Since subscription boxes first took off in 2004, they have skyrocketed in popularity. In a study by Clutch, more than half of respondents said they use at least one subscription box. That’s a lot of potential customers!
Food and beverage are the most popular types of subscription products, making up almost 20% of all boxes.
This demand makes a food subscription box both an exceptionally competitive and lucrative opportunity.
If you’re thinking of joining this crowded space, it’s critical that you make your box stand out from the crowd.
To help you get started, we analyzed current marketing strategies being used by food subscription box companies.
Here are six top strategies for marketing food and beverage boxes in 2020, including real-life examples you can follow.
Are you’re wondering if this content will help only those in the food subscription boxes business? Absolutely not! The strategies it contains can be tailored to properly fit any business, and will work for yours too!
If you’re a smart marketer, digital advertiser, or business owner looking for new ways to boost your results you should read it.
1. Use Brand Ambassadors
Online shoppers can’t taste the food in your subscription box before they buy it—they can only see it on their screen. To get them to take the leap and purchase some food they’ve never tried before, build their trust with brand ambassadors.
Having celebrities or influencers promote your product builds shoppers’ trust in your brand.
Potential customers see people they admire enjoying your product, and it makes them want to try your food subscription box for themselves. This is the phenomenon of social proof.
If you don’t have connections to any celebrities or influencers yet, you can use Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager as a starting point.
Click here to check if you’re eligible to use the feature as an influencer or here to apply as an advertiser
Brand Collabs Manager will match you with influencers in your field who are looking for brand partnerships.
Primal Snack Box pays professional athletes, like Tom Brady, to promote their product. When Tom Brady posts about Primal Snack Box, all of his fans learn about the product, too.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
Choose a brand ambassador who relates to your target audience. Primal Snack Box is a health-food box, so they chose an athlete–someone who has to stay fit for a living.
2. Feature ‘Unboxing’ Videos
Give people a sample of what they would get with your food subscription box by featuring unboxing videos on your social media channels. After seeing what’s inside one particular box, shoppers will likely be curious about the next box.
One way to encourage customers to post these videos would be to run a contest. Ask customers to post videos of themselves opening their latest box and have them tag your brand or use a specific hashtag. Then choose a winner who will be featured on your channel and receive a prize or discount, such as 20% off their next box or an extra item.
WOWBOX partnered with influencer @pinkmilkteahime to showcase their latest box in this unboxing video.
The video highlighted how unique WOWBOX’s products are, such as their limited-edition strawberry coke and two different varieties of Pocky.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
Even if you’re not running a contest, set up a branded hashtag for shoppers to use when they post user-generated content about your brand.
3. Share Cooking or Baking Techniques
Use your social media channels to feature educational (and fun!) cooking videos that relate to your product. By sharing techniques, you’re building trust with your audience. They love food and drink enough to buy a subscription box from you, so they’ll most likely appreciate your culinary expertise.
Pastreez is a macaron subscription box that regularly features macaron baking techniques.
Pastreez’ followers love the content so much that their educational videos often see more views and engagement than standard product videos.
ButcherBox also uses this strategy. They are a meat delivery service that features employee-led cooking videos on their YouTube channel.
The videos showcase ButcherBox products and give customers tips and recipes for cooking. ButcherBox products are raw, so the videos show customers the delicious end result they could have when cooking with ButcherBox meat.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
On the surface, it might seem like a bad idea to share your product-making tips with customers—won’t they stop buying from you if they know how to make your products? In reality, this educational content will probably make shoppers love your products more. People will likely appreciate your brand being transparent about their preparation process. And chances are, your products will still be more tasty and convenient than your customers’ creations.
4. Curate Your Photos
When people order a food subscription box, they’re looking for curation. They want to open a box that not only has products picked out for them but is also well designed with beautiful packaging.
Evoke this feeling of curation with your product marketing photos. Arrange shots in aesthetically pleasing ways, and readers will see that your box is a lovely, manicured product.
You can see this strategy at work in this Valentine’s Day campaign run by Candy Club, a candy subscription box service.
Their pictures are staged perfectly for Valentine’s Day, featuring cute heart-shaped candies alongside light pink roses. The color palette is eye-catching and matches the Valentine’s theme to a tee.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
Food and packaging look different depending on how the light hits them. Experiment with different angles to see what works best for each product. Candy Club did this in their campaign—on the left, the picture is taken from above, looking at flat products. On the right, the picture is farther back and the products are upright.
5. Share Your Story
With so many subscription boxes out there, you need to stand out from the pack by sharing what makes you different. People who buy food and drink boxes care about taste and quality. Tell potential customers the philosophy behind choosing the products in your box, so they know they’re only getting the best.
Use your site and social posts to share your company’s background and approach to food and drink. What is it that makes your box unique? Why did you start your food subscription box in the first place? This information shows potential customers who you are as a company and why they should subscribe to your box.
You could do this by stating your mission statement clearly on your website, such as in an ‘About Us’ section. When customers navigate to your site, they will immediately know what your company stands for and what makes you different from other companies.
One example of this is Misfits Market, a fruit and veggie subscription box that only uses food that restaurants and stores can’t sell because of aesthetic quirks.
Misfits Market is focused on reducing food waste while making healthy food more widely available. Their advertising and social media posts explain this goal and how they are achieving it with every box.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
Don’t alter your story to appeal to your audience—shoppers are discerning, and they can tell when you’re not being genuine. People will trust you more if you stay authentic.
6. Create a Referral Program
Online shoppers are naturally hesitant to buy food or drink they haven’t tried before. But social proof tells us if a friend or family member recommends it, potential customers are much more likely to subscribe.
Attract these customers with a referral program. You provide a concrete financial incentive for current customers to get their friends and family to also subscribe to your box. You might, for example, offer current customers a discount, a free box, or other bonus if they refer a friend. Give them a specific referral code to use, so the discount can be tracked and verified.
As part of the offer, include a discount for the new customer as well. That way, both the current customer and the person they’re referring will benefit from the program.
The wine subscription company Winc’s refer-a-friend program gives the referral $22 in credit and the referrer up to two bottles of wine—one bottle for the first box and another bottle if the referred friend orders a second box.
Pro Tip for Your Business:
Use short-term extreme giveaways to boost awareness of your program. If your typical referral program gives current customers a 20% discount on a box, you could run a limited-time special where they get a free box instead.
Use the Power of Marketing for Your Food Subscription Box
Food boxes are the most popular type of subscription boxes, so it’s vital to use innovative marketing to set your food subscription box apart.
Show potential customers what makes your box different (and better!) to convince shoppers to give your product a shot.
Have you seen great food subscription box marketing tactics or used any for your own subscription box? Let us know in the comments!
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