A potential client once asked a really good question as he was reviewing his proposal from Katie: what is not included in the scope of the brand strategy work we will be doing together? Not only is this is a great way to be clear with collaboration in an area of your business that you are less knowledgeable about, but it also helps you understand more precisely what something is by defining what it is not.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva explains 3 things that brand strategy does NOT cover.

In This Episode:

• A question a prospective client asked Katie that she finds helpful for any collaboration.
• Why knowing what something is not helps you better understand what it is.
• Why brand strategy is not an in-depth business plan.
• The other business decisions you need to make outside of your brand strategy.
• Why brand strategy informs graphic design, copywriting, and marketing strategy.
• How brand strategy helps in these areas of your business.
• Why brand strategy is not a feasibility study.
• Why every brand needs to learn and change over time.
• How to work with Katie on your brand strategy.

Resources:

• Podcast Ep #45: The 5-Minute Food Business Brand Strategy Formula
• Podcast Ep #86: Developing Your Food Brand’s Growth Hypothesis with Elliot Begoun
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

When you start a business, there can be a lot of pressure to find instant success and rapid growth. The truth is, however, that you can build sustainable long-term success without needing to be the next unicorn brand.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva is talking to Elliot Begoun, founder of TIG, formerly known as The Intertwine Group. In this episode, we’ll talk about why some food businesses succeed and others fail, and why there is power in thinking about being a tardigrade, not a unicorn.

In This Episode:

• How Elliot got started in the natural products industry.
• How to develop a growth hypothesis.
• How your consumers make purchasing decisions.
• What the “Valley of Death” is and how to avoid it.
• The difference between an evolutionary brand and a revolutionary brand.
• Why the most important thing for growth-stage businesses is efficiency.
• Why you don’t need to be a unicorn to find success.
• What Elliot means when he talks about Tardigrades.

Resources:

• TIG Brands
• The TIG Talks Podcast
• Follow Elliot on Twitter
• The Hirschberg Entrepreneurship Institute
• Wondering what a tardigrade is?
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

How can you get the right people excited to try your products, know what to expect, intrigue them to think about how else they can use it, AND be excited to part with their money to get their hands on what you’re selling? It’s a simple answer that applies to every food and beverage business in some way, yet many emerging brands don’t spend enough time on -- appetite appeal.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva explains why being intentional about appetite appeal is important and how to use it for your brand.

In This Episode:

• What brand strategy is and how to use it to make your brand stand out.
• Why visuals are so important for your brand, even though your brand is more than your logo.
• What we mean when we talk about “appetite appeal.”
• How to get people excited to taste your products.
• What appetite appeal looks like when it’s done well.
• How to start thinking about what you want, specifically, from your visuals.
• How user-generated content can help.
• Words you can use to activate the senses.
• How to learn more about Katie’s future Mastermind groups.

Resources:

• Podcast Ep #80: 4 Ways to Improve Efficiency and Drive Value Using Lean Principles with Alan Goodman
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Connect with Katie on LinkedIn
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

When you’re working on marketing and promoting your food business day in and day out, it’s normal to start to feel like you’re repeating yourself and to worry that you may sound boring. However, consistency is a vital part of building a strong brand.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva explains why consistency is such a crucial component of a successful brand strategy.

In This Episode:

• What Katie has learned in 3 years of consistently recording this podcast.
• Why consistency is one of the best tools in your brand strategy toolbox.
• How to get started with brand strategy.
• Why it’s normal to worry about being boring when you’re really brand building.
• What you need to keep in mind about how often your audience sees your messaging.
• Examples of companies that bring their brands to life in a consistent way.
• How to do a One Room Test to see how cohesive your brand is today and how to address inconsistencies you find.

Resources:

• NEW! 3 Day Live Small Group Program
• Podcast Ep #64: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 1: The Competitive Snapshot
• Podcast Ep #65: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 2: Identifying Your Ideal Consumer
• Podcast Ep #66: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 3: Company Strategy
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

An old saying in Marketing is “don’t talk about features, talk about benefits.” And while many of us nod our heads in agreement, the truth is that you need to understand both, and many business owners and marketers don’t know how to get started and put that advice into action to build a strong brand.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva explains the difference between features and benefits and walks you through two exercises to use this concept to create a brand that will resonate with consumers.

In This Episode:

• The difference between product features and consumer benefits.
• What questions to ask to help you differentiate between the two and why both are important to identify.
• Why emotional benefits are so important when trying to stand out and connect with consumers.
• How to make choosing your brand easy.
• The different types of benefits presented in the Bain Elements of Value Pyramid.
• How to use the Consumer Benefits Ladder to shape your brand messaging.

Resources:

• NEW! 3 Day Live Small Group Program
• Podcast Ep #56: Meeting Consumer Needs – What Are You Really Selling?
• Podcast Ep #74: From a Good Product to a Great Brand
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

In Part 1 of this two-part series on Amazon you learned how SEO and search terms work on Amazon, and in Part 2 we’re continuing the conversation about using that information to create advertising campaigns on Amazon that convert and how to get the data that will help you optimize over time.

For part two of our Amazon Series on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva is back with Shannon Roddy, Amazon Expert, founder of Marketplace Seller Courses, and creator of the Amazon Brand Success Academy. In this episode, we’ll go over how advertising on Amazon is different than it is on other platforms, and how to get the most out of your investment.

In This Episode:

• How advertising on Amazon is different from advertising on other platforms.
• Why advertising on Amazon is an investment and how to make it pay off.
• Why it’s dangerous to lean on too many keywords.
• The ideal structure for an Amazon advertising campaign.
• Why you should think of advertising like real estate.
• How to treat branded terms versus generic terms.
• The pros and cons of an automatic campaign.
• How to separate your campaigns to get better data.
• Common Amazon advertising mistakes to avoid.

