We received a lot of interest in our last article published on BarTalks, so I thought in this month’s post I’d share more out-of-the-chocolate-box marketing ideas with proven strategies and real-life examples.
You can delve in deeper, give them your unique twist and implement them yourself to grow your craft chocolate business in this competitive and fast-moving digital age.
Video Marketing
Using video isn’t new but the capabilities for building your brand using compelling videos quickly and cheaply has never been easier.
Most people parrot the same old thing ‘people’s attention spans are very short nowadays, but when you look at the figures, the data tells another story.
Serious business owners and entrepreneurs will invest their valuable time into learning everything about their chosen craft. Long-form video content actually performs very well on channels like YouTube and Odysee. It’s also actually favoured by the channels too as they can monetise the content with more ads.
However, long-form video content is anything over 10 minutes, no need to shoot a 3-hour documentary!
Video is a great medium for those of a creative and visual nature. The key to marketing your bean to bar chocolate business with video is to create a niche channel, know your customer and overdeliver on value. The reward is growing a loyal community and customer base with the ultimate aim, to sell more chocolate!
A great example would be Craft Chocolate TV.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=PLun7ms3NHALNOaeMWJDzZ-46lKruLUrAr[/embedyt]Dylan Butterbaugh, the founder of Manoa Chocolate in Hawaii has successfully built up a YouTube channel that provides great insights and in-depth information in a very informal and friendly way.
He covers everything you need to know from his experience bootstrapping a bean to bar chocolate company from his Mother’s kitchen table to the multi-million Dollar business he successfully runs today.
The channel’s objective is to educate fellow chocolate makers, chocolate lovers, and the general public on the art and process of bean to bar chocolate making.
He has almost a decade of trial and error and wants to bring to light all the various steps and complexities that go into making the most delicious chocolate possible. We think he succeeds with his mission handsomely.
Perhaps you could host a video channel about growing cocoa, making chocolate, your own personal story including failures and successes or even making yummy food with chocolate as the essential ingredient? The possibilities are endless. What will your channel be about? Let us know in the comments below.
Patreon
If you are making videos for YouTube or Odysee for free (or maybe even making a little Ad revenue), why not take it a step further and create exclusive content for your loyal tribe?
Patreon allows you to post videos and hide them behind a paywall that your passionate Patreon’s will pay for with a recurring monthly subscription.
To warrant your pay-to-view membership model fees, provide added value to your community with exclusive content, premiers, insights into your creative process, guests and AMA’s (Ask Me Anything) style videos they simply can’t get anywhere else.
See what chef Cirque du Souffle is creating in his kitchen here: https://www.patreon.com/cirquedusouffle
Go Fund Me
If you find yourself at the beginning of your craft chocolate making journey or are struggling to find funds for any reason, why not start a Go Fund Me page?
Here’s a couple of examples of chocolate companies that just did that.
Borough Chocolate have a fund to help them get back on their feet after a flooding disaster: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-borough-chocolates-get-back-on-their-feet
Here’s Myzel Chocolates Go Fund Me page.
Kickstarter
Looking for investment for your bean to bar chocolate company? There’s really no need to go to a traditional bank when like-minded people are interested and invested in your vision to grow.
British chocolate makers from the steel City of Sheffield – Bullion Chocolate raised over £11k from 230 backers to open a bean to bar café alongside their new craft chocolate factory.
Check out their story here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1120460832/bullion-bean-to-bar-chocolate-cafe
Meanwhile, California based Snake & Butterfly raised $21,000 with the help of 93 backers to open a chocolate factory and lounge. Read their full story here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1683782982/snake-and-butterfly-chocolate-factory-and-lounge
Craft your story as carefully as you would your chocolate bars and not only will you raise the funds you need, but you will also grow your customer base exponentially and sell more chocolate products to them and a growing audience of chocolate enthusiasts near and far.
They will feel like part of your company, will give you a huge boost and the revenue that will help you reach new highs in this competitive space.
Conclusion
When you set out to create your chocolate brand, building a loyal tribe or community that shares your passion for all thing’s cocoa is a great place to start. From that loyal, core foundation, you only need to grow it out with more like-minded people.
The best part is your tribe are your brand ambassadors. You look after them, and they will look after you.
If you need help marketing your brand online, reach out to Perry or visit his business website BlendLocalSearchMarketing.com for further information about their services. They have been helping companies great and small with results-driven website design & development, SEO and digital marketing since 2008.
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Written by Perry Stevens – Anarchy Chocolate – The Taste of Freedom!
To support this post, visit the Anarchy Chocolate shop here.
