certain diseases have dietary risks that are related to disease progression; other diseases simply do not have a long list of viable medical treatments. Patients that fall within these groups, naturally, are highly motivated to seek impactful medicines or supplements.

Smart nutraceutical marketing is aware of these distinctions, and should make an effort to target and activate consumers and patients who are being poorly served by traditional healthcare approaches. Brands should also be cognizant of buyer preferences within this niche; for example, nutraceutical buyers want green and sustainable product packaging.

Finding Where Nutraceutical Prospects Live Online

Buyers of nutraceuticals blur the line between patients and conventional consumers and this is reflected in their online behavior. When developing a nutraceutical marketing strategy, brands should focus on health and wellness websites, patient support groups and any channel where large numbers of people with medical issues congregate. That said, brands should also focus their marketing efforts on the segment of the nutraceutical audience that is motivated more by wellness, fitness and preventive medicine.

Differentiate Your Offering

The nutraceutical market is highly fragmented, with a few large multinationals at the top and thousands of small players operating in the industry. In order to stand out in this landscape, companies need to differentiate.

The problem is, most companies are selling variations on the same products. This means that branding is a critically important differentiator. The brands that do the best job of developing a valuable brand and building awareness will be in the strongest competitive position.

Leverage the Latest Technological Tools

If your nutraceutical brand isn’t devoting significant resources to cutting-edge digital marketing, you’re putting your organization at a significant disadvantage. Digital outreach, whether it’s via programmatic ads or social media campaigning, is critical. Without it, you can’t properly segment and target your audience and gather important insight into the efficacy of your marketing efforts.

Savvy brands go one step beyond traditional approaches and employ more sophisticated digital tools, including geo-targeting and search-based targeting, then support these efforts with advanced analytics that offer deeper insight into campaign performance. 

Partner with a Third Party When Necessary

Let’s face it: Many nutraceutical brands don’t have the in-house expertise to develop the kind of tech-centric campaigns that move the needle. In cases such as these, it makes sense to work with an outside marketing agency.

Choosing the right agency is imperative, however, as few have true nutraceutical domain expertise. Without that key element, you simply can’t create informed and authoritative advertising and marketing content. If you choose to opt for an external agency, make sure that your partner has experience with the nutraceutical niche.

Why Bigeye is the Ideal Partner for Nutraceutical Marketing

At Bigeye, we are domain experts in the realm of nutraceutical advertising and marketing. This allows us to create campaigns that are highly targeted, strategically sound and easily scalable without breaking the bank.

Contact us today for more information about what Bigeye can do for you.

Categories
Branding Direct-To-Consumer Health & Wellness Marketing/Business Package Design Video Production
skincare company scaled 1
skincare company scaled 1

As the skincare market continues to expand, the time is right for starting your own company. You’ll never reach the level of success you desire, however, without establishing a disruptive brand that stands out from the completion.

A 2019 study by the independent market research company the NPD Group singles out the prestige beauty market as one of the fastest-growing sectors in United States retail sales with an annual growth of 6 percent. And, with an annual growth of 13 percent, the skincare category stands out as a particular achiever, comprising a full 60 percent of the prestige beauty market’s total industry gains.

“If I had to use one word to characterize the state of the U.S. beauty industry today, it would be disruption,” says NPD Group executive director and beauty industry analyst Larissa Jensen. “Whether we look at categories, brands, or retailers, there are sweeping changes taking place in the market landscape.”

Jensen proceeds with a warning to skincare entrepreneurs everywhere, stressing the fact that “brands and retailers must not only be cognizant of these transformations and act upon them, but identify new white space opportunities to captivate consumers and further differentiate themselves from the crowd.”

Leveraging Areas of Disruption in Skincare Industry

Prospective skincare company owners and chief executive officers should pay close attention to the specific growth areas within the skincare industry if they want to capitalize on areas of disruption and establish a distinct, unique, and valuable brand.

The booming popularity of natural beauty products, for example, represents a dramatic sea change in terms of the qualities and characteristics that customers have come to expect. Reflecting this change, the top contributor to the $5.6-billion skincare industry are natural skincare brands. The NPD Group reports that natural skincare products accounted for more than one-quarter of annual skincare sales, up 23 percent from the previous year.

The NPD Group report goes on to identify lip treatments, toners/clarifiers, facial sprays, and alphabet creams as the fastest-growing skincare product classifications. Customers are also increasingly purchasing skincare for the body, protective sunscreens, and self-tanning products.

