As a supplement brand, you can work tirelessly on manufacturing supplements that serve all of the needs of your target audience. The truth is, without an eye-catching supplement label design, your products may never make it off the shelf. Your supplement label design is absolutely crucial to selling your product.
Are you ready to design a label that resonates with your target audience and flies off the shelf? In this article, you’ll learn 13 effective tips and tricks to design a supplement label for your target audience.
1. Find inspiration in who your target audience wants to be
Every aspect of your supplement brand, including your supplement label design, should be inspired by your target audience. This concept may seem obvious enough, but here’s a special pointer:
If you want to see massive sales, you don’t want to design a label that resonates with who your target audience is. Rather, you want to design a label that resonates with who they want to be.
People don’t just buy supplements to improve their nutrition; they buy supplements to become better versions of themselves. If you can uncover who your target audience wants to be, you can design a label so that your customers feel like this person from the moment they purchase your product.
2. Find inspiration in other products your audience is buying
Another good idea is to check out other products (specifically, other brands) your target audience is buying and take notes on design elements of these products.
Say, for example, your target audience is upper-class men in their twenties who want to improve their physical appearance. You might take a look at the label design of the hair products or shaving products these men buy. What do you notice about these labels? Do they use dark colors or light colors? Capital or lowercase? Serif or san-serif font?
The best brands design their labels after researching their target market. You can get ahead of the game by researching your target market’s favorite brands instead.
You’re also going to want to research your direct competitions’ supplement label design. How are companies with similar supplement products and similar target markets designing their labels?
There are a couple of reasons why this is a good idea. First, you can use other brands as inspiration for your own (a similar concept to the one explained above). Secondly, even if you do use other brands as inspiration, you’re going to have to find a way to stand out.
Chances are, there are quite a few products out there already that are similar to the products you’re trying to sell and that also have a similar target market. That means, if someone from your target audience is looking for a product, they’ll have to decide between yours and other similar products out there.
That’s why, even if you do use other similar brands as inspiration for your own supplement label design, you still have to find a way to stand out. What will make consumers choose your product over the others they’re looking at?
4. Pay attention to color
Color is very important when it comes to supplement label design. First and foremost, colors are extremely powerful symbols of communication. Every color contains a hidden message and a hidden emotional charge. Secondly, most consumers will notice your color before noticing any other aspects of your design. That’s why it’s very important to choose your colors wisely.
Red is a color of power and action, but can also signify importance or danger. Light blue is representative of calmness and serenity, while dark blue is also a symbol of responsibility and trustworthiness. Purple signifies royalty, wealth, and luxury. Likewise, green can signify wealth but also symbolizes nature, new beginnings, luck, and abundance.
When choosing colors for your supplement label design, ask yourself, “What colors will resonate with my target market and who they want to be? What colors best communicate what my brand is all about, including the best features and benefits of my brand?” Those are the colors you want to use.
Typography, or font, is another highly effective method of symbolic communication. When it comes to supplement label design, consumers often notice the way letters look and the feelings the letters convey before actually noticing what the letters say.
Big, bold lettering, for example, symbolizes strength and power. This type of lettering could be a good choice if your brand specializes in building muscle. Thin, delicate lettering, on the other hand, represents sensitivity and care – a great option for skincare supplements. Rounded letters evoke a sense of juvenile comfort – perfect for kids’ vitamins. Italics represent movement, change, and speed – a good choice for athletes.
Font can be a great means of symbolic communication and a great way to make your brand stand out. Just be careful not to get too carried away with crazy fonts. At the end of the day, it has to be readable.
6. Play with a mood board
Your brand message and the emotions your brand evokes will, ultimately, result from the complete picture of your supplement label design. This includes your colors, typography, imagery, messaging, and so on. Once you think you know what kind of message you want to convey, what kind of emotions you want to evoke, and what colors, typography, and imagery you plan to use to do it, it’s a good idea to test this out using a mood board.
A mood board is a type of visual presentation (typically a collage consisting of images, texts, and other objects) that is used to convey a general idea or feeling about a particular topic (in this case, your brand). Here’s a more complete explanation.
Create your mood board using the colors, text, and imagery you were imagining for your brand, and then perform an experiment. Ask members of your target audience what they feel when they look at your mood board. Do they mention the emotions that you want your brand to evoke? Do they make your target audience feel like the person they want to be?
7. Focus on benefits, not features
Once you have a good idea of the design aspects of your supplement label design, it’s time to start thinking of your actual messaging. What will your box, bottle, or pouch say? How will you talk about what your supplement is and what it can actually do for your consumers?
At this point, there is one key rule to remember: Focus on benefits, not features. That is, don’t describe what your product is. Rather, describe what your product can do. This takes all of the guesswork out for consumers and makes it easier for them to jump to the conclusion to purchase. It also makes them feel more understood.
Here’s an easy example of what we mean: Say you decided to make extra small pills so they’re easier to swallow. The feature is that they’re extra small. The benefit is that they’re easy to swallow. You can even take it a step further and choose to describe the benefit of the benefit: “They never get stuck!” Include benefits or “benefits of benefits” in your supplement label design for powerful marketing messages.
According to multiple studies, people rely on emotions, rather than information, to make decisions. That is emotional responses to marketing actually influence a person’s decision to buy a product more than the actual content of its ads or marketing materials. (This is another reason why it makes more sense to focus on benefits rather than features.)
