When you decide to accelerate growth of your business, you want to learn from standout brands. We use real-life examples to inspire you to create a resilient marketing strategy!
Today we’re sharing insights on The Worthy Bowl, a category-leading, plant-based food company.
The Worthy Bowl is a prime example of a product resulting from an unfulfilled need. Its co-founders Sarah Renahan and Nydia Shipman, were new moms. Busy and often tired, they needed their nutrition to be simple, on-the-go, and plant-based.
But as it often happens, there was nothing on the market to meet this demand. Sarah and Nydia took this opportunity and developed the Blendie Bowl, a shelf-stable creamy snack. It contains fruits, veggies, protein, and fiber that one can have on-the-go, jazz up with delightful mix-ins, or even use in recipes.
So what makes The Worthy Bowl a resilient brand?
Leveraging influencers and micro-influencers to accelerate growth
Each Worthy Bowl looks like the famous “instagrammable” smoothie bowls. It’s perfect for social media! The brand was quick to promote its picture-worthy products with influencers and micro-influencer content.
As an Amazon-first brand with no dedicated storefront, Worthy Bowls are available at select fresh markets, delis, and food shops. This could make it a bit of a struggle to pull Instagram-worthy customer stories to post as their own. The Worthy Bowl uses micro-influencers to spread the word about the brand and the #weareworthy movement.
What’s in it for you:
Influencer marketing has grown in popularity thanks to the engaged social media market. Besides, 74% of people choose companies or brands based on authentic experiences shared online.
Creativity is key to a successful partnership-based strategy
Although influencer marketing can be expensive and difficult to track, creativity is key to a successful partnership-based strategy.
Take it up a notch by integrating it into your affiliate or referral program. Influencers impact every stage of the sales funnel. Besides increasing reach, visibility, and social credibility, they help build long-term relationships that push sales.
Being an Amazon-first brand
Most of The Worthy Bowl sells through the most extensive online marketplace, Amazon. This could be an excellent strategy for startups to optimize product offerings and go-to marketing strategies.
Shoppers start their product research 2X more often on Amazon than Google. They use it to look into ratings and reviews that make decisions. Launching products on this platform is an effective way to raise awareness and accelerate growth of your brand. Sarah Renahan, for example, stated that consumer feedback pointed to a preference for the existing, 5.7-ounce snack size container—a shift from the 8.2-ounce container. This brought the retail price from $3.99 down to $2.99, a move that aligns with The Worthy Bowl’s mission to provide accessible, plant-based foods.
Try it yourself:
There are two ways to integrate an Amazon strategy into your marketing. You can make it your only (or primary) sales channel and optimize it more than your competitors. Or use it as strategic support to your e-commerce storefront.
Let’s have a look at the first option since The Worthy Bowl is an Amazon-first brand. They optimized product pages to create a craving with striking images, enticing copy, and colors that communicate product benefits.
You can take this up a notch by further optimizing your Amazon page! Incorporate lifestyle images from users or influencers. Mention your top keyword and communicate unique selling points right on the product name (i.e. ‘meal replacement’). While there are several ways to go deep into Amazon’s best practices, any brand can start with these top 2 tips on the platform.
Now, competitor analysis. Having a bestseller ranking on Amazon makes research very easy. Brands can spot what works for others and what doesn’t. Have a look at the best-selling products in the meal replacement category. Straight away, you can see clues to how to reverse-engineer their successes and do it better!
Final thoughts
If you’re a mission-driven brand like The Worthy Bowl, you too can break into this largest marketplace. Your strong mission-driven brand, serving as your differentiator in an already crowded platform. The next step is to use the right tools and strategies to continue testing and iterating to success.
Even though the demand for plant-based food is growing, The Worthy Bowl nourishes awareness through influencer marketing and an Amazon strategy.
It’s never too late to look at your current position and see how similar strategies can turn your brand into a resilient one and accelerate your business growth!