How to Market a Homemade Food Product

Create a brand identity that will stand out in the marketplace.

Today's food-conscious consumers have their eyes on products that not only are a good deal, but also promise taste, natural ingredients and local appeal. Maximizing each area of a homemade food product takes it a long way toward its successful marketing, as well as creating a brand identity that will stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Things You'll Need

• Complete list of ingredients
• Website
• Mailing list
• Local, regional and national contacts

Instructions

1. Describe your target audience for your product. Write down any niche markets that might find this product appealing. List reasons the audience would like this particular product when created in your home as a small-batch produced, homemade product instead of a similar one that has been mass manufactured. Highlight appeals include convenience, a natural product, taste or lack of particular allergens.

2. Isolate the more general appeals that can be described in a marketing campaign. Emphasize that this product is homemade. Inspect the ingredient list for any items that are particularly appealing in the current food markets, such as whole grains and organic ingredients. Describe any unappealing ingredients that are absent from this product, such as an absence of trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings or preservatives. Highlight any hard-to-obtain elements in your product.

3. Tie other appeals to your product where you can. Emphasize your locality when appealing to local customers. Sell at local farmer's markets, fairs and shows. Promote your product at local restaurants and coffee shops. Highlight the contributions of local farmers, dairies and sources of ingredients in your product.

4. Develop a visual presentation and packaging for your product that emphasizes its homemade, regional character. This includes the name and logo that will appear on all of the packaging, as well as on any marketing materials, websites, ads and visual promotions. Choose a name that is concise and quickly identifiable as a homemade product. Make sure that the visual representation of your product complements the product "voice" you have created in describing your home-produced, straight-out-of-the-kitchen product.

5. Maximize the potential of packaging in your product to enhance its homemade aspects. A "bag lunch" look is one way to do this, Packaging that is made from 100 percent recyclable materials creates a homey, natural experience. Products wrapped in waxed paper or freezer paper and placed in a plain cardboard box your logo stamped on it is another way to create this homey feel.

6. Create a website for your product, and dedicate one page to your product's "biography," from when you first made it in your kitchen, to sharing it with friends, to beginning to sell it. Create other pages for describing your product in detail and for featuring endorsements from customers and other businesses you work with to sell your product. Create a page customers can go to with questions. Add links to businesses that sell your product, that you buy your supplies from and that assist you in the production of your packaging and website services.

7. Create a blog that continues the personalized story of this homemade product and you as the producer. Show your kitchen and the areas within your home where the product is created, as well as pictures and stories of your family or staff who help you. Write posts to announce when a new business is selling your product, when you make improvements to your product or when you make new innovations in your packaging or distribution. Post about special promotional events. Highlight positive customer experiences and positive correspondence you have with your customers.

Tips & Warnings

• Add new information to your website regularly to keep it fresh and encourage visitors to return.

• Visit websites of your competition to compare products, prices and overall quality of the sites.

• Avoid spam email tactics. Instead, create a contacts list of current and potential customers who are genuinely interested in your product. Word of mouth will work in your favor.

• If you ship your product, don't scrimp on packaging. You want your items to arrive intact, and presentation is primary.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish