Is your food business ready to get ahead of the competition in 2023? From creating empathetic content to leveraging brand ambassadors, there are so many different ways to hit the ground running to connect with your consumers and satisfy their cravings.
To help, we’ve put together a list of food content marketing trends for 2023 that will help you cook up a winning recipe.
Trend 1: Creating empathetic content
A food content marketing trend for 2023 that seems to be on the rise is understanding how to market your product or food services by putting yourself in the shoes of your customers, and creating empathetic content. Instead of marketing from a business perspective, you should be addressing your target audience’s wants and needs, answering their questions and communicating with them in a way that evokes an emotional response. With 94% of consumers staying loyal to brands that are transparent and genuine, empathetic content should certainly be something you consider doing more of if you don’t already.
Typically within the food industry, consumers like to see themselves represented in some sort of way, showcasing your food brand in their everyday life is a great way to establish empathetic content that ties them in with your brand. Value-driven, empathetic content also means your brand should be addressing the bigger issues such as; sustainability, social responsibility, inclusivity and diversity - authenticity will get you a long way in 2023 it seems.
Trend 2: Adding shoppable links for e-commerce
2022 saw the launch of shoppable links for e-commerce and this will continue to grow as a key food content marketing trend for 2023. Shoppable links make it more convenient for consumers to be taken to where they need, without having to leave the area they first saw the information, it’s pretty clever and shows how social media is adapting to the ever growing marketing world.
As a society our attention spans are becoming shorter and we’re more impatient, we like to have access to information quickly and with very little hassle. Shoppable links make it so consumers can find out more about your product and make an instant buy through the same link. This is great for food marketing as you’re able to promote a food product or service on your social channels and include a direct link to purchase, rather than directing them to your website. This increases the likelihood of a sale as all the hard work is taken out of the buying process for the consumer, and in most cases they won’t even have to move to get their card if they have Apple or Google Pay on their device. Convenient or what?
Trend 3: Using video social media platforms
The power of TikTok cannot go ignored, and since the social platform blew up a few years ago, we’ve seen various developments, such as video marketing taking shape on the app. If a picture can speak a thousand words, a video can speak double that, if not more, making it very attractive to marketers. As humans, we’re usually very visually stimulated, which is why video content does well to entertain us in comparison to plain text.
TikTok is an ideal platform to produce video content, as the short-form videos conform to our demanding attention span and deliver information in an easily digestible package. When it comes to your food brand people love seeing behind the scenes content, perhaps in the kitchen where food is being prepared or packing orders to go out for delivery. The possibilities are truly endless and building a reputation on TikTok can help your brand’s personality shine through, generating more website traffic with 86% of marketers using video content to drive traffic to their website, leading to more interest and more sales.
Trend 4: Creating audio content through podcasts
It looks like podcasts remain the dominant audio food content marketing trend for 2023.Billions of people listen to podcasts yearly, making them an effective way to spread the word about your food brand. This type of audio content shouldn’t be too salesy, it should feel light and fun but also informative, so listeners are intrigued and search for your brand after hearing about it.
Audio content via the means of a podcast is also a great way to gain local attraction. Get your brand out there by playing on the fact that you're local with intriguing and leading lines like ‘Want to know why we’re the best fish and chip shop in X, Y, Z? Find out for yourself.’ Leave something to the imagination and make people hungry to try your food.
Trend 5: Leveraging user generated content and brand ambassadors
Influencer marketing has been a source of great results for many brands and that seems to be the same for 2023. With 93% of marketing professionals using influencer marketing to; increase brand awareness, build trust, reach their target audience, drive conversions and connect to a wider audience, it’s no surprise it gets results. It does seem though that the food content marketing trend for 2023 will be evolving to a preference of quality over quantity. Brands now care more about the trustworthiness of the influencer or the brand ambassador, and want to establish long-term, authentic relationships with both the influencer and their target audience.
Your food brand is more likely to gain an increased amount of searches, orders and visits if you have a set of consistent and reliable brand ambassadors who promote your brand. Essentially, you don’t want an influencer who one day is promoting vegan sweets and the next a meat-only burger shop. People are able to see through orchestrated influencer interactions and it just won’t wash in 2023. So it’s time to start leveraging user generated content and brand ambassadors that fit your food brand to make a positive impact.
Trend 6: The change to GA4
There’s a huge data change set to take place in 2023 with Google Analytics. On the 1st July 2023 the current Universal Analytics, a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, will no longer process any new data and you’ll need to migrate across to the new Google Analytics 4 property.
The new GA4 property has many benefits from being able to collect more data than Universal Analytics, giving you a lot more insight into what people are doing on your site or app, and overall tracking more than just website traffic. All in all, GA4 will transform the way data is captured throughout 2023 and beyond.
Read our blog to find out more about this crucial change and how Eat Marketing can help you migrate to GA4, so you don’t lose your data.
If you’re looking to add any of these marketing trends into your mix but aren’t sure where to start, get in touch with Eat Marketing. Whether you need some expert advice, a thorough strategy, or social media support, we have the winning formula to help you stay ahead of the competition in the new year.
