Effectively Marketing Your Private Label Supplement

Marketing your private label supplement correctly is the best way to maximize profit, yet many distributors and sellers may not know how to best develop and implement a complete marketing strategy that works for their product. Efficient marketing strategy is not an afterthought; as a business owner, there are multiple factors that must be considered prior to the development of your product or product mix. It is also imperative that you continually monitor and analyze your current strategy, making any necessary changes that will ultimately support and strengthen your foothold within the market.

The first step in developing a successful marketing plan is to understand your market. Every marketing decision made that will directly affect sales and your bottom line hinges on having a strong knowledge of your specific target audience and current industry climate. The nutraceutical market is rapidly changing, due to constant advances in technology, clinical studies, changing regulations, and new ingredients. A focused strategy will help to overcome the market volatility found within the supplement industry, as well as create value for your customers.

What must you consider first when creating a private label marketing strategy? Targeting and positioning are two of the most critical elements to your marketing plan. Targeting determines what segment you concentrate your product towards, while positioning entails how you differentiate yourself from other competitors and products.

Nutraceutical consumers can be broken down into multiple segments – that is, groups of customers that share similar characteristics. You may find customers divided into subsets based on age, region, price sensitivity, personality, physical characteristics, behaviors, occupation, or gender, just to name a few. You may ask “With so many segments, why focus on one group?” Trying to create and market a product that reaches a broad range of consumers without considering individual groups leads to an ineffective and watered down message, and often results in wasted advertising and marketing dollars as well as lower profit margins. However, a good segment will be easily identifiable and accessible, stable, sizable, and have unique needs.

Spending time developing a thorough evaluation of your target market can make a huge difference in your ROI on your nutraceutical brand. Many times, the most obvious target groups are the least profitable. It is important to look at the underlying characteristics of supplement purchasing by the end consumer. Determining the motivating factors behind purchasing decisions, as well as purchasing patterns, can help you define a profitable segment for your supplement. Tracking sociographic, demographic, and psychographic information can assist you in finding similar relationships between active consumers. Also, providing a product that addresses important issues to a defined category will also improve the reception of your supplement in the marketplace.

After you have established which segment would be most beneficial to target, you must consider what characteristics will be the driving force behind product sales. Great positioning will reflect the total benefits and attributes package of your supplement in a concise, effective message. Positioning can generally be summarized as little as one to two sentences – sometimes, even a couple of words – and will be clear, powerful, and memorable. It is always based on customer’s perceptions, and always relative to your competition. Positioning within the private label supplement industry is crucial to standing out in a highly fragmented, crowded market.

When creating your product positioning strategy, it may be helpful to identify consumer needs and wants within your segment that are not being fulfilled in regards to their healthcare and lifestyle. Does your brand offer a better value, potency, nutrition, or quality than similar products? The key behind great positioning is truly knowing what your market demands are, and presenting your formula as the solution to their concerns.

Other ways to determine marketable attributes within your specific nutraceutical category is through competitor research, focus groups, target audience character assessments, as well as social value research – these approaches will allow you to compile a list of what consumers are searching for, and what they may not be able to find, as well as what importance they place in specific attributes. You should rely on multiple methods of research and data collection to provide the most accurate analysis of the market. Furthermore, you may also look an overview of your company – are you providing additional services, personnel, or a certain image that will be desirable to your segment?

In the private label supplement manufacturing industry, targeting and positioning are even more important, as these will directly influence the formulation. The supplement attributes must have strong correlation with the customer you are targeting. Also, positioning and the need to distinguish your product may require you develop a custom formulation, and will also dictate the look and feel of private label product packaging.

Once you have defined your target audience and distinguishing product characteristics, it becomes much easier to create a complete marketing mix. The next major component of developing a strategy to maximize the value of your brand is developing marketing communications that will reach the appropriate audience. What channels best capture the audience you are looking for, and what message speaks directly to that population? At this point, pricing, distribution, and customer service options that best support your product should be also be considered.

Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy prior to launching any new supplement product will have you several steps ahead of your competition, allowing you to maximize your ROI. Many companies choose to develop a “low-price” strategy – however, unless you truly are utilizing a much lower cost provider within the category than your competitors, maintaining this position will ultimately drive your business under. It is better that you possess a thorough knowledge of your market, and take the time to develop a complete plan. Doing this prevents making avoidable, and costly, mistakes!

Reputable private label supplement manufacturers often track market trends, and can offer marketing support for your business. Larger, more established vitamin and supplement contract manufacturers who offer private label services will dedicate resources to following the market, as well as new, emerging, and mature target population segments. When looking for a private label supplement manufacturer, ask about what marketing services they can provide. Industry leading manufacturers will take the time to help you analyze your market and audience, help you determine the correct formulation and look of the brand, as well make specific recommendations concerning online and traditional marketing, website development, affiliate marketing programs, buyer loyalty programs, search engine optimization, and more. Finding a full service contract manufacturer of private label vitamins and nutritional products can assist you in developing an effective marketing strategy with ease!

Private Label Nutraceuticals is an industry leader in nutritional supplement manufacturing, assisting our clients in each step of developing their brand. Our services include custom supplement formulation development, quality control, graphic design, packaging procurement and label creation, marketing support, and fulfillment services.