Communications

In my last article, I discussed the unexpected benefits of providing ongoing health and wellness training to your co-workers. However, an ongoing training program will only be successful if it seamlessly fits in with your schedule and a busy retail setting. Below I share a few program ideas and how they can integrate into your store’s operations.

Consumers are often confused and skeptical about the way many foods are grown. Retail dietitians, however, can communicate confidence in the food supply by partnering with farmers to translate food production stories and help consumers understand the journey from farm to supermarket. 

Retail dietitians are thrown into a host of communication occasions, which range from managing questions from shoppers in the store aisles to presenting to senior leadership at their companies.  Understanding and perfecting non-verbal communication can help you be more effective in all your communications.

Recent research from The Hartman Group (2017), indicates that 83% of consumers surveyed were familiar with the term sustainability. As a retail dietitian, you may see shopper interest in this topic play out with purchasing decisions being made and by questions being asked. From climate change to food waste, it is easy to see why customers may be concerned, but to food communicators, the total sustainability issue can be overwhelming. The abundance of misinformation about products and companies, however, provide great opportunities for marketing and education.

Supermarket dietitians are often challenged with customers longing to identify good foods and bad foods, especially when those “bad foods” are linked to causing cancer, a scary disease that claims a half million Americans per year.

It’s today’s reality – consumers, including your shoppers, are addicted to video content. If you’re not creating Facebook Live segments or live stream videos, you’re missing out on opportunities to engage your shoppers.

While there are certainly some individuals who must monitor carbohydrate intake, or cannot tolerate gluten, many shoppers may be unnecessarily eliminating grain items from their diet and are missing out on the enjoyable, affordable and nourishing addition they provide to meals and snacks. The following strategies can help you debunk grain food myths and let shoppers feel good about reaching for that bakery baguette and box of pasta.

In today’s marketplace, shopper engagement on health and wellbeing must include social media interaction. But contrary to popular belief, the goal isn’t full dialogue on Twitter and Facebook. The varying social media platforms have different roles in shopper engagement.

The goal is not to eliminate all added sugars but to minimize the consumption of empty and excess calories. However, without proper consumer education, the “demonizing” of added sugars in the media may lead consumers to make substitutions that are not actually healthier. Here are some ways to help consumers put added sugars into context and guide them to healthful food choices:

In last week’s article, 4 Reasons You Should be Podcasting (attach link), we discussed this tool as an effective way to reach your shoppers with in-depth education.  If you’ve added podcasting to your communications plan for 2018, here are five tips and tricks to ensure it’s successful.