Digital Marketingin food & drink B2BA report on how the food & drink wholesaling sector engages

in Digital Marketing and perceives its value as a tool to further

business growth.

Produced & designed by

Digital Marketingfor food & drink wholesalers

2

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this survey, and subsequent report, is to establish to what extent food & drink wholesalers, and the sector they represent, engage in Digital Marketing, as well as the degree of importance they allocate to this digital discipline. In the framework of the current digital age, online marketing has taken centre stage, with few now questioning the integral part it plays in the overall decision-making process of most companies.

But is the food & drink sector lagging behind? And, more importantly, with the threat of big players investing heavily in said online marketing tools, spearheaded by eCommerce; will UK wholesalers fully embrace change, or, attempt to strike a balance between digital and more traditional marketing methods?

METHODOLOGY

As software and eCommerce experts, and 35+ years’ experience in the sector, BCP is in an excellent position to gather a sample of data that accurately represents the food & drink wholesaling sector. We approached our client base in its entirety, contacting respective marketing decision-makers on an individual basis. BCP asked the same questions, identically posed and phrased, as you will see reflected in the following report.

When assessing the frequency of engagement in certain elements of the marketing mix (p.7), respondents were given the options of selecting ‘Very often’(4), ‘Often’(3), ‘Occassionally’(2), ‘Rarely’ (1) ‘Never’(0) and ‘N/A’.(0) The numbers in parenthesis shows the respective value of each. They were then ranked according to their total scores.

3

HEADLINES

38%of food & drink

wholesalers consulted do not develop a

marketing strategy

85%describe Digital

Marketing a priority of ‘Important’

15%engage in Content

Marketing ‘Often’ or ‘Very often’.

2 in 3have launched a new website or rebranded in the past 24 months

54%of food & drink

wholesalers outsource their marketing activity

69%believe their SEO needs improving

4

What we asked: Do you develop a detailed marketing budget prior to the start of each year?

31% of those consulted do not allocate a budget to marketing

Why should I bother with a budget?

• As a first indicative that perhaps Marketing isn’t given the importance that it merits in the sector, 31% of respondents, almost 1 in 3 of those asked, do not allocate a budget to their upcoming yearly marketing activity.

• It is worth pointing out, however, that this does not necessarily mean that no money is spent on marketing - more often than not it indicates that, for 31%, there is no limit, minimum or target to work towards.

• In a industry in the midst of a move online, or digital transformation, we

would expect this percentage to grow exponentially over the

coming years, as more players join the market, and the

importance of digital marketing becomes

increasingly apparent to all.

Admittedly one that is often overlooked or deemed unimportant, setting a budget, regardless of how big or small, even insignificant, does more than matter: it is absolutely crucial. A marketing budget forces a business to be strategic. With no budget and clear strategy in place, it is easy to over-invest, more often than not in the wrong marketing vehicles, and overspend in last minute aggressive campaigns that generate no positive results.

A marketing budget is indispensable because it justifies, plans and tracks spend. It is a guide to ensure that your business stays on target and delivers the overall marketing strategy as efficiently, and successfully, as possible, regardless of the size of your marketing spend.

WHY A MARKETING BUDGET DOES MATTER

31%69

%

No

Yes

5

What we asked: Do you develop a yearly, quarterly or

even monthly, marketing strategy?

38% of food & drink wholesalers consulted do not develop a marketing strategy

Over one third of Marketing decision-makers consulted in the food & drink wholesaling sector stated their company does not develop a marketing strategy on a yearly, quarterly, or even monthly basis. Considering the percentage of those who don’t set a marketing budget is lower (30.7%), it can be concluded that more importance is given to allocating a marketing budget, than to developing a detailed marketing strategy to execute it.

YES

ALLOCATES

BUDGET TO

MARKETINGNO

DOES NOT

DEVELOP

MARKETING

STRATEGY7.8%

Supporting this point, when analysing the overlap between the two sets of data, there is a small percentage of companies (7.8%) which do allocate and define a budget, but fail to develop a strategy to implement it.

No

Yes38

%

62%

(69.2%)

(38.5%)

6

What we asked: What degree of priority would you say your company gives to Digital Marketing?

85% of respondents deem Digital Marketing to be either

‘Important’, ‘Very Important, or ‘Extremely Important’

Given the option of choosing ‘Unimportant’ to describe how their companies prioritise Digital Marketing activities, 0% chose to do so. It is encouraging to see that the vast majority of those consulted acknowledge the importance of Digital Marketing, and prioritise it accordingly.

It may be optimistic, however, to rely solely on this number, which stands in sharp contrast to the lesser 62% that do develop a marketing strategy, and the 69% that do allocate a marketing budget.