There are a couple of reasons why emotional marketing works. Humans are emotional beings and relate better to emotional brand messages. As a result, we also remember how brands, marketing, and ads make us feel better than we remember what the product actually is or does. We’re also more likely to share content which makes us feel something, which translates to more brand awareness and more sales.
At this point, you might be wondering how to add emotion to your supplement label design. Color, typography, and imagery can help you evoke an emotion (see above sections) but so can other marketing techniques. “Inspiring the impossible” is one of the best techniques to include in supplement label design in order to evoke emotion. The Red Bull Gives You Wings campaign is a great example of inspirational messaging that evokes a feeling – “I can do the impossible.”
9. Write for a third-grader
This is a copywriting trick that just about any brand could benefit from: Keep your language so simple that even a third-grader could understand. The technical term is plain English. It’s easy to assume that big words and complicated jargon could help your brand establish authority and demonstrate expertise, but the reality is big words and complex sentences will only confuse, frustrate, and offend your audience.
If you’re a supplement brand, for example, it’s safe to assume that most of your target audience doesn’t know many of the technical terms you would use to describe why your products work. So, in your supplement label design, skip the complicated jargon and get straight to the point.
If you do feel the need to explain more about how your products work, add a little booklet in your product box or send a description via email. Even via email or in the booklet, try to make these descriptions are simple as possible. Use small words, short sentences, few conjunctions, and a lot of transitions. Your audience will appreciate it.
10. Don’t go overboard
So far, we’ve talked a lot about creating a supplement label design that helps your brand stand out. While standing out is important, it’s also important not to go overboard on your design. You don’t want to include too much color, too many benefits, too much bold print, etc.
There are a couple of reasons why overdesigning is bad. First of all, too much talk diminishes the legitimacy of your product. If you add too many claims or benefits, consumers will start to wonder how many of them are actually true.
Secondly, too much design sends mixed brand messages. If you use all of the colors of the rainbow, for example, consumers won’t know what to feel.
And lastly, consumers don’t take the sum of benefits. Rather, they take the average. So, if one of your benefits is extremely powerful (let’s say a 10/10) and another one of your benefits is rather dull (a 2/10), consumers won’t rate your total benefits as a 12/10. Rather, they’ll rate you as a 6/10.
Bottom line? When it comes to supplement label design, less is often more.
11. Make it FDA compliant
This one is rather important. You must make sure your supplement labels are FDA compliant. The FDA has a long list of rules when it comes to supplement label design, including these five statements that must be included on your label:
The statement of identity (name of the dietary supplement)
The net quantity of contents statement (amount of the dietary supplement)
The nutrition labeling
The ingredient list
The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor
Please don’t mistake these five rules for the only rules. There are also rules regarding where to place each statement, font sizes, proper accepted wording, and more.
If you’re worried about facing penalties from the FDA, your best bet is to hire a supplement label designer or a supplement manufacturer that has also designed and produced successful labels. Professionals that work in the industry, especially supplement manufacturers, have experience with the FDA and know exactly what needs to go on your supplement label.
Last but not least is the question of your brand identity and unity. As a supplement brand, you may have many different kinds of products that appeal to slightly different target audiences. Maybe you focus on a wider variety of supplements like fitness supplements, beauty supplements, and brain health.
If so, you may be tempted to design each label differently to appeal to your various audiences. Don’t. It’s much more important for you to build brand awareness as a cohesive brand than to create supplement label designs for each of your target audiences. Instead, try to focus on what these different audiences might have in common and come up with one, unified idea about your audience. Not only will this help solidify your brand identity, but it will also lead to more sales per customer. At the end of the day, you want each member of your audience to buy multiple supplements from you, right?
That being said, you can modify the labels of different products slightly. The benefits you want to highlight for one product, for example, will likely be quite different than the benefits you want to highlight for another.
13. Work with a supplement manufacturer that also designs labels
In the competitive industry of dietary supplements, your supplement label design is extremely important. A great design can make your brand stand out from the rest. More importantly, the right design can help you appeal to your specific niche customer, ultimately leading to increased brand loyalty and sales. A poor design or a design that’s not FDA compliant, on the other hand, can mean serious trouble for your brand.
Generation Nutra has more than just experience designing labels for supplement brands. They also have an impressive track record of designing top-quality labels for some seriously successful companies.
Are you looking for a supplement manufacturer?
Here are some additional benefits of building your supplement brand with Generation Nutra:
Thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
Advice in terms of formulation.
Various packaging formats to choose from so you can customize your product.
A team of in-house graphic designers to help you design custom labels for your brand.
Advice and guidance to help you market and sell your product.
Are you interested in starting your own supplement company? Starting your own supplement company can be incredibly rewarding. The supplement industry is booming, and creating and selling your own brand can be extremely profitable.
That being said, it takes more than just good ideas and an interest in health, fitness, and nutrition to be successful in the supplement industry. You’ll have to choose a supplement manufacturer, create your products, choose your formats, choose your packaging, design your labels, market your products, and, finally, distribute them. And, you’ll have to be strategic every step of the way. Competition in the supplement industry is fierce.
Nevertheless, a little strategy and a lot of hard work and commitment can go a long way! If you stay committed to your brand, you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars every month with just a small investment.
Are you ready to start your own supplement company? In this article, you’ll learn how to start a supplement company in 12 easy steps from choosing a niche market and defining your brand to developing, selling, and distributing your products.
Interested in starting your own supplement company?
Before we discuss the steps to starting your own supplement company, we should first talk about whether or not starting your own supplement company is the right decision for you. Is it a good idea for you to start your own supplement company? There are few better ways to evaluate a decision than by weighing the pros and cons.