Before starting a skincare company, it is absolutely imperative that you understand all the licensing and regulatory issues that you will face. In general, the legal requirements that you must meet to operate a handmade cosmetics business are similar to the legal requirements that other small business must meet. However, as part of the cosmetic/beauty industry, you must ensure that your skincare product(s) pass muster with the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA).

Regulated by the FDA under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, all skincare products must be deemed safe for consumers for indicated conditions of use prior to their release. They also have to be labeled properly.

It isn’t against the law to make cosmetics in your home, but it is your responsibility to ensure that this is accomplished safely. In his article “How to Start Your Own Line of Skin Care,” Houston Chronicle contributor Michael Flanagan suggests accessing the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practice Guidelines/Inspection Checklist before designing your manufacturing space. This is the best way to prepare this space for its required FDA on-site inspection.

Manufacturing Your Skincare Products

The Houston Chronicle article goes on to offer a number of skincare product manufacturing tips including cutting down on overhead costs by looking for bulk suppliers to secure all necessary raw ingredients. It recommends accessing online distribution networks such as MakingCosmetics and Admix to meet both your supply and equipment needs.

If you choose to start your business with a manufacturing space on your residential property, you can often use your kitchen as your main hub of activity. The equipment that you will need depends entirely on the type(s) of skincare product(s) that you want to make. Skincare companies that plan to make clay facials, for example, can probably begin by using existing household mixing bowls and spoons. Those who want to make soap, however, must first buy soap molds and a few other essential pieces of equipment.

Skincare Company Marketing

No matter how great your skincare products happen to be, you won’t get far in the skincare sector without a comprehensive and outstanding marketing campaign. Here are just a few elements that you’ll want to include in your unified skincare company marketing efforts.

  • An official website – In virtually any industry, a high-quality website is absolutely essential. Your website should reflect your company’s core values and commitment to excellence. Even if you don’t plan to sell your skincare products online, customers will inevitably turn to your website for answers to important questions as well as information about your company and what it does best.
  • A strong social media presence – Reach your target consumer base on the social media platforms that they already frequent. Depending on your target demographic this might mean maintaining compelling, informative, and up-to-date company pages on multiple platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Social media outreach is a great idea for a wide range of reasons, but its ability to engender both consumer-to-company and consumer-to-consumer interactions is simply unparalleled.
  • Email newsletters – As a skincare company, you’ll want to turn each buyer into a repeat customer. Email newsletters are a great way to drive consumer loyalty. Although you don’t want to bombard customers with constant messages of little value, occasional newsletters can be a great way to make customers feel valued. Share content that will command attention, announce the release of new products, and motivate consumer action with various sales and promotions.
  • Non-digital marketing efforts – Don’t forget that the majority of people still buy their skincare products in brick-and-mortar stores. Consider visiting regional beauty salons, spas, and health/beauty stores to offer free samples. If these establishments express an interest in buying your products, you should provide them with attractive wholesale pricing. Other traditional sales techniques that continue to work well include the staging of at-home skincare parties.

Skincare Branding

While all of the techniques outlined above can effectively reach your target demographic of existing and prospective customers, you simply won’t get far with a bunch of disorganized and unconnected advertising efforts. In order to be truly successful, your company must unify all of its marketing activities under the banner of an overarching brand that is both captivating and exceptional.

Your branding efforts must begin with the creation of an effective company name and logo. Don’t take these steps lightly! Both your name and your logo must be carefully designed to resonate with your audience.

Keep your name simple, catchy, and easy to spell, Pay close attention both to how your name looks when read and to how your name sounds when spoken. If possible, choose a name that conveys some sort of strategic meaning.

The uniqueness of your name is also a paramount concern. To see whether or not a favored name is already in use, check online with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Your name and logo should lead the way when developing a brand that projects a distinct and desirable set of characteristics and values. These specific characteristics and values will depend entirely on your target demographic.

For example, a “macho” brand is perfect for companies in the fast-growing men’s skincare product sector. Other skincare companies have found success with socially conscious branding messages and company affiliations, offering products that are responsibly sourced and supporting a broad spectrum of charitable causes.

Best Skincare Packaging

A recent report by the leading corrugated packaging company WestRock shows that more than four in five American have tried a new product due to its packaging. And packaging is particularly important in an overcrowded skincare sector that has products desperately competing for attention on store shelves everywhere.

Like all other facets of your marketing operations, your unique product packaging must align with the characteristics and values of your brand as a whole. This is absolutely essential if you want to connect with your chosen consumer demographic.

