What are your dreams and ambitions for 2022?
While quitting your cookie habit and finally using that gym membership may make your personal list this year, what New Year’s resolutions will you make for your business as a CPG owner?
We can reassess goals at any time. But there’s something about January 1st and the start of a new year that makes us all a little more reflective.
That’s why now is the perfect time to set a few brand objectives in stone — and to work out how you plan to achieve them.
Ask yourself:
Where will you put your focus over the next twelve months?
How will you improve your CPG brand?
Where do you want to be by this time next year?
And then make sure your resolutions meet the following criteria.
- Your resolutions should be ambitious but realistic.
- They have to be measurable — so you know when to pat yourself on the back and when to keep on slogging.
- You may want to create self-imposed deadlines to help you stay accountable and maintain progress.
- And remember that your CPG resolutions may need to be tweaked as the year unfolds. Thanks to the frustrating and long year that was 2020, the importance of adaptability has never been so apparent.
Now that you’ve read through the basics, what kinds of resolutions should CPG owners make for their brands in 2022?
Here are a few ideas.
New Year’s resolution #1: Revisit your business plan
This job rarely sits at the top of your to-do list. But you really should revisit your CPG business plan regularly — and early 2022 is a great time to do it.
We’ve (hopefully!) come through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can now assess where the changes that have taken place over the last few years have left your brand.
You might like to:
Revisit the fundamentals
Update your information on customers, the market, competitors, and financial performance. This will help you to set the best possible brand goals for the coming year.
Audit your operations
You may find that there are opportunities to make things more efficient or improve your profit margin. Is it time to scale up and start working with a co-packer? Or focus on consolidation? A thorough assessment of your operations will help you to decide.
Drop products or processes that just aren’t working
Admitting that something hasn’t been a success can be scary. But you’ll save yourself a lot of time and energy in the long run.
New Year’s resolution #2: Put your efforts into the right product development
What new products will you bring to market in 2022? Start by checking out the competition to identify recent trends and gaps in the market.
You may also want to consider the following research.
- The US population is getting steadily older and more diverse
- Consumers are feeling the financial impact of the pandemic
- Nearly 60% of shoppers are willing to change their habits to reduce their environmental impact
- Based upon growing research into gut health, the fermented food and beverage market is on the up
- Plant-based products haven’t reached their peak, with more growth predicted over the next five years
- Sixty to seventy percent of consumers say they would pay more for sustainable packaging
New Year’s resolution #3: Get strategic with marketing
There are so many options when it comes to marketing-related resolutions for your CPG brand. You could focus your CPG marketing efforts on:
Your website
Whether you’re developing a DTC channel or just informing consumers about your brand and what it stands for, your website is the first port-of-call. Make 2022 the year in which you make your website everything you want it to be.
Social media
Are you maximizing the potential of your social media content? You could develop a strategy for attracting new followers. Or use previously underutilized functions — like live feeds. Or just commit to posting regularly by creating a social media content calendar.
Experiences
Offline isn’t dead! So devote some marketing energy to real life, in-person promotions in 2022 – whether that’s a new pop-up event, in-store displays, or product samples.
Data
With the right software partner on board, analyzing consumer data becomes a whole lot easier. And with data insights, you can personalize your marketing efforts — making them more engaging and effective.
If budget allows, make 2022 the year your brand makes the most of the customer data you’re already collecting.
New Year’s resolution #4: Commit to sustainability
Want to make 2022 a greener year?
Consumers increasingly care about the environment. It’s affecting the way they shop and influencing trends within the industry too.
Just take a look at Nestle and Tyson Foods, getting ahead of the curve by adopting eco-labeling.
If you haven’t already, conduct a sustainability report over the coming year. Find out how your brand is doing in terms of sustainability and then commit to making improvements.
You might want to look at:
Supply chain
Are your ingredients ethically and sustainably sourced? How committed to sustainability are your suppliers and partners?
Waste
Can you reduce the amount of waste involved in production? And can consumers easily recycle your packaging?
Carbon footprint
What is your company’s carbon footprint, and what can you do to reduce it or even become completely carbon neutral?
If you do conduct a sustainability report, remember that transparency is a big part of the process. Publish your report and your commitments so consumers can see for themselves how your brand is doing when it comes to caring for the planet and its people.
New Year’s resolution #5: Be active in your community
Consumers are concerned about the environment. And a whopping 70% of them think it’s essential for brands to take a stand on public issues too.
So why not resolve to do something good for the wider community?
You might like to partner with a local charity, offering donations or practical support. Or donate a portion of your profits to an organization you (and your consumers) care about on an ongoing basis.
If you opt for this CPG owner resolution, be sure to build values into your brand identity.
Really learn about the causes you’re committing to and view your community relationships as long-term endeavors rather than a one-off marketing tactic.
By continually and authentically showing you care about more than your bottom line, you’ll give brand equity a boost and build goodwill with consumers.
New Year’s resolution #6: Put people first
Customers have never been more disloyal. Gone are the days when consumers would stick with the same CPG brands from the cradle to the grave.
This means you have to work harder to win them over and keep them coming back for more.
So what can you do to address this? Start by creating a New Year’s resolution based around your dedication to the people your brand depends upon most — your customers.
You might like to:
Perfect your storytelling
Put your customers at the heart of your products, your promotions, and your content. This makes it easier to build that all-important emotional connection between customers and your brand.
Get better at listening
With the help of data or social listening, you can learn what your customers think of current products and find out what else they’d like to see from your brand.
Up your all-round offering
Provide omnichannel experiences so your teams can offer on-point customer service. Focus on convenience. Understand where your customers are at in the here and now to really meet their requirements.
New Year’s resolution #7: Reassess partnerships
Only the biggest CPG brands can afford to run everything in-house. The majority of CPG owners seek out partners who can help with particular aspects of company operations.
The start of a new year is a great time to reassess whether those partnerships are working out for you as a brand or whether it’s time to find someone new.
The perfect CPG partner will:
Understand your product niche
The best partners will share their experience and insight with a particular product niche, helping you avoid mistakes and maximize potential.
Share your values
When a partner understands what is important to you and your brand, it’s easier to work together and find the right opportunities.
Match your scale and scope
If you’re a small CPG, you don’t want partners with big hitters on their books. You’ll end up way down their list of priorities. You need a partner big enough to handle your growth and small enough to truly invest in your brand.
What will 2022 hold for you and your CPG brand? If finding a new distributor is on your New Year resolutions list, take a look at Buffalo Market.
Buffalo Market is a leading distributor of purpose-driven food and beverage products. We help CPGs increase sales by getting their products into major retailers, natural markets, and food-service establishments throughout California and Las Vegas.
We’d love to help your CPG achieve those 2022 ambitions. Tell Buffalo Market about your brand today, and we’ll get back to you soon!
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