Resources:

• Ep #47: Amazon Success Strategies for Food Businesses with Shannon Roddy
• Ep #81: How to Use SEO Keywords to Get Found with Shannon Roddy
• Amazon SEO Keyword Research Preparation (this is the download Shannon mentioned)
• Free Webinar: How to Successfully Launch, Grow & Protect Your Brand on Amazon
• Jungle Scout
• TeikaMetrics
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

Amazon is a growth channel for many food and beverage brands, but how do you stand out in the sea of options? And how do you improve the chances that your brand will show up in searches that will actually convert to sales?

In this episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Shannon Roddy, Amazon Expert, founder of Marketplace Seller Courses, and creator of the Amazon Brand Success Academy. Together they cover why keywords are such an important part of your SEO strategy on Amazon as a food business, and how to get started.

In This Episode:

• The three-step Amazon Flywheel process for continually improving your Amazon listings.
• Why SEO keyword research is so important to understand.
• Why it’s so beneficial to get in the top three results on Amazon.
• How to get started with keyword research for your food business.
• Why it’s worth the time to find specific long-tail keywords for your brand.
• Why using general keywords can actually hurt your product’s listings.
• How Amazon SEO is different than Google SEO.
• What you can do today to get starting thinking about SEO for Amazon.

Resources:

• Ep #47: Amazon Success Strategies for Food Businesses with Shannon Roddy
• Ep #80: 4 Ways to Improve Efficiency and Drive Value Using Lean Principles with Alan Goodman
• Amazon SEO Keyword Research Preparation (this is the download Shannon mentioned)
• Free Webinar: How to Successfully Launch, Grow & Protect Your Brand on Amazon
• Cerebro Amazon keyword research tool by Helium10
• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

On the path to build your brand, there are always new developments that force you to consider whether you should stay the course or make an adjustment. But how do you know when it’s time to make a pivot? And what can you do to make sure you stay aligned with your core brand strategy principles?

This week on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sits down with Alan Goodman, a Six Sigma Black belt, Instructional Chair for the Quality Engineering and Technology Department at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, as well as the founder of A Goodman’s Desserts. In other words, the perfect person to talk to about making a pivot and improving efficiency to deliver value using Lean principles.

In This Episode:

• How Alan got started baking desserts.
• How you can use the Lean Framework for just about anything, from vaccine distribution to wedding planning.
• Why listening to your customers is so important.
• Where to look for customer feedback.
• How to map your processes so you can look at them.
• 4 Lean Principles that will help you today by examining and refining your business processes.

Resources:

• A Goodman's Desserts
• A Goodman's Desserts on Facebook
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Brand Strategy StreamlinedTM Program – NEW!
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

Ecommerce is one of the hottest topics in the food business. However, if you try to jump straight to tactics without thinking through your goals, you’re likely to run into trouble.

Today on the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks to Chelsea Jones and Rachel Saul, founders of Chelsea and Rachel Co., an Ecommerce agency and certified Shopify Plus partner. We’ll hear their top Ecommerce tips and dispel some myths along the way.

In This Episode:

• How COVID-19 has changed the landscape for Ecommerce in food and beverage.
• Why brands that invest in direct-to-consumer brand sites have an edge.
• Why brands need to stand out even more in online shopping.
• What you need to know about your consumers.
• How to get clear about your brand.
• Why email marketing is so important.
• The essentials you need to get the most out of your web presence.
• Why subscription is king for food & bev.
• Stats you need to look at to grow your subscriptions.

Resources:

• Chelsea and Rachel Co.
• Simple eComm-Nomics; Bridging Economics and eCommerce Beyond 2020
• Chelsea and Rachel Co. on Instagram
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Brand Strategy StreamlinedTM Program – NEW!
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup

Social media is a powerful tool to learn about and connect with your consumers. But what are you doing with those insights? Are you using them to really inform and shape your brand strategy and brand activation? If your food business isn’t currently leveraging insights from social media, you may be wondering how you even get started?

For this episode of the Real Food Brands Marketing Podcast, host and Food & Bev Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva has a conversation with Hillary Houghton, Founder of Social HQ. We’ll cover what tools are out there, how to do research, and how to get going.

In This Episode:

• The step-by-step process to define, align, and activate your brand strategy (and podcast episodes to help).
• How social media is a goldmine for insights about your consumers and your competitors.
• Why looking at the wrong things with your competitors’ social media can become a distraction and what to track instead.
• How to use Facebook Ads Library to do your own research.
• What an organic tracker is, what it can tell you, and why it’s a good first investment.
• The first thing to look at when you start doing research on social media.
• How to create engagement with consumers on social and what to look for.
• Why Facebook Audience Insights is such a powerful (and free) tool and how to use it.
• What to do if your social media campaigns don’t seem to be working.
• How to refine your social posts through testing and why you’re not creating content for you, you’re creating content for your audience.
• How to get clear about your social media goals.

Resources:

• Social HQ website
• Social HQ on Instagram
• Ep #64: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 1: The Competitive Snapshot
• Ep #65: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 2: Identifying Your Ideal Consumer
• Ep #66: [Brand Strategy Series] Setting Your Food Business Apart Step 3: Company Strategy
• Ep #68: Turn Your Marketing Plan into a Consumer Connection Plan
• Real Food Brands Marketing Roundtable Facebook Group
• Connect with Katie on Instagram
• Brand Strategy StreamlinedTM Program – NEW!
• Get Your Free Brand Strategy Checkup