Although no two skincare companies should wrap their products in similar packaging, there are a few universal guidelines that companies must generally keep in mind. For example, a highly important part of presenting a professional image is ensuring that all your brand-name products follow a constant design style.

Skincare Video Production

In today’s marketplace, a business that fails to use video as part of its comprehensive branding and advertising efforts is bound to fall behind. The 2020 State of Video Marketing Survey by Wyzowl reports that 85 percent of companies use video as a marketing tool and that 92 percent of marketers who use video rely upon it as “an important part of their marketing strategy.”

When you stop to consider the fact that beauty product videos are the most searched-for video type on YouTube, the tremendous potential of video marketing in the skincare sector should be immediately obvious. In addition to producing and releasing traditional video ad spots, your skincare company can benefit from motion graphics infomercial content, instructional how-tos, and recorded customer testimonials.

Get Professional Guidance

Unless you happen to be a seasoned marketing professional, you will want to secure the assistance of a professional skincare marketing agency well before establishing your company and beginning to distribute your products. At Bigeye, we know the supreme importance of founding your skincare company with an extremely powerful, unified organizational image and a highly compelling, targeted marketing message.

Let us help you launch your brand right the first time, so you don’t have to contend with the significant cost, hassle, and wasted time that go hand in hand with subsequent company rebranding efforts.

Categories
Consumer & Healthcare Health & Wellness Healthcare
health and wellness marketing e1572565771241
health and wellness marketing e1572565771241

If you’re engaged in health and wellness marketing, you need to stay apprised of the latest trends. Here’s what’s happening in the health space.

Appetite-suppressing lollipops, goat yoga and the desire to replace every food with cauliflower — there’s no question that health and wellness trends are sometimes a bit over the top. Yet this industry also represents serious business, given that it is worth $4.2 trillion and growing at more than 12% annually. Companies in this space need to stay on top of evolving trends to ensure that they derive maximum value from their health and wellness marketing.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what’s happening within the health and wellness space.

Why are people spending more money on their health, diet and general well-being? Technology plays a sizable role. Social media — and the trend toward optimizing each aspect of our lives — has created intense interest in self-improvement, as shown by the following trends:

  1. Growth in the wellness travel space. You’ve probably heard about culinary travel — now meet health and wellness-themed vacations. Instead of lying on a beach and sipping cocktails, more consumers are seeking health-focused holidays. The wellness travel space , which is worth $563 billion annually, encompasses everything from yoga retreats, to spas, healthy cooking holidays and spiritual retreats. Why are such excursions becoming so popular? Instead of gorging themselves on food and drink and returning to work heavy, groggy and out of sorts, consumers instead are using vacation time to pursue physically and mentally refreshing activities — and returning to work glowing, fit and ready to move full steam ahead.

  2. The line between wellness devices and medical devices has become increasingly blurred in recent years. Wearable technology now allows us to use connected consumer devices to collect actionable health data — heart rate, sleep quality and other key biometric feedback data. This data, which was once siloed inside consumer health apps, is now being ported directly to health care providers, allowing them to make more informed treatment decisions even at a distance. This trend has the potential to unlock vast efficiency and cost improvements in the medical sector. If patients begin to feel poorly at home, their physician can review their health data remotely and possibly make an assessment and diagnosis — something that might prevent an unnecessary trip to the ER or doctor’s office. Modern medical device marketing plays a critical role in helping educate the public about this trend and the brands that are driving it.

  3. The democratization of health and wellness. Like many new trends, health and wellness began gaining traction among wealthier demographics. Today, however, Goop subscribers and new age enthusiasts are no longer driving the health and wellness train. The cost of gym memberships has decreased, the App Economy has helped make physical training of all sorts more accessible and put digital health and wellness tools into the hands of almost anyone who needs them. This is a critically important development, as healthcare costs are outpacing economic growth in many countries. The WHO predicts that there will be a shortage of tens of millions of healthcare workers, so ancillary health and wellness services can help mitigate these gaps. Smart health and wellness marketing can also help reach and activate these audiences.

Finding the Right Healthcare Marketing Agency

If you’re seeking help with health and wellness marketing, it’s imperative to connect with the right agency. At BIGEYE, we have the domain expertise to create deeply authoritative campaigns and content — and the technological skill to execute them effectively.

Categories
Consumer & Healthcare Health & Wellness Healthcare Healthcare Devices Technology, SAAS, & Other High Tech
health and wellness for seniors e1572565876404
health and wellness for seniors e1572565876404

As wearable digital health and wellness devices continue to improve, wearables will be the new frontier when it comes to health and wellness for seniors.