Pros
The supplement industry is booming. Demand is incredibly high, the supplement market is huge, and growth is on the horizon. According to GlobeNewswire, the global dietary supplements market size is projected to reach USD 230.73 billion by 2027, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.2% from 2020 to 2027.
Starting your own supplement company is rather cheap. It doesn’t cost much money to create a website for your supplement business, and it doesn’t cost much money to create supplements either. If you start your business online, you can start your own supplement company with as little as $5,000, although it will be a bit easier with $10,000. Still, compared to other business ventures, $10,000 is a very small investment.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You don’t have to create a new supplement formula to start your own company. Of course, you can create your own formulas, but you can also make money by selling simple single-ingredient supplements. All you really need is a clever brand and marketing strategy.
Starting your own supplement company can be fun, rewarding, and profitable! You get to be creative, you get to help people feel good, and you can make tens of thousands of dollars every month.
Cons
You will have to invest some money. $5,000 – $10,000 is not much compared to other business ventures, but it’s still $5,000 – $10,000.
You will likely work more than 40 hours per week in the beginning. There’s a lot of work that goes into starting any business, and starting a supplement business is no exception.
It may take a while before you see any return on your investment. As mentioned, it takes a lot of work to start your own company. It could take 6 months or longer to get the business up and running and make your first sale.
There are a lot of laws regarding manufacturing and selling supplements, and not all supplement manufacturers follow them. That’s why, if you want to start your own supplement company, it’s a good idea to get familiar with all of the laws yourself or to hire an attorney to do it for you.
Are you still interested in starting your own supplement company? Here’s how to do it in 12 easy steps!
1. Identify your target audience
The first step to starting a supplement company is identifying a target audience for your products.
Think of your target audience as your target customer. What kind of person would you like your product, your supplement labels, and your brand message to appeal to?
Let’s do a basic exercise. Imagine the kind of customer that would buy a supplement to improve their hair, skin, and nails. What other kinds of supplements might they buy? What kind of label design and brand messaging would appeal to this kind of customer?
Now imagine the kind of customer that would buy calcium supplements for bone health. What other kinds of supplements might this customer want to buy? What kind of label design and brand messaging would appeal to this kind of customer?
Chances are high that you imagined two totally different kinds of customers along with different labels, bottles, and brand messaging. Creating a brand that appeals to both customers would be quite difficult. In all likelihood, if you tried to appeal to both customers, your brand would be confusing and incohesive, or, worse yet, vague and generic.
The good news is, you don’t have to create a brand that appeals to both customers! The supplement industry is huge. There are plenty of niche audiences you can target and plenty of customers within each niche audience. The first key to creating a successful supplement company is choosing just one niche.
2. Evaluate your competition
Once you identify your target audience, the next step to starting a supplement company is evaluating the competition. What other brands are targeting the same niche customers as you are, and what are they doing to attract and convert customers within that niche?
There are a couple of reasons why it’s a good idea to evaluate your supplement brand’s competition. First and foremost, evaluating your competition is one of the best ways to get ideas for your own supplement business.
That being said, you shouldn’t simply copy your competition’s business model. Once you have a good idea of what they do and how they do things, you’ll want to look for ways that you can distinguish your company and your brand from theirs. What can you do differently than they do? Better yet, what can you do better?
One of the best ways to evaluate your competition and find your competitive edge is by identifying their strengths and weaknesses. If you can exceed their strengths and improve upon their weaknesses, you’ll have a strong competitive advantage.
Here are some things you’ll want to pay attention when evaluating your competition:
Their products. What kind of products are they selling?
Their marketing. What strategies do they use to attract and convert clients?
Their main selling-points. How do they distinguish themselves from the competition?
Their end-to-end customer experience. What kind of experience do they provide for their customers?
Interested in starting your own supplement company?
Once you identify your target audience and have a good idea of how you plan to distinguish yourself from your competition, it’s time to put your thinking cap on! The next step to starting a supplement company is brainstorming about your brand.
Developing a brand for your supplement company can be tricky. There should be more to your brand than a name, a logo, some nice colors, and fonts. Your brand should have a personality and a story that your target audience can relate to and appreciate. Likewise, your customers should feel and recognize your brand’s story and personality each and every time they interact with your brand.
There’s no one way to develop your brand, but, in general, it’s a good idea to start with your positioning statement (what do you do and what differentiates you from your competition). Once you define your positioning statement, you can use it as a reference point to work on all other aspects of your brand.
You can use the template below from Shopify to create a positioning statement for your brand:
We offer [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [TARGET AUDIENCE] to [*VALUE PROPOSITION]. Unlike [THE COMPETITION], we [UNIQUE SELLING POINT].
Your value proposition is simply the value you intend to deliver to your audience.
Here’s an example: “We offer all kinds of recovery supplementsfor fitness freaks so they can recover faster, spend more time at the gym, and meet their fitness goals faster than ever before. Unlike other recovery supplements, you can feel the effects of our supplements almost immediately.”
After you define your positioning statement, you can get to work defining and developing other aspects of your brand.
Features, benefits, and points of sales – What are some of your brand’s most distinguishing features benefits and selling-points? Keep your unique selling point in mind.
Brand personality and voice – If your brand were a person, how would you describe its personality? What kind of voice will your brand use to communicate with the world? Think about your target audience and what they would find appealing.