With B2B customers increasingly expecting a B2C experience, Digital Marketing is an invaluable tool to smooth this transition and ensure sales do not drop. SEO is necessary: 71% of B2B researches begin their search on Google (more information here). Email Marketing is imperative when talking to customers: most prefer this method to stay atop of news and promotions. Paid search marketing is a crucial tool to acquire new valuable leads. Social Media, a brilliant way to boost brand awareness and ensure your marketing is a two-way conversation.

The fact that the vast majority of businesses consulted deem Digital Marketing to be important, while positive, also signifies that much is yet to be done. Digital Marketing is important, yes, but this belief needs to be translated into concrete practices, starting with a detailed marketing strategy and a carefully devised marketing budget plan.

7.7%

15.4%

15.4%

7.7%

53.9%

N/A

Very Important

Extremely

Important

less Importantimportant

7

What we asked: Which of these elements of the Marketing

mix does your company actively engage

in, and with what frequency?

CONTENT IS NOT KING

• Or at least seemingly not among those food & drink wholesalers consulted - only 15.4% engage in Content Marketing ‘Often’ or ‘Very Often’. As a result, Content Marketing

is 5th on the ranking of most frequently utilised marketing channels.

• Advertising emerges as one of the three most popular channels, with 38.5% of respondents choosing ‘Often or ‘Very often’ to describe how

frequently it is used.

An average of 36% of respondents NEVER engage

in PPC, Affiliate or Content Marketing

• If there is one clear loser in this exercise, is Paid Search Marketing, or PPC. With only 23.1% of respondents

engaging in Paid Search Marketing either ‘Often’ or ‘Very Often’, most businesses are not choosing this marketing

channel as a means of acquiring new leads and boosting brand awareness.

• Unsurprisingly, Social Media tops the frequency ranking, with an impressive 53.8% engaging in it ‘Often’ or ‘Very often’.

#1SOCIAL MEDIA(355 total score)

#2(315 total score)

EMAIL MARKETING

#3(130 total score)

ADVERTISING

#4(105 total score)

SEO

#5(90 total score)

CONTENT MARKETING

#6(65 total score)

VIDEO MARKETING

#7(60 total score)

PAID SEARCH MARKETING

#8(50 total score)

AFFILIATE MARKETING

8

Why should you bother with Content Marketing and SEO?Content Marketing, when boiled down to its true, concise definition, consists of the creation and distribution of relevant, valuable and consistent content both to acquire new customers and retain existing ones. Content Marketing is vital, and should be a main point of focus for any company’s marketing department, because it is key in answering the ‘WIIFM’ question: ‘What’s In It For Me?’. In other words: what’s in it for your audience?

Providing content that not only is of use, or help to your customers, but also aligns with your brand, will do wonders for your brand perception. There is also no better way to prove that you understand your audience’s needs and are willing to go a step further to fulfil and adapt to them. A recipe blog using ingredients from your product collection, an article about market trends... These are two very quick examples of Content Marketing campaigns that take little time, little skill, and can go a very long way.

Only 15.4% of decision-makers consulted engage in Content Marketing ‘Often’ or ‘Very Often’

With popular search engines recently altering their algorithms to favour quality and frequency (in detriment of quantity), Content Marketing and SEO have now become inseparable practices. Perceived as antagonistic forces for long, many would argue in today’s digital world one cannot exist without the other. A continuous stream of high-quality, relevant content will not only improve your ranking in search page results, but also increase the authority of your corporate website or eCommerce solution.

A content-led, organic SEO strategy, coupled up with on-page SEO and keyword strategy, is crucial to maximise ROMI. Sales will increase, lead generation will improve and conversion rates are guaranteed to surge. Content Marketing and SEO are two Digital Marketing disciplines that no business with an online presence can afford to overlook.

9

We asked: Have you launched a new website or gone through a re-branding process in the last 24 months?

70% of respondents have launched a new website or rebranded in the last 24 months

Why should I bother with a budget?

WHY REBRAND, AND WHEN?

Contrary to widespread belief, a brand is more than just a logo and a colour scheme. In fact, a brand is intangible: it is how your company is perceived both internally and externally, it is your value proposition and vision, it is your reputation and position in the market you operate in.

The most important reason to carry out a rebranding exercise is to adapt to new brand perceptions: ensuring your visual brand aligns with how you are perceived, or wish to be perceived, by your target audience. Other reasons may include repositioning in the market, the launch of new products or going through a merger or an acquisition.

