Specialty food makers who are seeking to optimize their omnichannel opportunities will get the chance to learn more about online sales and marketing during a presentation at this year’s Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas.
During the first educational session of the Maker Space at this year’s show, beginning at 9 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6, Lou Nicolaides, president, Ludwig Marketing & Sales, plans to discuss how to sell product via Amazon, Walmart and through makers’ own websites using platforms such as Shopify.
This Maker Pass session is open to Fancy Food Show attendees holding a Maker Pass, a one-price ticket of $99 for SFA members, $199 for non-members, that entitles pass holders to all six Maker Pass sessions. Information about obtaining a Maker Pass can be found here.
“Everybody can improve their ecommerce,” said Nicolaides. “For brands that are new to the game, we will show them how one can launch successfully on any of these platforms and do it well.”
The maker workshop, called “Online Sales and Social Media Marketing,” will also look at opportunities for brands to work with social media influencers to promote products.
Nicolaides, a sales and marketing pro who has more than 25 years of experience in specialty foods and consumer packaged goods, will discuss how specialty food makers can overcome some of the challenges to growing their omnichannel presence, and how they can implement the right online strategies to achieve their overall sales and marketing goals.
Some makers might believe they are doing well selling through Amazon, but could be doing better, for example, and others might want to add additional channels, such as Walmart or their own direct-to-consumer platforms, or they might want to work more closely with other online retailers.
“We will be looking at all of these areas and helping them come up with a game plan,” Nicolaides said. “Wherever you are in terms of ecommerce, it's all about trying to figure out, what are my next steps, and what is my playbook going to be?”
In many cases, specialty food makers may have been preoccupied lately with other challenges, such as supply chain issues or labor shortages, and they may not have focused on optimizing their online sales and marketing operations. In other cases, they may have considered it too expensive or too complicated to try to sell on Amazon, for example.
“We will show them that’s not necessarily true,” Nicolaides said.
In addition to leveraging ecommerce opportunities, the session will also discuss how specialty food makers can optimize their social media presence by working with influencers. Nicolaides will discuss how makers can find the right influencers to help promote specific products, and how they can connect with them to establish productive relationships that drive sales.
Specialty food makers don’t necessarily need to work with social media mega-stars such as celebrity chefs who have millions of followers, he said, but instead can benefit from finding people who he called “micro-influencers” and “nano-influencers” who may have followers numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands. These could include gourmet food enthusiasts with a strong interest in the industry, for example, or “mommy bloggers” who seek out keto-friendly products to discuss online, perhaps.
“We want to open the door for people to start thinking about their influencer strategy, what it might be able to do for them, how much it might cost, and whether or not it is right for them,” Nicolaides said.
Related: Amazon's Online Sales Increase; Walmart Expands InHome Delivery.