Name your brand – Choose a name that’s both unique and easy to remember. Make sure the domain is available. You’ll want to choose a name that you can turn into a .com.
Create a tagline – Your tagline is a short memorable description that clearly communicates what your brand does and how. Building on the example above, an appropriate tagline might be something like “Get back to the gym”.
Logo and design – When it comes to your logo, design, and label designs, you might want to consider hiring a professional designer.
4. Create a basic marketing plan
After brainstorming about your brand, you’ll want to come up with a basic marketing and sales plan for your supplement company. How do you plan to attract and convert customers? You’ll need marketing to attract customers and move them along the buyer’s journey. Once they’re ready to buy, you’ll need some sales tactics to get them to make a purchase.
Common marketing strategies for supplement companies:
Social Networks and Viral Marketing –Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. One effective way to promote your products on social media is by working with influencers or people with large social media followings.
Paid Media Advertising – Paid media advertising involves promoting your content through sponsored social media posts, display ads, paid search results, video ads, pop-ups, and other promoted multimedia. If someone searches for supplements, targeting them with ads for your supplements could be a great way to make some sales.
Content Marketing – Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. If your supplements are all about recovery (to follow the example used earlier), you might consider writing a lot of content about the importance of allowing the body to recover before returning to the gym.
Email Marketing – Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message to a target audience via email. It seems simple but email marketing is extremely effective these days. If you’d like to try email marketing for your supplement company, you’ll have to start collecting emails somehow from potential customers.
Conversational Marketing – Conversational Marketing is a method of engaging with website visitors through conversation to move them through the buyer’s journey and turn them into paying customers. Any time you see a chat box pop up on a website, the company is employing conversational marketing.
Earned Media/PR – Earned media (or free media) refers to publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid media advertising. If you do something good for the community and are featured in the local paper, for example, the feature article is an example of earned media. Earned media and PR can be a great way to build brand awareness.
Most supplement companies use a mix of many of the marketing strategies listed above. When you develop your marketing strategy, don’t forget to check out what your competition is doing. What are their strengths and weaknesses when marketing to their customers? Once you know their strengths and weaknesses, you can come up with a plan to do it better.
5. Choose a supplement manufacturer
Once you decide on a target audience, evaluate your competition, define your brand, and come up with a basic marketing strategy, it’s time to choose a supplement manufacturer. Choosing a supplement manufacturer is one of the most important steps to starting your own supplement company.
Your supplement manufacturer will be like your business partner, with you every step of the way to help you grow and develop your brand. So, choosing the right manufacturer could be the difference between becoming a successful supplement company and throwing in the towel early.
The best supplement manufacturers will…
Use quality raw materials and ensure quality products.
Offer thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
Offer advice in terms of formulation.
Offer multiple supplement formats and help you choose the right one for your market.
If you choose the right supplement manufacturer, the next few steps will be easy! Your supplement manufacturer will help you create and develop your formulas, decide on appropriate formats, decide on supplement packaging, and design your label. Some will even help your market and sell your product! First on the list is creating and developing your formulas.
First, you’ll have to decide the type of supplement(s) you want to create. If you’ve been researching your target audience, evaluating your competition, and developing your brand, you probably already have a good idea of the kinds of supplements you want to create. Some examples include beauty supplements, sports and fitness supplements, supplements for weight management, supplements for health and wellness, and supplements for anti-aging.
Next, you have to decide what you want each of your supplements to do. If you’ve decided to create beauty supplements, for example, you’ll have to decide exactly what kind of beauty supplements you want to create. Will you make supplements for better hair? If so, what will they do for hair? Will they make hair grow faster? Will they make hair grow thicker? You can ask these kinds of questions for each category of supplements.
Of course, you’ll also have to decide on any specifications, depending on your target market. For example, will your products be all-natural? Will they be organic? Will you sell any kosher options? What kinds of specifications might your target audience want to see?
Once you decide what kind of products you want to make, you can get to work on the fun part: choosing ingredients. Let’s stick to the hair example. Vitamins A and B cause hair growth. Vitamin C is used to make collagen which can protect hair from damage and prevent hair from aging. Vitamins D and E might help reverse hair loss. And the list goes on and on. Work together with your supplement manufacturer to decide what ingredients you want to include in your supplements and what ratios you want to include them in.
7. Decide on appropriate formats
The next step to starting your own supplement company is choosing appropriate formats for your supplements. Dietary supplements come in a variety of forms, including tablets, capsules, gummies, softgels, powders, liquids, and even energy bars.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when deciding on appropriate formats for your supplements. Here are some questions you’ll want to ask yourself:
“What are the most common supplement formats for the type of supplement I want to create?”
“What is my competition doing?”
“What supplement formats would my target market prefer?”
“What are the pros and cons of each supplement format?”
“Can I use supplement formats to gain a competitive edge over my competition somehow?”
Below, you’ll find basic descriptions of the most common supplement formats. You can use them to brainstorm supplement formats for your brand.
Tablets – Tablets are the most common formats of pills. They’re made by compressing one or more powdered ingredients together to form a hard, solid, smooth-coated pill that breaks down in the digestive tract.
Capsules – Capsules are supplements in powder form that are enclosed in an outer shell. The shell is then broken down in the digestive tract and the supplement is absorbed into the bloodstream.
Softgels – Softgels consist of a gelatin-based shell surrounding a liquid filling and, thus, are popular formats for liquid or oil-based supplements. Like capsules, the shell is broken down in the digestive tract, leaving the supplement to be directly absorbed into the bloodstream.
