Since its founding in 2006, NewsXPartners Corporation has remained a steadfast believer in and a strong advocate for the power of supplements. However, for a supplement company to become a NewsXPartners affiliate, merely operating in the segment isn’t enough. Over the years, NewsXPartners has earned a reputation for its ethical practices, dependability, transparency, and thoughtful, informed advocacy. The company has forged and maintained this standing by working only with a particular kind of supplement company – those committed to ethics, high-quality, precision manufacturing, transparency, and truthful advertising. NewsXPartners Corporation also looks for partners with a genuine desire to improve lives. This article delves into marketing and promotional techniques that NewsXPartners promotes to help supplement companies dominate their markets in 2024.
NewsXPartners: The Top 7 Best Marketing and Promotional Hacks to Dominate Your Market in 2024 is an original (RetailerNewsNetwork) article.
Big Pharma, supplements, and the battle for better quality of life
In some ways, the competition between the supplements industry and “Big Pharma” can be thought of as a “David versus Goliath” struggle for consumer health. The “David” in this equation – the supplements industry – was valued in the U.S. alone at around $68 billion at the end of 2023, extending to over $178 billion worldwide.
Additionally, experts predict that, from 2024–2030, this market will expand globally at an annual compound growth rate of 9.1%, with the U.S. market reaching $164 billion by 2033. Considering these figures, it might be difficult to think of supplements as an “underdog” – difficult, that is, until we consider Big Pharma’s value.
A truly gargantuan industry
Any discussion of the pharmaceutical industry’s worth typically starts at $1 trillion – equivalent to 1,000 billion. Big Pharma’s baseline value, then, is at least $822 billion more than the supplements industry’s total worldwide value as of 2023.
Furthermore, according to consulting firm Fortune Business Insights, global prescription drug sales reached nearly $1.2 trillion in 2022 – or 1090.7 billion. By 2030, the firm further estimates that the market will reach nearly $1.9 trillion, which is $3,622 billion more than the total value of the supplements industry at the end of 2023.
Big advertising, big political power
Time Magazine reports there are over 3.3 lobbyists for every member of the United States Congress, totaling 1,800 highly-compensated lobbyists spread amongst 535 legislators. This, Time notes, makes the pharmaceutical industry the “most powerful political force in the U.S.”
The pharmaceutical industry also consistently allocates significant funds each year to ensure consumers know about its products. In 2021, for instance, U.S. pharmaceutical companies spent almost eight times more than the supplements industry to market itself – nearly $6.9 billion ($6,900 million) versus $900 million.
David and Goliath indeed
In this arena of the well-funded underdog versus the pharmaceutical leviathan, consumers might be thought of as the true “David.” The average consumer is searching for health solutions that empower a better quality of life while causing fewer side effects, interactions, and negative long-term health consequences. In other words, consumers are searching for the potential benefits supplements may offer.
However, even with $900 million, the supplements industry faces a daunting challenge against the pharmaceutical industry’s $6,900 million marketing expenditure. Supplements, then, need more effective ways to stand out in a world flooded with Big Pharma messaging. Companies in this sector need techniques that help consumers find and connect with the solutions they seek – that’s exactly what the “hacks” offered here aim to address.
The perils of lax regulation
Indeed, supplements face little governmental oversight. As a result, there are no industry-wide dosing standards for specific ingredients. Moreover, the supplements industry isn’t required to adhere to any standardized ingredient formulations. Additionally, there are no guidelines regarding what uses a supplement can or can’t be marketed for. These factors contribute significantly to consumer uncertainty. What companies can be trusted? What products are safe and effective, and which should be avoided? How’s it possible to know?
Innovation firmly rooted in proven PR principles
If your company’s seeking a PR and marketing firm to help build a strong brand identity – to help you stand out in a crowded, noisy space – NewsXPartners is well-equipped to lend a hand. When the firm launched in 2006, it worked primarily through traditional media outlets like newspapers and magazines. However, throughout the PR industry’s transition to a fully digitized world, NewsXPartners has consistently remained at the forefront. This often entails applying conventional, time-tested methods to online platforms while also embracing innovation.
The seven hacks by NewsXPartners
Below are seven marketing and promotional “hacks” NewsXPartners uses to help its partners dominate their markets in 2024. It’s important to stress that, although NewsXPartners is an expert at using these hacks, any company can deploy them independently. NewsXPartners offers these techniques as part of its mission to help ethical supplement companies find their footing, define their voices, and rise above the competition in the fragmented, often uncertain, and under-regulated supplements industry.
User-generated content: a double-edged proposition
The internet empowers average consumers in previously impossible ways. In this unprecedented era, everyday buyers can instantly and intimately broadcast their experiences with a company, product, or brand to anyone with an internet-connected device.
Whether in the form of reviews, testimonials, social media posts, videos, podcasts, images, forum posts, or blogs, such content is known as user-generated content (UGC). Ideally, real-world consumers create UGC to share their positive experiences with a product, brand, or company. However, this powerful tool can serve as a double-edged sword. While UGC can greatly enhance a company’s reputation and credibility, boosting overall confidence, it can also do significant damage if the user experience proves less favorable.
