Why Influencer Marketing Works for Food and Beverage Brands
There is no doubt that influencer marketing is an incredibly popular marketing strategy among food and beverage brands. After all, who wants to do extensive research when a niche influencer can offer you a suggestion in under 3 minutes? Additionally, some people may not actively be searching for a certain product, but an influencer can bring to people’s attention items that would not have crossed their minds otherwise.
Here at ChuckJoe, we’ve worked with hundreds of influencers, and they continue to produce impactful results by increasing brand awareness, driving traffic, and more for our clients.
The fact is, tapping into audiences who look up to talented, well-loved influencers has a significant return on investment. However, why are influencers particularly effective in the food and beverage space? Keep reading to find out.
Everybody Eats and Drinks
There’s a reason food and beverage brands stand out from other industries: everyone has to eat and drink! No matter who they are, people must consume, so why not eat/drink your product?
Audiences Trust Influencers
In a world that doesn’t slow down, people don’t have time to do their own research, instead trusting the words (and palates) of influencers they admire. The fact that audiences can relate to influencers make them much more likely to remember and try things from the brand.
Picture it this way: if your coworker raved to you about a new, healthy ice cream, would you be more keen to try it? People tend to be more open to trying new things when they see others they trust enjoying them, and it doesn’t feel forced or unnatural.
Visual Appeal Sways Minds (& Tummies)
In 2019, PepsiCo redesigned its Lays brand packaging for the first time in more than a decade to make it look more Insta-worthy. The design mimics the top-down angle of the classic Instagram food picture because that’s what younger audiences have grown accustomed to seeing.
As you can see, this is a testament to the value of Instagram. The visual nature of food and beverages makes them perfect for this platform, especially when paired with happy people living their best lives.
As they say, people eat with their eyes!
User-Generated Content and Word of Mouth Can Boom
Audiences typically view influencers as mentors or friends, so word of mouth and user-generated content can often increase every time there is a post emphasizing how good your product is. Since 85% of people prefer user-generated content to traditional brand-created content, this proves massively helpful.
This is also reflected in engagement rates. On average, influencers have over a 7% engagement rate, which is almost 5 times the industry average.
Food + Story = Success
Most people have favorite foods that they love to talk about, and influencers are particularly good at telling stories that can leave an impression on others. They build their following on real stories from real people, and if they can leverage that for your brand, you have a winning campaign. This can be seen with Sumo Citrus, which has seen tremendous success.
Additionally, the number of social media users continue to grow. In just the last year, there were 490 million new social media users, and by providing an intrinsic human experience that a community can bond over, influencers can be indisputable game-changers.
If you want help selecting, reaching out to, and obtaining content from influencers effectively, let us help! Reach us at yo@chuckjoe.co, or fill this out today.
