How do you measure success for lower investment products like mandarins and pistachios? 5 ideas
How do you measure success?
A marketer from The Wonderful Company asked this question. It’s among the top 100 questions on content marketing.
Some marketers work with consumer products with built-in challenges such as:
- Small marketing budgets.
- Highly seasonal produce products available only a few months out of the year.
- Difficulty in measuring the impact of marketing on sales.
Here are 5 ways that marketing helps such products sell:
1. Make your products prominent
Inspire people to buy your mandarins with a great presentation. Place a big display just inside the door of the store or near the checkout area.
Offer mandarin slices as samples.
Recently I bought produce from a seller in Nîmes, France. Why did I buy from him?
Because he offered the best-looking, most lovingly displayed produce in the whole Les Halles market, where he has at least a dozen produce competitors.
How to measure? Measure the number of stores that send you a picture of their display placed prominently in the store.
2. Remind people to get it while they can
Seasonal produce comes with its own built-in limited-time offer.
You can tie in the availability of seasonal produce with holidays such as New Year’s Day. Or be bold and create your own holiday: proclaim a Mandarin Month!
In your message, stress that your product is available now but only for a limited time — only X weeks! Place availability information right on the package so it appears in every store.
Why create a sense of scarcity?
Because humans place higher value on what we can’t have. Stress the short window of availability to move more product faster.
How to measure? Measure news and social media mentions of Mandarin Month. Measure the number of products sold in a limited-availability package versus the number of products sold in a conventional package.
3. Prompt people to generate content
Hold photo contests on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for the best user-generated pictures.
Get users to generate pictures that show people new ideas for what to do with mandarins and pistachios. You’ll discover ideas beyond snacking.
How to measure? Measure the number of user-generated photos on social media.
4. Suggest new ways to consume your product
In the United States, mandarins and pistachios are primarily snacks. Scour the planet for ideas from other countries and suggest new ways to use your products.
Advance new ideas such as how to use mandarins and pistachios in recipes. Test, offer and promote free recipes that substitute pistachios for other nuts.
Send a dramatic 3-D email to share free samples of your product with influencers (whom you can identify with BuzzSumo). Invite people to create and publish new recipes that use your products.
For example, in the US, I rarely find citrus in salads. My friend André, a French chef, makes a beautiful salad that features mandarins, a sweet juicy prize tucked into the greens.
How to measure? Number of influencers who you reached with 3-D mail who participated in creating recipes. Measure influencers’ social media posts and reach.
5. Offer people social proof
Show pictures of people who are enjoying mandarins and pistachios. Suggest specific times and scenarios about when to consume them.
For example, I fly tens of thousands of miles each year to do marketing workshops. Whenever I bring mandarins aboard a flight, they taste great.
As soon as I start peeling a mandarin on an airplane, other people on the flight feel envious. I see it in their eyes.
Why do they feel envy? Because a mandarin is way better food than anyone gets aboard an airplane.
Pistachios make a great treat too – and lately, I see them for sale inside O’Hare, my home airport.
Create pop-up stores for mandarins in airports and train stations. Offer 3 mandarins for $2 – it’ll be the freshest, healthiest and best value food for travelers. And high margins for your company.
How do you measure success in your marketing?
Here are tips on measuring the success of content marketing. At the end of the day, your executives will care most about:
- Increases in unit sales
- Number of Increases in users (number of buyers)
- Increases in revenue and profitability.
“How do you measure success for lower investment products like mandarins and pistachios?” is one of marketers’ Top 100 questions on content marketing.
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