Gummies – Gummy supplements are more popular than ever and it’s easy to see why. Gummies are arguably the tastiest of all supplement formats. They’re commonly made from gelatin, corn starch, water, sugar, and added colorings.
Liquids – Liquids are also gaining popularity as a popular choice for kids and senior citizens who have trouble swallowing bulky tablets, capsules, and softgels.
Powders – Powder supplements consist of supplements in powder form along with sweeteners and flavorers to make the supplement taste good when mixed with liquid.
As previously mentioned, the right supplement manufacturer will help you choose appropriate formats for your supplements.
8. Decide on packaging
Supplement packaging is also something you’ll have to decide on when starting your own supplement company, and choosing the right packaging is just as important as choosing the right supplement formats.
When deciding on packaging, here are some key things to consider:
The ingredients of your supplements. Some ingredients perish easily due to air, light, different temperature, and need specific packaging.
The supplement format you’re trying to package. Gummy vitamins, for example, are almost exclusively packaged in clear bottles and jars to display the colorful gummies inside.
The preferences of your target market. Plastic is common and popular but may not appeal to a younger demographic that’s trying to reduce plastic waste for environmental reasons.
The lifestyle of your target market. Moms and dads need their supplements to be in child-proof packages, and seniors need their packages to be easy to read and easy to open.
The cost of the packaging. Customized and non-standard packaging is appealing to make your products stand out from the rest, but standard packaging is much more affordable.
9. Design your label
In the competitive industry of dietary supplements, supplement label design is extremely important. A great design can make your brand stand out from the rest and, more importantly, the right design can help you appeal to your specific niche customer, ultimately leading to increased brand loyalty and sales.
Some supplement manufacturers have experience with label design and will help you design labels and other aspects of your brand, including your logo, colors, and fonts. You can also hire your own label designer, but if you do, you’ll want to make sure the designer has experience with supplement labels. Your designer should be familiar with FDA and GMP regulations so your supplement facts and product label are compliant.
Interested in starting your own supplement company?
Once you’ve finished creating and formulating your products, choosing formats, choosing supplement packaging, and designing your labels, it’s time to consider how you want to distribute your products in order to sell them to your customers. Do you want to sell directly to your customers? Do you want to sell them to wholesale distributors? Will you let other retailers sell your products? A good idea might be to team up with gyms and weight loss clinics, asking them to put your products on their shelves for a percentage of the profit.
A clever distribution plan for your supplement business is essential to making the most bang for your buck. Here are some key points to consider when creating a distribution plan for your supplement business:
Where your target customers like to buy
Where your competition is selling
How your distribution plan might affect your brand image
Your distribution channel options
The effects these channels will have on your sales volumes, costs, and profit margins
Whatever distribution channel you choose, keep in mind that efficiency is extremely important. These days, customers demand quick delivery times, so it’s imperative for you to reach your target customers in a timely manner.
Some supplement manufacturers will help you with storage, kitting, assembly, shipping, and distribution of your supplements. The best supplement manufacturers will also help you maintain and manage healthy inventory levels, so you never run out of stock.
11. Refine your marketing/sales plan
Once you create a distribution plan, you’re almost ready to start selling! There’s just one final, very important step remaining. Remember the basic marketing plan you came up with in step 4? It’s time to revisit and refine your basic marketing plan.
If you’ve decided to use content marketing to your advantage, for example, you’ll have to decide what you’re going to write and how you’re going to write it. Will you write the content yourself? Will you hire a team to write for you? Will you outsource the work? It’s time to work out all of the details of the content marketing plan for your supplement company.
The same is true for all other kinds of marketing. If you’d like to try email marketing for your supplement company (a very wise decision), you’re going to have to choose what platform you’re going to use. Will it be mailchimp, aweber, sendinblue, constant contact, or one of the other email marketing service platforms on the market? Of course, you’ll also have to come up with a plan for collecting emails and a strategy for using email marketing to increase your sales.
The point is, when it comes to marketing and selling your product, there are quite a few important details to work out, and now is the time to do it.
12. Start selling!
Once you’ve completed steps 1 through 11, it’s finally time to start selling your product! Here are some helpful tips and tricks for selling your supplements:
Collect as many reviews as possible!!! According to Spiegel Research Centre, products with reviews are 270% more likely to be bought than products without (2017). Additionally, Testimonial Engine found that 72% of consumers will wait until they’ve read reviews before taking action on a purchase.
Focus on your unique selling point. Your unique selling point (USP) is what differentiates you from the competition. Make sure you sell using your USP so that customers aren’t tempted to look elsewhere for cheaper alternatives to your products.
Play with your pricing and discounts. Offering discounts on supplement purchases is a way to entice customers to make a purchase. Once they try your product and are pleased with the result (and, of course, the overall experience with your brand!), they’ll be more likely to buy from you in the future, discounted or not.
Consider providing free samples. There are two reasons why giving out free supplement samples is a good idea. 1) The need to reciprocate is a very strong, psychological instinct. If you do something for your customers, they’ll feel a surprisingly strong obligation to do something for you. 2) If you frame your samples as free gifts, they’ll feel appreciate of your brand and could potentially become loyal brand ambassadors for your supplement company.
Optimize your Amazon account. Building your brand on Amazon and optimizing your Amazon account is one of the best ways to increase your sales. If you’re unfamiliar with Amazon marketing, it’s a good idea to choose a supplement manufacturer with experience building a brand on Amazon. You don’t want to miss out on Amazon sales.
