8 Facts About Food Marketers

Have you ever purchased a food product because you saw it on TikTok or YouTube? Was the marketing so good it compelled you to purchase it immediately? Well, that’s thanks to a food marketer! In today’s fast-moving environment, having a great-tasting product is simply not enough. For products to become successful, they must be properly marketed.

Your favourite cookie is marketed in a way that creates a bond of trust and loyalty between producers/sellers and consumer. How a food is marketed comes in many forms including branding, social media posts, sponsorships and product placements.

Marketing also extends to the product itself and how it looks. One of the most powerful indicators of whether a product will be purchased or not is the package design. It creates an identity and helps consumers associate the product with its brand. For many companies’ multiple individuals are employed as food marketers who specialize in different marketing avenues.

1. Food marketers develop marketing plans for food products

Food marketers are responsible for the marketing of food products and ensuring that the products succeed. They develop, manage and implement marketing activities and strategies for food products. Marketers develop activities by analyzing data on consumers and their purchasing habits. Additionally, they develop promotional activities which could include in store demos, online ad campaigns and sampling. Finding out how well a product sells during promotional activities helps to determine if a marketing strategy is working. 

Food marketers also play a role in the design of a product. Using market research, they will suggest to Research and Development (R&D) technicians new products to create and packaging designs which would be effective in enticing consumers. Finally, marketers perform analysis on the marketplaces identifying market competitors and areas of opportunity. This allows them to identify potential marketing opportunities.

2. Food marketers play a large role in R&D

R&D technicians aren’t the only ones responsible for developing a food product. Marketers play a large role in product development due to their insights on market trends. Many times, it’s the marketing team who comes up with a product concept and asks the R&D team to develop it. For example, through research, a marketer might notice that mango is a trending flavour. They request that R&D develop a new mango-flavoured cookie to follow this trend and data.

Want to learn more about what it is like being in food marketing? Check our podcast with Sarah Condruk – Marketing Coordinator at Give and Go Prepared Foods

3. Food marketers work with outside companies

Most companies in the food industry are small and have limited budgets. Therefore, companies are more likely to hire professionals with diverse skill sets than those who specialize in a particular one. To fill in the gaps many food businesses request help from outside organizations. For example, the cookie manufacturer will hire filmmakers to develop a B-roll commercial for their new line of mango-flavoured cookies.

Alternatively, building on the previous example, the cookie manufacturer might reach out to a research firm to collect data on how much the public likes their product. Data is collected by providing correspondents with samples and surveys where correspondents are asked to rate how much they enjoy a product numerically. This lets them know if their  product is a home run or if more work is needed.

4. Food marketers have varying levels of education 

Traditionally, food marketers obtain a bachelor’s degrees in business or marketing management. These programs do not directly teach students how to market food. Instead, they explain general marketing techniques which can be applied to marketing food-based products. Courses include topics related to accounting, mathematics, marketing research and market planning.

Alternatively, many marketers have college diplomas in marketing, business, and advertising. These diplomas are typically two years in length and are great for individuals looking for more hands-on, experience-based learning.

Senior-level marketers in multi-level corporations generally continue their education to obtain a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). This degree provides advanced skills for careers in business and management by developing a broad understanding of business organizations. However, these programs often require the candidate to have work experience prior to entering.

It’s possible to become a food marketer without an explicit degree in business or marketing. For example, a small food company may put a food marketer in charge of managing their social media channels despite having a degree in food science. Technology’s role in marketing changes frequently, so it is even possible that you could enter a company knowing more about a social media platform than your employer! Your ideas could be really valuable to them!

5. Food marketers work heavily with internal teams 

Marketing is just one department of many within a food business. Food businesses have many departments, including safety/quality, operations, purchasing, and accounting. These departments must work together towards a shared goal to be a successful organization. That’s why it is essential that marketers work with other departments.

It is common in the food industry for purchasing, R&D and marketing departments to work together when developing new products. For example, the marketing department might discover that locally sourced fruits are trending. The marketing department works with R&D to create a product that uses locally sourced fruit. At the same time, the food marketer will work with the purchasing department to source fruits that meet this marketing trend.

6. Food marketers must be comfortable with changes in technology

An esteemed marketer could tell you that in the past 20 years things have changed a lot with the advent of the internet. 20 years ago the internet was barely used and today it has become a standard in society. Many of us can’t even remember a time where there wasn’t any internet. Where businesses used to rely on yellow pages and television advertising, now use online advertising such as social media and influencers.

Food marketers need to be comfortable knowing that today’s relevant marketing channels may not be relevant next year. Marketers always update their skills and keeping up with industry trends by following social feeds, engaging in forums (e.g. Reddit), listening to podcasts and just engaging with society. To adapt to the ever-changing nature of technology, it is essential that marketers understand what is current might not be around in 5 years.

7. Food marketers must have foresight

Senior marketers are usually tasked with creating extensive business plans that go years into the future. These plans might include overhauling food packaging designs, establishing new marketing channels, and developing new leads. If these plans are made incorrectly, the company loses extensive time and money. Food marketers use data to guide their decisions and help mitigate risk for long-term decisions.

8. Food marketers communicate, think analytically and think creatively

As with any occupation, there are certain sets of skills which will aid you better than others. For a food marketer, these skills include:

• Communication – Communicating the value of their product to consumers is essentially the job of a marketer. Therefore, a marketer must have strong communication skills themselves!  Marketers consistently speak with other departments through team meetings and email. However, their communication is not just limited to the office. Other examples include talking with influencers for brand placements and consulting with outside research firms.
• Analytical Thinking – In today’s market, data is king and those who understand how to use it dominate the market. Marketers must be capable of interpreting both written and visual data so they can incorporate it into their marketing plans. As technology has advanced marketers now have more data than ever before
  to guide their decisions.
• Creativity – Marketers are responsible for producing effective and imaginative ad campaigns encouraging consumers to purchase their products. To stand out from the crowd, marketers must be creative in how they market their products.