According to reports, sale of vitamins and supplements is expected to clock US$20,727.00m, as more people look to make health-conscious decisions.
A staggering 77% of adults in the US note that they are “actively trying to improve their health in some way”.
In the United States, there is an enormous and growing market for vitamins and food supplements. Note that this drive in growth is gingered by a growing middle class worldwide.
It’s mainly seen in Asia and South America along with the traditional, established markets in North America and Europe.
Have it in mind that they have more disposable income, a growing awareness of the benefits of these products, and an encouraging access to information regarding product efficacy via the internet.
Places like YouTube, government websites, and social media have helped to spread this information.
Indeed, selling vitamin and food supplements can be a very lucrative income stream.
The key is to walk on the right side of the law in terms of product description, claims, and product standard.
Also note that selling supplements online comes with many challenges in terms of what you can claim the product can do.
If you are selling 3rd party products then there shouldn’t be an issue as you would expect them to furnish you with information regarding claims and efficacy, not to mention the correct legal terms you can use in different countries.
In the USA many products or components of products are expected to meet Novel Food Status or Generally Recognised As Safe (GRAS) standards to be able to claim that a product has ‘X’ effect.
Note that this involves expensive rigorous testing. Meanwhile, in the EU, there are stringent regulations when claiming what a product can do.
Most times, they are so strict that you can’t veer from the wording allowed by the regulations without landing yourself in hot water.
In addition, there are very serious sanctions for breaching claims or making false/misleading statements about product effect or efficacy.
You can’t simply say that a product will ‘make you live forever’, ‘make you more attractive’ or ‘cure a common cold’ unless there is pre-approved wording noting extensively what you can say and how you can say it.
Speak to the supplier of the goods or components of the finished products you are selling to ensure you are claiming only what is allowed by law in the relevant territory, state, or country.
Sales Strategies to Sell Health Supplements Online
There are various ways to sell supplements online. Firstly, you can simply buy the products wholesale, marking up the prices in order to make a profit, and sell the supplements on your own self-made website.
Another option is to become a distributor for a direct-marketing supplements company that will establish a site especially for you.
Another popular option for supplements providers is an affiliate program, where you become an affiliate of a larger nutritional supplement company and then sell their products, earning a commission.
You could also run your own affiliate program, teaming up with doctors, gyms, and weight-loss clinics to direct people to your website.
However, to boost sales and grow your business exposure, here are strategies to consider;
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Organize Logistics
One logistical issue that online retailers often face is storage space. Where can you store all your stock?
A simple way to avoid wasting money by renting storage space is using a fulfillment service, whereby you can ship stock to a partner-managed warehouse.
Note that you can easily integrate your product catalog with your fulfillment partners to ensure a seamless delivery procedure.
You may also choose to use drop shipping, where you partner with a wholesale supplier that stocks its own inventory.
When a customer places an order, you transfer this information to them, and they ship the goods directly to the customer.
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Create A Referral Program
Nothing can compete with the power of word of mouth advertising. Always remember that one of the best ways to harness this power is through referrals.
Provide your customers’ discounts, free samples, or even branded merchandise for referrals.
You can offer referrals through online shares or direct recommendations. Either way, your happy customers will love to share your brand if they have an incentive.
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Choose Your Marketing Strategy
When dealing with sports and fitness supplements, retailers are expected to be very careful with their marketing strategy so as not to cause offense.
Protein World made this mistake in the summer of 2015, when they chose the tagline #AreYouBeachBodyReady, pasted it next to a picture of a toned woman in a bikini.
People took offense to this and claimed that this advert suggested that everyone who did not resemble the model was not beach appropriate.
They deemed the advert to be body-shaming and the advert was subsequently banned in the UK.
So you don’t make a similar mistake, make sure your marketing is based on health benefits, rather than pure aesthetics.
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Choose A Target Audience
Retailers tend to forget the first rule of selling a product: choosing a target audience.
Focusing on the general market is not a good idea, and is a strategy normally reserved for commerce giants, who already dominate the market.
If you target the market as a whole, note that you risk wasting time, effort, and money, as the majority of the public will be uninterested in your product.
Having a clearly defined target audience is much easier for merchants to prepare and execute a marketing campaign specific to the customer, which will increase the chance of making sales whilst simultaneously decreasing marketing overheads.
This combination will lead to bigger returns on investment. Note that your target audience can be based on age, gender, or even country.
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Offer Coupons Or Free Trials
People are often wary of nutritional supplements because they aren’t sure they work or if they are right for them.
Offering first-time customers a chance to “try before they buy” can create an incentive to check out your products. You can make these offers on social media, your website, and as fliers.
Best Hastags to Sell Health Supplements Online
Have it in mind that businesses get really witty with Instagram captions and hashtags, so it is necessary that you put in a lot of thought and effort into researching and writing great content. Think of your hashtags like keywords that are critical to your business.
There are many hashtag tools available (hashtag generators, hashtag creators, hashtag analytics) online which can help you find the most popular hashtags and also create unique ones for your business.
Remember that using the right hashtags can increase the visibility and reach of your posts and stories, thus potentially improving engagement.
Nonetheless, the best supplements hashtags popular on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr include:
- #supplements
- #fitness
- #bodybuilding
- #nutrition
- #health
- #gym
- #workout
- #protein
- #healthylifestyle
- #vitamins
Instagram Bio to Sell Health Supplements Online
An Instagram bio is a small summary, seen underneath your username, about yourself or your business.
In your Instagram bio, you can include a short description, contact information, emojis, and more, provided you keep it under 150 characters.
Since you only have a limited number of characters at your disposal, there are a handful of objectives you need to prioritize in your bio before you start optimizing the rest of your profile.
- Tell profile visitors who you are and why they should care
- Use clickable tags to promote branded hashtags and sister accounts
- Include a call to action
- Make the most of your bio link
- Adding “Action Buttons” to help users reach you
- Enable Shopping on Instagram to showcase your products
- Curate Highlights for your profile
- Share a “social media only” promo code
- Leverage IGTV
Conclusion
Food supplements come in a variety of forms, from bodybuilding/sports nutrition products to dietary aids.
Also, there are many guides on how to sell online, do your research, and make sure you have plenty of enticing content and a nice clean professional looking website/page that makes customers not just buy – but come back again and again.