Choosing a supplement manufacturer is one of the most important steps to building and developing a supplement brand. If you’re interested in starting your own supplement company, use these 10 easy steps to help you choose the right supplement manufacturer for you.
Are you interested in starting your own supplement brand? One of the most important steps to starting your own supplement brand is choosing a supplement manufacturer.
In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of choosing the right supplement manufacturer and we’ll present some helpful information and advice to make sure you’re choosing the right manufacturer for your new brand.
Are you ready to learn how to choose the right supplement manufacturer for your new supplement brand? Here’s everything you need to know.
The importance of choosing the right supplement manufacturer
The supplement industry is booming. Demand is incredibly high, the market is huge, and growth is on the horizon. According to GlobeNewswire, the global dietary supplements market size is projected to reach USD 230.73 billion by 2027, registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.2% from 2020 to 2027.
But, that doesn’t mean that competition isn’t steep. The dietary supplements market represents a highly competitive landscape. Key market players like Amway, Arkopharma Laboratoires Pharmaceutiques, Abbott Laboratories, and Archer Daniels Midlan dominate the market space and have been implementing various strategic initiatives to stay on top.
With such a competitive market, it’s crucial to make sure your products stand out from the rest. Here’s where choosing the right supplement manufacturer comes into play.
The best supplement manufacturers will do more for you than simply produce the recipes you ask them to. The best supplement manufacturers will…
Use quality raw materials and ensure quality products.
Offer thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
Offer advice in terms of formulation.
Offer multiple supplement formats and help you choose the right one for your market.
Have a team of in-house graphic designers to help you design custom labels for your brand.
Offer advice and guidance to help you market and sell your product.
And more!
Essentially, your supplement manufacturer will be like your business partner, with you every step of the way to help you grow and develop your brand. Choosing the right manufacturer could be the difference between becoming a successful supplement company and throwing in the towel early.
How to Choose a Supplement Manufacturer
In-house production
The first step to choosing a supplement manufacturer is making sure they have their own lab and manufacturing facility where they produce their supplements.
Many of the largest contract manufacturing companies in the USA outsource their manufacturing to other labs and act as the middle-man between you and actual supplement manufacturers. While there’s no real issue with having a middle-man, at the end of the day, you’ll have less control over your products and longer lead times. You’ll also likely have to wait longer for an answer to your most pressing questions as your agent communicates with your manufacturer on your behalf.
Remember, your supplement manufacturer is like your business partner. It’s much easier to deal directly with your partner than to constantly contact their secretary.
Credibility & Professionalism
The next step to choosing a supplement manufacturer is checking their credentials. There are three certifications that you should absolutely make sure your manufacturer has:
FDA Registered Facility – All supplement manufacturers are required, by law, to register their facility with the FDA. Once registered, the FDA regulates and certifies both finished dietary supplement products and dietary ingredients, making sure they’re safe for the marketplace.
GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) – GMP is a system set in place to ensure that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards. If a manufacturer possesses a GMP certification, it means that they follow the GMP guidelines that cover all aspects of production including (but not limited to) raw materials, premises, equipment, and staff training.
UL Certified – UL accredited third-party certification provides assurance that a certified product, material, component, or service complies with the technical requirements of the referenced standard. If a manufacturer is UL certified, it means they’re subject to application and information submission, product evaluation, product testing in lab, manufacturing facility inspection, product confirmation, and product sampling, test results review and acceptance, contract signed and products listed and annual plant inspection and retesting.
Other certifications worth looking into are more specific to your niche market. Such certifications include:
Organic Certified – Certified organic products are produced without any genetic engineering or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Kosher Certified – The Kosher certification process involves sending a mashgiach to the production facility to ensure that the product complies with halacha (Jewish law). The mashgiach supervises both the ingredients and the production process.
Halal Certified – IFANCA Halal certification has religious advisors/consultants to advise in matters related to proper procedures and ingredient approval for a religious point of view.
Quality of Raw Materials
The quality of the raw materials will, for obvious reasons, greatly affect the quality of your finished product. The best manufacturers understand the importance of using high-quality raw materials and will go to great lengths to ensure that their raw materials are of great quality.
While certain certifications like the GMP Certification and the UL Certification are good indicators that a manufacturer uses high-quality materials, you should also try to find out information about the manufacturer’s suppliers. How do they choose their suppliers? Do they have a thorough application procedure in place before agreeing to work with new suppliers? They most certainly should!
Manufacturing & Equipment Capabilities
Once you have a better sense of the supplement manufacturer’s credentials and the quality of their products, it’s a good idea to look into their manufacturing and equipment capabilities.
For starters, you may want to check the size of the facility and how many products they can produce in a day. A big facility with fast production rates means shorter lead times and less time waiting for your products. In general, a fast-producing facility should be able to produce at least:
It’s also a good idea to make sure the facility has specific equipment to ensure that your products are safe for the marketplace. Such machinery includes:
De-dusting machinery to help maintain a clean production space
Metal detection equipment to ensure no metal shavings from equipment has entered the product
Creation & Formulation Capabilities
The next step to choosing a supplement manufacturer is researching their creation and formulation capabilities. You want to make sure that the supplement manufacturer you choose can create and formulate a wide variety of products.
There are a couple of key areas you can research to determine their creation and formulation capabilities:
Types of raw materials and ingredients available. Below, is a list of the most popular types of ingredients for dietary supplements. Whatever supplement manufacturer you choose should have all 12 types of ingredients available.