Wearable fitness trackers are all the rage, but they aren’t finding their way onto the wrists of elderly people. But, considering their ability to measure and record a whole host of health and wellness criteria, can’t your Fitbit be used as a medical monitor to care for your grandfather?

According to the international industry association Wearable Technologies, even the new Fitbit Care simply doesn’t have the precision or reliability to track the health of a senior living or home care patient. However, that’s all about to change with the introduction of a whole new generation of health wearables for seniors that are approved by the FDA for tasks that range from monitoring daily activities, sending real-time alerts, and even preventing dangerous falls.

The Vast Potential of the Senior Health Wearables Market

Economic predictions for wearable health devices that further health and wellness for seniors are incredibly bright. In fact, a national news outlet that serves an audience of senior citizens, McKnight’s Senior Living recently declared, “FDA-cleared wearables are the future of senior care.”

Considering that the number of Americans over 64 years of age will more than double by 2060 and that 80% of these senior citizens will live with one or more chronic illnesses, McKnight’s predicts that wearables will prove indispensable as the next step in the technological evolution of remote patient monitoring.

Key Wearables Marketing Messages That Speak Directly to Seniors

Considering that the fitness wearable sector of today is clearly dominated by younger consumers, how does a wise wearables marketer begin to reach out to the geriatric demographic? Here are just three key marketing messages that are bound to resonate with seniors when it comes to wearable devices for health.

1. Feel better and live longer with wearables

As the daily business and tech newsletter Trends points out, health wearables for seniors will go far beyond the capabilities of the fitness wearables of today. In addition to “measuring heart rates, blood sugar or other important markers” these new wearables “will signal to users how to improve health and longevity on a daily basis,” going the extra distance to manage and treat chronic illnesses as diabetes and heart disease.

2. Increase and maintain mobility

By encouraging stretching / exercise and helping ward off physical ailments, wearables can do wonders to keep seniors mobile. An independent authority on digital apps and gadgets, Tech Crunch stresses the many ways that wearables can boost mobility by helping seniors cope with vision loss, explaining how these devices can send signals via headphones and bodily vibrations to warn sight-impaired individuals of obstacles that appear in their paths.

3. Live independently

For many seniors, living independently is the ultimate goal. Wearable technology can do wonders to make independent living a safe and sensible reality by allowing seniors to monitor their own health and wellness. And, perhaps more importantly, wearables can transmit this same health and wellness information in real time to family members and / or healthcare professionals.

For More Information

A digital marketing agency working in a number of market sectors, BIGEYE specializes in capitalizing on evolving trends with a forward-thinking approach. Contact us today and let us help you hone a marketing campaign with a specific focus on health wearables for seniors.

Categories
Direct-To-Consumer Direct-to-Consumer Clothing Food & Beverage Health & Wellness
shutterstock 192068741 1200x600 c default
shutterstock 192068741 1200x600 c default

When it comes to retail strategy, the companies that are, indeed, “getting it right” understand the importance of effective retail visual merchandising displays. These are the oft-admired businesses that attract attention by partnering with merchandisers, designers and artists to conceptualize immaculate displays that garner attention – even from far away. Think of it this way: with a penchant for specific brands, and if given the option, most consumers would typically choose to work remotely from their local Starbucks location, versus setting-up shop inside a Dunkin’ Donuts. Why, you ask? Well, it’s a fairly simple concept when you think about it. Starbucks stores have a connotation with the promotion of calm productivity; from the artwork hanging above the tables, to the light strumming of latte-friendly background music, the coffee retailer upholds its vision through and through. In contrast, the “America runs on Dunkin’” brand, (while also incredibly strong), caters to the on-the-go coffee drinker, and it’s fairly apparent in the brand’s visual merchandising, as well. Although these two companies center a majority of their promotional efforts around coffee shop marketing, and despite having a hugely similar product, the associated consumer messaging is starkly different for each brand. As a result, both have proven, successful approaches – appealing to their respective target consumer for pretty obvious reasons: speed and convenience, or relaxation and comfort.
That certainly doesn’t dilute the value of a caramel-drizzled cup o’ joe, now, does it?