• Over two thirds of those consulted have launched a new website or carried out a rebranding process in the last 24 months. This shows an awareness in the food & drink wholesaling sector of the need to transition online, and to have a current, responsive, in most cases more visual, online presence.

• With research showing that in 2017 only 50% of B2B organisations had a responsive website that could adapt successfully to mobile (more information here), adopting one, preferably with an eCommerce function, will give companies an important

competitive advantage. This is an encouraging percentage, that shows

the sector is aware of changes in consumer habits and is moving

in the right direction.

0 100%20% 40% 60% 80%

Yes No69.2% 30.8%

Three possible symptoms of a need to rebrand:

You’re embarrassed to give out your business card.

Your brand name & logo don’t embody your company vision.

Your brand doesn’t stand out from the crowd.

10

The ‘in-house vs outsourcing’ conundrum

We asked: Do you have an in-house marketing team? If so, how many team members

does it consist of?

84.6% of respondents have an in-house marketing resource of

between 1 and 10 individuals

• Almost two thirds of those consulted have a marketing team of between 1 and 3 individuals. A lesser percentage, 23.1%, have a marketing resource of a medium size, between 4 and 10 marketing professionals.

• It will usually take a full team of individuals to strategise, coordinate and implement a marketing plan. It is important to attract the right talent, allocate the right responsibilities, as well as focus on what individuals do best (ie. even though a web developer can also carry out web design, it would not be adviseable to assign them both.)

• The outsourcing vs. in-house dilemma is one that has plagued and divided marketing professionals for long. In the food & drink sector, the option to outsource some, but not all, elements of the marketing mix is the most popular, narrowly beating the in-house option 54% to 46%.

We asked: Do you outsource any of your

marketing activity?

No marketing team

1-3 individuals

4-10 individuals

10+ individuals

0

20%

40%

60%

+8%

61%

23%

8%

No, all is kept

in-house

Outsource certain

elements

Outource all marketing

activity

0

20%

40%

60%

46%

54%

0%

11

57% of companies that outsource their marketing pick their preferred agency through word of mouth or

This dilemma can usually be solved by answering a couple of questions. Do you have the right team, with the sufficient expertise? If the answer is no, perhaps considering an external provider may be advisable. Do you have the sufficient time? If, again, the answer is no, it may be a good idea to externalise your marketing arm. The external providers you select will be able to plan, coordinate and implement marketing activities with no time constraints, and will be experts in their field.

There are many possible pitfalls, on the other hand, to outsourcing. The biggest, and most predominant, occurs when agencies fail to understand your business, and your brand, and hence create content that will ultimately be of no relevance or use to your audience.

TO OUTSOURCE OR NOT TO OUTSOURCE

• 57% of food & drink wholesalers who do outsource certain elements of their marketing activity select their provider through word of mouth, or direct referrals. While not unusual, particularly in the B2B industry, it stresses the importance of Word of Mouth (WOM) Marketing as a method of lead generation.

• Perhaps one of the biggest caveats of outsourcing is the fear of not being able to trust one’s marketing provider. These fears are somewhat allayed through word of mouth recommendations.

• We can also see, on the other hand, that search engines are the preferred method

of research for 14.3% of those consulted. This is an indication that the industry

is increasingly willing to trust popular search engines with the

task of identifying solutions of a high standard.

14.3%

42.9%

14.3%

14.3%

14.3%

Search Engine

Refer

ral

Word of

Mouth

SpecialistWebsite

Other

“Combination of the above and experience/interview knowledge.”

12

What we asked: Are there any areas of your Digital

Marketing offering that you feel need

improving? If so, which?

3 in 4 marketing decision-makers

believe SEO and/or PPC are areas

that their companies need to

improve

• While Content Marketing ranked 5th in the frequency scale, 38.5% of respondents acknowledged that it is an area that needs improving. This could be interpreted as a concession from food & drink wholesalers that their Content Marketing output is not enough, and an admission that it must be allocated more resources in the future.

• Over two thirds (69.3%) of those consulted chose SEO as an area of improvement. Interestingly, the percentage of those who have rebranded and/or launched a new website (p.9) is identical. This begs the question: are companies with a new online presence getting the most out of their SEO efforts?

#1SEO

#2

#3

#4

#4

#4

#4

#8

SOCIAL MEDIA

CONTENTMARKETING

PAID SEARCH MARKETING

AFFILIATE MARKETING

EMAIL MARKETING

VIDEO MARKETING

ADVERTISING

(69.2%)

(46.2%)

(38.5%)

(30.8%)

(30.8%)

(30.8%)

(30.8%)

(23.1%)

Contact Details

http://www.bcpsoftware.com/

+44(0)161 355 3000info@bcpsoftware.com