Total number of raw materials and ingredients available. For each type of ingredient listed above, there are numerous subtypes. There are 13 types of vitamins, 16 essential minerals, 5 types of antioxidants, and so on. Ultimately, your supplement manufacturer should have thousands of raw materials in stock to ensure that you can create unique, custom formulas for your customers.
Types of supplement formats. When choosing a supplement manufacturer, you should also check to see what kind of supplement formats they can create. In today’s market, the most popular (and therefore essential) supplement formats include:
Flavors and colors. It’s no secret that offering flavorful products is a great way to give your brand a competitive edge in the supplement industry, but have you ever considered coloring your products? Coloring your supplements can be a great way to create a unique and unified brand image. When choosing a supplement manufacturer, make sure you ask what kind of flavor and color options they provide.
Advice for formulas and formulation.This last point is perhaps the most important. The best supplement manufacturers will not only supply all of the ingredients and equipment to make your vision a reality but will also provide you with advice and guidance regarding your formulation. They should be knowledgeable about industry trends with new ingredients and offer you advice to enhance the effectiveness of your product and to reach a larger demographic of future customers.
Stock Products Available
Another important point to research when choosing a supplement manufacturer is whether or not they offer stock products. Stock products are supplements that are formulated and produced by your manufacturer that you can label and sell as your own products. There are two main reasons you should investigate a supplement manufacturer’s stock options:
You can check out their stock products to get a better sense of their manufacturing specialties and capabilities.
You may consider using one or more of their stock products for your brand. Stock products can save you time, money, and energy, allow you to offer lower costs with higher margins, and provide you with an easy way to expand your product range.
Packaging & Labeling Capabilities
In the competitive industry of dietary supplements, supplement packaging and supplement label design are extremely important. A great design can make your brand stand out from the rest and, more importantly, the right design can help you appeal to your specific niche customer, ultimately leading to increased brand loyalty and sales.
When choosing a supplement manufacturer, it’s a good idea to research their packaging and labeling capabilities. While not all supplement manufacturers offer these services, the best ones do, and choosing a supplement manufacturer with a strong design portfolio could be the difference between success and failure.
Lead Times
Another important factor to consider when choosing a supplement manufacturer is how long it will take them to produce your products. Ideally, you want to choose a manufacturer who can produce your products as quickly as possible so you can send them to market. That being said, if a manufacturer promises exceptionally short lead times, it could be an indication that they may be cutting some corners and, ultimately, producing low-quality products.
The standard lead time for supplement manufacturers is somewhere between four and eight weeks, depending on raw materials required, necessary testing, type of product, packaging choices, etc. When choosing a supplement manufacturer, ask for an estimated timeline rather than an exact number, and pay attention to transparency. When it comes to lead times, transparency is much more important than speed.
Marketing Services
Once you create, design, and produce your product, it will be time to market your brand. It’s a good idea to research and consider the marketing services your supplement manufacturer can provide. While many supplement manufacturers don’t offer any kind of marketing services or advice, the best ones do, and it’s always great to receive advice and guidance from professionals who are familiar with the industry and industry trends.
Does your supplement manufacturer offer help with Amazon marketing? Building your brand on Amazon is one of the best ways to increase brand awareness and sales. Be sure to ask your supplement manufacturer about Amazon marketing.
Customer Service
Of all the points mentioned above, customer service is perhaps the most important of all. As mentioned earlier, your supplement manufacturer should be like your business partner, working with you to grow and develop your brand for years to come. You should feel confident that they’ll not only answer the phone when you call but also that they’re experienced professionals with your brand’s best interest in mind.
Choosing a supplement manufacturer is one of the most important steps to building and developing a supplement brand. If you’re interested in starting your own supplement company, use these 10 easy steps to help you choose the right supplement manufacturer for you.
According to the National Institutes of Health, around 23.5 million Americans, that’s more than 7% of the population, endure autoimmune diseases. With a growing number of people experiencing immune health issues, we are witnessing a steep incline in consumers’ attention to supplements. Not only is this good for the general public’s health and well-being, this is even better for business!
Your white label supplement manufacturing service provider is here with the inside scoop.
AND THE SURVEY SAYS…
Thanks to Sebastian Krawiec of Nutritional Outlook, we know that according to The Council for Responsible Nutrition’s latest Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements, immune health is one of the top reasons why consumers said they take supplements, in addition to other reasons such as healthy aging, energy, filling nutrient gaps, and overall wellness. The survey was conducted on 2,000+ American adults in 2019, with 27% of those who use dietary supplements citing immune health as a reason they take supplements.
REGIONAL DEMAND
Market numbers reflect the rise in consumer awareness. Market researcher IRI found that dollar sales in the immune health supplement category grew 12% in 2019 over the previous 12 months. Vice President and General Manager of ProActive Health spoke on another consumer survey conducted by Kerry International, “we asked consumers to choose five options from a list of 13 health areas and rank them in order of importance. Nearly two-thirds (63%) chose immune system support, ahead of healthy bones and joints, good digestive health, energy levels, and heart health support.” Demand for immune support supplements is especially high in Asia—particularly in China, where 50% of survey respondents said they had an immune health product in the previous six months, and 29% reported they would consider doing so in the future.
