Using Email Marketing to Build Your Food Brand with Anna Sonnenberg

09/18/19 • 43 min

Food Business Marketing | Brand Strategy Tips to Build Real Food Brands

Recently many online gurus have been identifying email as the next big thing, but it has really never gone away. Social media still has its place, but ultimately, it’s something that you rent because they can completely change the game on you at any moment. Email is something you own—even with algorithms sorting you into different inboxes you can still get through to the right audience if you’re careful about your approach.

Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, we’re looking back at Ep #19: Using Email Marketing to Build Your Brand, where host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva sat down with Anna Sonnenberg, Owner of Sonnenberg Media, to talk all things email marketing. If you’re newer to the Real Food Brands podcast we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss this excellent episode, and even if you’ve heard it before, Katie adds some tips at the top of the podcast to build on what they covered the first time.

In This Episode:

Why quality is so important for an email list.
Creative ways to offer value to your subscribers.
Why email is an important part of your integrated marketing strategy
Why email is the perfect place to share your brand’s story
How email can be used to drive sales both online and in brick and mortar stores
How to use email to solicit customer feedback
How feedback helps your customers feel invested in your brand
Why email gives you more ownership over your audience than social media
How often you should email
How to balance the types of content in your emails
Why you should link ecommerce with your email marketing service
Ways to use automated emails

Resources:

In This Episode:

Why quality is so important for an email list.
Creative ways to offer value to your subscribers.
Why email is an important part of your integrated marketing strategy
Why email is the perfect place to share your brand’s story
How email can be used to drive sales both online and in brick and mortar stores
How to use email to solicit customer feedback
How feedback helps your customers feel invested in your brand
Why email gives you more ownership over your audience than social media
How often you should email
How to balance the types of content in your emails
Why you should link ecommerce with your email marketing service
Ways to use automated emails

Resources:

Previous Episode

Using Strategic Mapping to Set Priorities for Your Food Business with Ainsley Moir

Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your food or beverage business, there are so many things to do that you can’t possibly do them all (well) at the same time. The key is to figuring out how to prioritize so you can turn your laser-like focus into a competitive advantage.

Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Ainsley Moir, Founder and Lead Brand Strategist of the Healthy Food & Beverage Group, about how to set your priorities with a Strategic Mapping exercise, including the 8 Strategic Priorities Katie had adapted specifically for food and beverage companies. You’ll also hear how Katie and Ainsley recommend finding the right people and resources at the right time for your business.

In This Episode:

The 8 Strategic Priorities you need to consider for your business.
What the CUBES method of goal setting is and how to use it.
Why small teams especially need to focus on focusing.
What you can get from the two RFB Round Table Mastermind groups for early-stage and scaling brands.
Why it’s important to align every member of your team around your brand strategy.
More info about the Food and Beverage Growth Summit that Ainsley hosts.

Resources:

Next Episode

5 Crucial Ways to Prepare for a Food PR Crisis Before It Happens

While optimism can get us far in the natural food business, you also need to spend some time thinking about what could go wrong. Planning for the worst-case scenario means that you can more confidently move forward with a positive outlook, knowing that you won’t get blindsided if things don’t go as planned. No matter what phase of business you’re in, it’s worth it to invest time to think ahead to what could go wrong. This could be applied to any area of your business (e.g. new product launch, distribution issues, supplier shortages, etc) but our focus here is on PR crisis planning.

Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Jeff Hahn, Owner and Head of Strategy for Apron Food PR. His new book, Breaking Bad News, which launches soon, teaches you how to communicate with your audience and customers about any crisis.

In This Episode:

Why everyone needs a crisis communications plan.
Jeff’s five-step framework for developing a food PR crisis communications strategy.
Why getting the right people together in a food PR crisis is often the trickiest part.
How to issue a holding statement to buy yourself time.
A framework for figuring out the right message to say.
The balance your spokesperson needs to strike.
How to choose the right method of delivery for the job.

Resources: