Improving your Digital Presence and Content Marketing with Nature & Nurture
/Member Monday returns with a spotlight on Elise Yost, Account & Marketing Strategist at Nature and Nurture Creative. Elise’s background is in marketing with an emphasis on the food industry and small businesses. She and the team at Nature & Nurture help clients succeed in the food and beverage space through dedicated partnerships. Read on to learn Elise’s top tips for working remotely, long-lasting marketing trends that arose from COVID-19, and what makes marketing in the food world unique!
Nature & Nurture Creative was born out of dissatisfaction with the branding and marketing services being offered to start-ups, small businesses, and even mid-sized companies. What makes Nature & Nurture different?
Nature & Nurture is a full-service agency, meaning we offer a wide variety of services that allow a startup to get up and running. We don’t want to just design your logo and packaging and send you on your way. We want to be partners, and feel almost like an in-house team. We can help you with packaging, vendor management, marketing collateral, website design, email marketing, digital advertising, and more. We treat all of our clients like partners, whether they come on for one project, or sign up for a retainer with us.
COVID-19 has permanently changed the way businesses operate, and marketing is no exception. What are a few marketing trends you’ve seen in the last few months that you think are here to stay?
With COVID, more businesses have had to pivot to D2C sales, make sure their digital presence is up to snuff, and find new ways to get first time customers who won’t be sampling in store. For Kalahari Snacks we developed trial packs to be sold at a discount with free shipping that we advertise on Facebook. We target audiences near key retailers to get them to try the product from the website and then they have the option of buying it again on the website, or shopping for it at their local grocery store. We’ve seen other brands doing this as well.
Content marketing has become more important than ever. Consumers have been spending more time online (16:06 hours a day by the average U.S. adult, up from 12:24 hours a day pre-pandemic) and they are constantly looking for new content. We’ve been watching trends and creating blog and email content around recipes, at-home exercise, National Park trips, learning new skills, and more.
QR codes are making a comeback. With restaurants using them for touch-free menus, we’re having a lot more clients request to put QR codes on packaging since the general population has become more comfortable with them.
Nature & Nurture works with a diverse set of clients, specializing in CPG, restaurants, and lifestyle brands. What is unique about food-related projects and what should our readers keep in mind when considering branding and marketing for early-stage food concepts launching?
We’ve always liked that food has the power to bring people together, and that’s a big reason why we focus on the food and beverage industry. What is unique about food CPG is that there is such a quick purchase cycle and that customers can still be acquired the moment they walk down the grocery aisle, without ever having seen your brand before. That gives our clients and us immediate and first hand feedback when something is resonating with customers.
Back in the day you could run a focus group to get that feedback, but now a start-up can launch a test product Direct to Consumer and use the data they have about average lifetime value and frequency of purchase to sell into a national retailer, very quickly.
Working remotely has become the new reality for most, but with the rest of your team based in New Hampshire, you’ve been working remotely from Boston since you started at Nature & Nurture. What are your top tips for staying connected while working from home?
Stay connected with your team, don’t forget about casual conversation.
Build your local community. If you’re separated from your colleagues, make sure to develop connections with people closer to you.
Meet your clients where they’re at - use the tools that are comfortable for them, maybe they prefer a phone call to Zoom, or slack vs email.
Check out this blog I wrote for more tips.
How has being a Branchfood member helped you to connect with the Boston food community?
It’s helped me make so many friends and connections through member meetings, Community Table, and other events. I really appreciate having other locals to talk to about what we’re up to.
How can our audience support Nature & Nurture Creative?
You can visit our website at www.naturenurturecreative.com, follow us on Instagram @n_ncreative, or find us on Facebook.
Thank you to Elise at Nature & Nurture for being this week’s Member Monday spotlight. Are you interested in how a Branchfood membership can help you succeed? Learn more about our membership benefits, and stay informed with our newsletter. Be sure to follow us on Instagram for our next Member Monday takeover!