The key to building positive customer relations from UGC – from both favorable and negative content – is to acknowledge and interact with all genuine feedback. In many ways, in fact, appropriately addressing negative UGC can do more to help a company’s reputation than positive UGC. This is because addressing and resolving UGC complaints in a public forum allows other customers to see that a company not only cares but also takes proactive steps to help resolve customer difficulties effectively.
Short-form ads: marketing messages designed to seamlessly entertain
In today’s fast-paced, attention-challenged world, advertising that entertains is tantamount. Video platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Reels, among others, have become adept at this type of marketing. These platforms help companies deliver bite-sized, visually engaging ads designed to quickly and unobtrusively sustain attention. At their best, these ads integrate seamlessly into the overall user experience on each platform, leaving a fun and memorable impression. However, at their worst, such ads may receive the ultimate “thumbs down” rating, prompting users to click away from the page.
Content marketing: adding value to the user experience
Content marketing is defined as the sharing of informative, valuable, and engaging content about a company, product, brand, or service that consumers need to make informed purchasing decisions. In the previous era, companies delivered such content through hardcopy platforms like newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and others.
Although hardcopy still retains relevance in the 21st century, modern content marketing is more focused on utilizing digital mediums such as blog posts, online articles, videos, and infographics. Companies also use webinars and podcasts as content vehicles. Effectively used, this technique helps build brand awareness, while demonstrating expertise and facilitating connections between business and their publics.
Additionally, a high-quality content strategy can help supplement brands establish themselves as leaders in their niche. Good content adds value to the user experience through compelling material that informs and educates, thereby helping encourage consumer engagement and foster brand loyalty.
Search engine optimization: under-the-hood connection
Search engine optimization (SEO) allows customers and potential customers to connect more efficiently with a company’s products and services via the Internet. SEO is designed to generate content that’s more targeted and thus, more relevant to what customers and potential customers need. The technique involves “optimizing” website content through keywords, meticulously tailored content, and technical website enhancements. It allows sites to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). When executed correctly, SEO generates increased “organic” traffic for a company’s website.
Organic traffic, which is essential for increasing online visibility, differs from paid search, in which companies pay to appear at the top of SERPs. While paid search can be an important part of effective marketing, well-executed organic search – well-done SEO – is much more effective at helping businesses get found by their target audience.
Social media marketing: two-way communication
With the rise of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others, social media has become indispensable for connecting companies, customers, and potential customers. In terms of building brand awareness, engaging consumers, and creating targeted messaging, social media is without peer. Many view positive “viral” moments on these platforms as the ultimate goal.
Having said that, NewsXPartners believes that true social media success requires a persistent, steady strategy centered around compelling content and consistent user engagement. Above all, companies should never forget that social media isn’t just about broadcasting and delivering messages; it’s also about building community and ensuring that customers and potential customers feel heard and responded to.
Influencer marketing: partnerships of niche-based celebrity
Social media has given rise to celebrity-like content creators known as “influencers.” These creators understand the importance of engagement and embrace social media as a broadcast medium. They use it to build and engage a dedicated following within well-defined niches. Partnering with influencers relevant to a company’s products and services can help build brand authenticity and trust. This, in turn, can help influence purchase decisions, nudging individuals toward promoted products and services.
Public relations: compelling stories, elevated brands
Public relations (PR) is the art and craft of disseminating useful information about a company or brand. Such information is often designed to build relationships and project a positive company image, while also delivering other necessary information. Through press releases, press conferences, interviews, and featured news pieces in relevant publications, PR serves to help elevate a brand’s reputation and visibility. It involves telling a company or brand’s story to create a more favorable public image. Effective PR is authentic, transparent, and responsive to consumer needs.
Building a better supplements marketplace
The dietary supplements industry possesses immense growth potential. More importantly, it offers great promise for positively impacting consumer health. Despite the fragmented and often uncertain nature of the market due to lax regulation, NewsXPartners believes the potential benefits of dietary supplements outweigh the drawbacks.
Therefore, NewsXPartners is committed to helping ethical companies leverage cutting-edge promotional strategies and powerful storytelling to stand out in a competitive, digitized marketplace. Hopefully, this article and its suggested “hacks” will help companies in the segment build stronger, more productive, and ethical relationships with their publics.
For further research:
Health – What to know about supplements
Well and Good – Viral supplements are often too good to be true, but these 5 are worth trying, experts say
LifeHacker – Why the social media hype around magnesium is overblown
Important Note: The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as health or medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or health condition. Before embarking on any diet, fitness regimen, or program of nutritional supplementation, it is advisable to consult your healthcare professional in order to determine its safety and probable efficacy in terms of your individual state of health.
Regarding Nutritional Supplements Or Other Non-Prescription Health Products: If any nutritional supplements or other non-prescription health products are mentioned in the foregoing article, any claims or statements made about them have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and such nutritional supplements or other health products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.