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- Weekly Update March 7
Weekly Update March 7
5 Ways to Make the Most of Expo West
Hey ,
Happy Monday and Expo West week! If you're on any social media, you've seen the flood of posts about Expo West, from brands promoting booths, Nexty Awards, or people excited to connect with each other. I have to say, It's a pretty exciting time with the return of in-person events.
Personally, I won't be able to attend this year, but hope it's a blast to everyone who's there. If you're not going, don't have FOMO! The event is great, but don't feel like it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, there's always next year. This week I want to share some tips on navigating Expo.
PS. If you were forwarded this newsletter, please
.
5 Ways to Make the Most of Expo West
Tradeshows (and especially Expo West) are a great way to build personal connections with potentially thousands of people in the food and beverage industry. They are filled with opportunities, but you need a plan going in to take advantage of them. As a brand, here are the most common goals you may have:1) Meet buyers and distributors to ultimately make sales2) Find ingredient suppliers3) Build your brand awareness so people (Press, incubators, consultants) seek you out and write stories about you.4) Turn industry insiders into customers5) Network with other founders and supporters in personLet's break down how to succeed at each.
1) Meet buyers and distributors to ultimately make sales
From my experience, few deals close at Expo West. Distributor shows are where you want to go if your main goal is to make sales from a trade show. That said, being at Expo can play a big role in your sales process.
Reach out to buyers before Expo to generate interest in your brand
Schedule time to meet one on one with a buyer or distributor either at your booth or in a quiet location.
Pitch your brand by showing that you've done deep research into the retailer, their customers, and why your product will be a good fit for them. Provide samples and have them taste on the spot to see their reaction. Set next steps for after the show.
Follow up until you close the deal.
2) Find ingredient suppliers
One big benefit of expo west is that there are hundreds of ingredient suppliers attending too, so it's a great way to meet new primary or backup suppliers. With TeaSquares, we had a great green matcha supplier, but it wasn't until attending expo that we found a great powdered black tea supplier.
3) Build your brand awareness so people (Press, incubators, consultants) seek you out and write stories about you.
Expo is filled with hundreds of brands, so it's difficult to stand out. When I last attended, I feel like I only walked by 1/3rd of the booths -- it was a much bigger show then but still. To get noticed, you need to make your booth exciting. One of my favorite examples was a ginger beer brand that hosted a "happy hour" at the end of the day at their booth. There wasn't any alcohol, but there was music and a party-like atmosphere. It attracted dozens of people who came by to see what the commotion was about. If you just sit back and hope people discover you, they won't.
The other way to get good attention is to reach out to media writers before the show, encouraging them to come by your booth. We have a
, or reach out via Linkedin.
Create an e-mail list / newsletter specifically for brand supporters. These are people who want to hear all the latest updates about your brand and progress, but aren't necessarily customers. This way, you create a tribe of supports who will look out for opportunities that benefit you.
4) Turn industry insiders into customers
Expo West will have tens of thousands of natural product enthusiasts, who are all looking for delicious products to sample... and guess what? They are ALL avid consumers as well. Each week they fill their virtual and physical shopping carts with their favorite products, many of which they discover at events like this.
So instead of looking at people's badges to find that "one buyer", treat everyone who stops by your booth as a potential customer.
Here's the
ultimate sampling process
, courtesy of our friend
:
HOOK: Get the shoppers attention in a way that causes them to ask what you're about. Hand them a sample.
STORY: Tell your story in 10 seconds and if their interested, have a 20-second elaboration ready.
OFFER: If they provide any sign of interest, make an initial offer to get their e-mail address. Create a QR code for them to scan, which takes them to a brief form to fill out - and then they get a coupon.
UPSELL: A heavily discounted, one-time only offer available only for Expo West attendees.
AFTER EVENT AUTOMATION: Use e-mail to immediately increase interest in your brand and increase the lead quality in the contact list. Keep this event-specific.
E-mail 1: Welcome Video
E-mail 2: Provide value and reiterate brand story with a link to purchase.
E-mail 3: A fun and interactive survey to gauge their interest level.
BUILD RAVING FANS: Ongoing, creative, offering of value. All about creativity and commitment to ongoing contact. Build a relationship!
5) Network with other founders and supporters in person
Of course, for many founders, one of the key goals is simply to connect with other founders and supports while everyone is in the same place! Use this as an opportunity to reach out to people you only know virtually so you can build an even stronger relationship.
Make it easy by using a calendar app so people can book time with you, say in 15min increments. Those conversations may go longer, but instead of making people wait, invite them to join the conversation! People will come in and out, but it's a great way to network.
---------------------------
All of these goals are totally worthwhile, but I can tell you it can be tough trying to accomplish too many of them. So have a primary goal, and 2 secondary goals so you can leave the show feeling like you accomplished something big!
