The Guide to Engage Potential Customers in the VMS industry

In the last couple of years, the Vitamin, Mineral and Supplement (VMS) industry saw resilient sales growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic and overall heightened health and wellness awareness. Mintel reported that 34% of consumers increased their consumption of VMS products because of the pandemic.¹ There’s still an opportunity for VMS brands to educate consumers about the benefits of their products and ingredient offerings. Recent trends are promising; consumers search for personalized supplement routines and products that address individual health needs. To keep customers engaged in the industry, consider these top 3 tips when moving forward with your company’s strategy.

1. Know Your Audience as an Ingredient Manufacturer

If you’re marketing directly to the consumer, understanding that each of your audiences has unique challenges and needs is the first step to creating a successful strategy. Consumers now recognize that VMS products aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re viewing their wellness journey holistically, so they may search for custom solutions. Your approach here will need to be personalized toward your target personas and their specific health needs.  

If you’re marketing an ingredient to a CPG brand, Marketing and Innovation are more interested in understanding what your ingredients can provide their end product that would be appealing and beneficial to the modern consumer. It’s recommended to highlight all your ingredient’s advantages upfront when speaking with potential CPG customers. If your first point of contact is R&D or Formulation, they need to understand the science behind the ingredient and its applications.

2. Lean on the Science and Trends

Be clear on the role science plays in your products. Then, think about how you can refer to research and studies to build customer trust.

Also, always consider the newest trends, and make sure you’re delivering the types of offerings clients actually want. For example, say you’ve been doing your research, and you know that 41% of consumers prefer to take gummy VMS formats.1  Support the CPG brand in understanding how your ingredient can be easily formulated into gummy sample formulations. Provide desirable prototypes, as they are a great way to show—not tell—your expertise.

Check out our recent blog here to learn more about consumers’ perceptions of health and wellness ingredients.

3. Use Storytelling to Your Advantage

Consider educating your customers on your unique processes and offerings that differentiate you from your competitors.

• Is there an extra step you take to ensure quality?
• Do you have a new ingredient offering that’s full of benefits consumers want?
• Is your sourcing method transparent?   

Each point can help you create an integrated brand story, earning trust among your audiences. In fact, one of the driving factors for VMS purchases is brand familiarity; the second is ingredient transparency. It’s vital to ensure your potential customers understand how your solutions can help them meet their formulation requirements and that you can work within the project guardrails to make their desired outcome a reality. Finally, consider ways in which you can weave your key capabilities and services when raising awareness as an ingredient manufacturer  in the VMS industry.  

Learn more about why storytelling is crucial to your brand in one of our recent blogs here.

Keeping customers engaged in the VMS industry means remaining vigilant on how you can provide the best solutions to create consumer-forward products. By staying aware of the latest trends and continuously seeking innovative ways to deliver beneficial and trusted VMS products, your customers will keep you top of mind for the next time they look to create a new product. Interested in building a successful long-term VMS marketing strategy and gaining customer loyalty? Contact Mitch Robinson at Mitch@colinkurtis.com or call 815-965-6657 EXT. 1 to learn how ColinKurtis Advertising can work as an extension of your team and help you reach your company’s growth goals this year.  

1 Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements, October 2022, Mintel.

 

Blog post from:

Valette Piper-Bledsoe
Vice President, Client Services