So, what’s the “secret ingredient” to retail visual merchandising success? While there really is no secret formula to ensure that a brand’s message will effectively resonate with the wallet-toting, Frappucino®-loving consumer, one of the most critical – and often most powerful – elements when delivering messages via in-store channels is to ensure that displays contain two critical elements. They must be both aspirational, while also maintaining a company’s ability to deliver on its brand promise. In other words, the customer must feel as though the brand’s commitment is being fulfilled – be it a steadfast promise to adhere to service quality standards, the caliber of the ambiance of a store’s location, or to product innovation. When she purchases from your company, she must feel as though your retail strategy falls closely in line with the overarching brand strategy. Interestingly, this is why companies like Hollister go for the “California cool” approach by enlisting the use of surfboard displays and Yellowcard on their music playlist. On the flip side, and completely on-brand, the backlit displays in Chanel stores elicit a certain degree of elegance and posh. Ideally, these messages will subliminally permeate throughout the brand’s media mix, initiating a comprehensive customer experience that begins with the consumer’s initial impression, and maintains the same – or heightened – levels of engagement throughout the customer journey, and the comprehensive sales funnel.

At BIGEYE, one of the greatest cross-industry challenges we see companies encounter is in crafting enticing, attractive, and compelling retail visual merchandising displays. While some brands have been known to pay lip service to the perceived potential impact that robust merchandising has on a customer’s decision to purchase, we know all-too-well that conceptualizing designs without actually taking the necessary steps to execute them properly is a futile effort. Here’s the proof in your perfectly prepared Peppermint Mocha: psychology studies have shown that impulse buying ultimately comes down to seeing a given product. Companies may actually be able to coax customers into making certain product purchase decisions based upon product displays, assembled in a manner that elicits a “can’t pass by without directing at least some degree of focus on a product” mindset. Remember the time you purchased that candy bar you didn’t need while waiting in the Trader Joe’s checkout line? How about picking up yet another coffee tumbler from the aforementioned Starbucks location you frequent? Well, you can thank science for that! In fact, Lars Perner, Ph. D and Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing at the University of California Riverside’s Marshall School of Business, believes that the more visible the product is, the more likely it is that people will, indeed, purchase it. This, of course, is all provided that the consumer is aware of the product, and its intended purpose. (Sadly, I’m all too familiar with the consequences of that pesky candy bar on a girl’s waistline, and yet, I’ll purchase it anyway. Sigh.)

[quote]Through extensive market research, we’ve seen the proven impact that the effective arrangement of a display has on consumer behavior, with the primary approach always focused around the development of a poignant theme. [/quote]

Developing a dynamic proposition opens up the doors to possibility in terms of visual storytelling. Too many times, we see brands crafting displays in an effort to find as many common connections as possible, all the while, thinking this will result in an increase in product sales. Ironically, too much clutter or disorganization within the theme can cause confusion, and may actually dissuade potential customers from entering a store. Maintaining this focus on the central theme is crucial when constructing a display’s design.

In New York, where companies spend millions of dollars on interactive retail visual merchandising displays during the holidays, shoppers line the streets of Fifth Avenue specifically to see the winter window displays. Light shows, music, and interactive yuletide imagery entices chilly (albeit exuberant) shoppers to enter these stores to engage with the brand – and hopefully, to spend large sums of money as they purchase gifts for friends and family. These companies have deduced that they have the distinct opportunity to sell more product, simply by showcasing items in a big and bold manner, as opposed to blending into the visual scene scape. It’s driven by an individual’s inherent attraction to this novelty, as people are impressed and excited by things they haven’t seen or experienced before.

Color also has significant visual impact on purchasing behavior, so we mustn’t forget that fact. It might seem silly, however using starkly contrasting colors does, in fact, cause an instinctive reaction – likened to the primal sense of emotional arousal that our ancestors would have experienced when seeing a tiger – can you believe that one? Attribute this with the notion that certain colors also have the potential to trigger various conscious and unconscious emotional states, and designers can actually create color combinations that will attract and divert attention to these products. For instance, red is the most commonly used color in restaurant visual marketing, as it stimulates excitement and even appetite; the second is yellow, which invokes feeling of joy and optimism (are you craving a Big Mac right now, too?) But if the brand promotes health-consciousness and well being, most often the color of choice is green—think Whole Foods and, (dare I mention them again), Starbucks. The influence that color has is much stronger than most of us consciously realize; and by selecting the perfect color combination, your brand can have a very persuasive impact – likely without the consumer having any awareness.

So, when you’re considering strategies that may really make a substantive difference between a second-rate display and a insanely powerful one, hopefully, you’ve now sufficiently consumed a little retail merchandising food for thought. We’ve uncovered some pretty powerful analytics regarding trends and concepts that make in-store shopping so appealing, and if you’d like to learn how to increase your business’ revenue, paired with a positive impact on purchasing decisions based upon best practices for visual merchandising in retail, contact the BIGEYE team today to get started!