Jordan Buckner
Foodbevy
DRIVE SALES TO 1200+ RETAIL E-COM CARTS
Hey, I discovered a cool new tool (Pear) that allows you to create a path to purchase to nearly every retailer e-com cart, and then measure the sales data--click-to-conversion--in real-time. I recently talked to Louis, and got the scoop on how it can help you drive more sales.Pear creates shoppable ads and store locators with personalized paths to purchase to 1200+ retail e-com carts based on where a shopper is located and what's in stock. They automatically manage your retail e-com inventory on a UPC-level so shoppers won’t hit dead links or out-of-stocks. More importantly, Pear then returns full-funnel retail eComm sales data in real-time. The data is also attributable so you can run performance marketing; for example:
Run your retail e-com like DTC — optimize ROAS for campaigns in real-time, build custom and lookalike audiences, run A/B tests, optimize campaigns for conversion, retarget abandoned carts, etc.
Let your Store Locator actually help you — Pear automatically manages your eComm inventory and returns actionable, attributable data.
Increase sales velocity using Pear — Run campaigns to specific retailers to increase velocity
Louis was gracious enough to offer the Foodbevy community a free landing page link. All you need to do is give us your UPCs and they'll return a link that unlocks all of Pear's capabilities.Let me know if you're interested and I can send over an introduction.
FASTEST WAY TO FIND A CO-PACKER/ SUPPLIER
Finding a good co-manufacturer was one of the toughest obstacles I experienced running TeaSquares. After talking with dozens of companies and spending $15,000+ in failed tests, I never found an option that would work. But guess what, there are options out there! Googling to find a co-manufacturer doesn't work because most don't want to be found!That's why I partnered with our friends at Fiddle to assist in your co-manufacturer search.They just launched a new program called Fiddle Connect - A done-for-you consulting service where we find the perfect co-packers and/or suppliers for YOUR business.
(keep reading to get $1,000 OFF!)
How does it work?
You hop on a call with a Fiddle Supply Chain Expert and tell them exactly what you need.
Fiddle will get to work finding your co-packer/supplier, communicate back and forth as needed, and update you along the way.
They connect you with the best candidates based on your criteria.
You vet them and provide any necessary feedback.
They repeat steps 1-4 as much as necessary until you’re fully satisfied with your new co-packer/supplier and ride off into the sunset
As a bonus, you get 3 months of Fiddle Essential Tier inventory management software included.
Go here to learn more and sign-up. The perfect co-packer/supplier is just around the corner and Fiddle will help you find them!
BONUS: As an awesome Foodbevy subscriber, you’ll get $1,000 OFF if you sign up before March 31st.
Just use code FOODBEVY40 at checkout.
STARTUP FRIENDLY DIGITAL MARKETING EXPERT
If you're looking for help with your e-commerce marketing, let me introduce you to Christina Rice and the team at
.
They believe the first (and arguably most important) best practice for advertising your E-Commerce brand online is “
make purchasing from you quick and easy”
. If you want your brand to be memorable and highly regarded, it is crucial that you do everything in your power to make the online shopping experience for your potential customers as effortless as possible. From how you execute your advertising to how you build your website, you should be making the user experience as
convenient
and
direct
as possible.
They have startup-friendly rates to help founders with:
Blog Writing and SEO
Performance Marketing
Paid Facebook and Google Ads
E-mail Marketing Campaigns
Social Media Management
and more
Christina is a hands-on owner, offering free consultations prior to agreeing to do business. She believes that not only does it take a strong digital strategy but there must be a comfort level with the agency you entrust your brand to. Spend 30 minutes learning how sO2digital can help you.
NEW PODCAST EPISODE: 32. Working with Co-manufacturers 201, David Boyle
I talk with David Boyle of Sherpa CPG on some of the intermediate challenges that founders face when working with co-manufacturers. We discuss how to build strong relationships with manufacturers, how to structure contracts, and more.
NEW PODCAST EPISODE: 33. How To Standout in a Noisy E-commerce World, Kelly Ferris, Big Commerce
E-commerce is getting increasingly crowded, with thousands of companies vying for attention. I talk with Kelly Ferris from Big Commerce about the 6 things brands need to do in 2022.
Tell your Brand Story
Identify the right channels and use them well
Use social proof
Consider repeat purchase strategies
Delight the customer from purchase to delivery
Improve not just your B2C experience, but your B2B experience too
Big Commerce is an online platform that makes it easy for small businesses to start selling online. Reach out to me if you'd like a free e-commerce audit from their team: [email protected]
DISCOUNTS
- Mindful Goods
is an awesome Amazon expert that can quickly get you started or optimize your pages for strong ROI.
use code FOODBEVY.
- Amazon Brand Success Academy
is your go-to source for succeeding on Amazon. Learn everything you need to adapt in the changing environment.
- Maverick Lab
allows you to create individually personalized videos (with a customer's name) welcoming them to your community. Foodbevy members save 40%. Reply to this e-mail for an introduction
- Chop
is a
that allows you to drive in-store trial, collect customer shopping data, and build customer profiles to further drive your business. Foodbevy members save 20% off. E-mail me for the discount.
- Stripe
is now providing $20,000 in fee-free processing for new and EXISTING customers.
The Accountrepreneur
is your go-to outsourced CPA and CFO firm for the food and beverage industry. Receive
- Airtable
can store information in a spreadsheet that's visually appealing and easy-to-use, but it's also powerful enough to act as a database that businesses can use for customer-relationship management (CRM), task management, project planning, and tracking inventory.
With your help we're building an amazing community of Food and Bev entrepreneurs helping each other!
Jordan
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