PERFORMANCE PROOF
Some of the most successful herbs on the market today are popular ingredients used in immune health products, which points to the immune health category’s overall prominence. The American Botanical Council reported in its annual Herb Market Report in September 2019 that the “bestselling herbs in the U.S. mainstream multioutlet channel in 2018 were horehound and echinacea. Total 2018 sales of horehound, the #1 bestselling herb in the U.S. mainstream multioutlet channel per the HerbalGram, hit nearly $147 million that year. Echinacea, meanwhile, ranked as the #2 bestselling mainstream herb, growing to $110 million in sales in 2018.”
Most impressively, however, is the growth elderberry experienced in 2018. This ingredient grew 138.4% in sales to nearly $51 million in the mainstream channel, and grew 93.9% to $25 million in the natural channel, making elderberry the fourth highest-selling herb in the mainstream channel and third in the natural channel. Its growth continued in 2019, climbing to $113 in total sales by October.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Timing is everything. Elderberry, which has a long history of traditional use, surged in popularity after an intense 2018 flu season. A season so intense that there was a shortage of over-the-counter flu medicines, prompting natural remedies to take the lead. Consumers in turn became interested in the proactive flu-fighting powers of elderberry. Melanie Bush, director of berry science for Artemis International, shares “studies have indicated that European black elderberry can effectively boost the body’s natural immune response by way of cytokine stimulation to ‘ready the soldiers’ for fighting off pathogens.”
With all kinds of sickness floating around, consumers are wide-eyed. Current circumstances have people looking into precautions now more than ever. They are specifically interested in supplements to help prevent the contraction of everything from the common cold to the frightful flu.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS… AND SO DOES COMPETITION
With immune supplement demand and sales soaring, your private label business can skyrocket! Keep in mind there are other immune health brands and products responding to this trending demand. That means you have to stay ahead of the curve. Quilter advises “the best way to stand out is to use scientifically substantiated, well-recognized ingredients that can complement and enhance your brand.” This is the time to change gears and choose a supplement manufacturing service provider that knows what you are up against. Makers Nutrition is no stranger to competition, and our team is equipped with the expertise you need to succeed. Call us today at 1-844-231-7271 and ask our specialists about which ingredients your private label immune support supplements should include. That is, of course, if you want to knock out competition.
There are a few boxes that a supplement manufacturer needs to tick. High quality is essential as you need a wide choice of supplements that are going to be popular and reliable. They should also offer a wide array of services such as labeling and correct storage. Here we take a look at everything that you should expect from a great supplement manufacturer.
Supplement Manufacturing
People take supplements in a wide variety of different ways. A supplement manufacturer should be able to offer a good selection and here we look at the options you should be given.
Tablet Manufacturing
A lot of people see taking tablets as their preferred method of taking supplements. They are often used when the initial taste on the tongue isn’t that unpleasant. This can be done by having them as a raw tablet but they can also be coated, glazed, capped or lamented. There are also sublingual tablets that diffuse under the tongue.
As well as the type of tablet, you can also get them in a great range of color, sizes and shapes to ensure that the customer gets exactly what they want. Text can also be added to tablets for a wide variety of different reasons.
Capsules Manufacturing
Capsules are also one of the most popular ways of taking supplements. They should be available in different shapes and sizes depending on the type of supplement and the customer’s needs. Capsules are required when the content of the supplement are unpleasant to taste and the supplement can instead be released in the stomach.
That capsules casing can be seen in a wide variety of different medicines and supplements as it’s very popular. There are also different ways it can be presented too with blister packs being very popular but also bottles.
Powder Manufacturing
Capsules and tablets are a good way of disguising a bad flavor but with powers, you need to make sure that they taste good. This can be done via natural or artificial flavoring. There are plenty of people who prefer taking tasty powdered supplements as these are great for the likes of smoothies or adding to a drink of exercising.
Gummy Manufacturing
Gummy vitamins are perfect for children that may resist taking supplements via the usual methods. They can also be good for adults that struggle to take tablets. They can be made with a wide variety of different flavors as well as being manufactured with different shapes and colors. A good supplement manufacturer can make gummy vitamins look very appealing.
Softgel Manufacturing
Not everyone can swallow tablets and that can be a problem for those wanting to take supplements. To counter this, manufacturers should be able to make soft gel tablets which are much easier to take. They have gained popularity with consumers who can take oil, powder and vitamins in a much easier way.
Liquid Capsule Manufacturing
Similar to soft gel, liquid capsules can hold liquids and a very easy to swallow. This can be great for absorption and the supplement can get to work more quickly than with other forms we’ve seen here. Cutting edge technology is required to produce a product that is brilliant for many consumers.
Services
As well as being able to produce the exact product you want, there are also plenty of other aspects that can make a high-quality supplement manufacturer. Here we look at what else you should be looking for.
Customer Service
You need to know that your supplement manufacturer is going to be there should you have any queries or issues. Sometimes a unique solution may be required and you want to know how they can make that happen and what services they can offer.
Good partnerships are important for any business. You don’t want to be waiting days for a query to be answered as that could slow down the whole process. They should be able to have all the answers should you encounter a problem.
Finding the right flavor
Without flavor, some supplements would be very unpopular. A top-class manufacturer will be able to work with you to get the results that you want. It’s important to know exactly which types of flavor profiles work with different types of supplements.
This all needs to be done without compromising the effectiveness of the supplement. Sometimes flavors, tablet style and/or supplement ingredients aren’t compatible. A high-quality supplement manufacturer will be able to explain your options.
Compliance & Labeling
You can have the best product in the world but how it’s branded can make or break it. Not only do you want it to look but also ensure that it’s compliant with all regulations while displaying everything that is required by law.
A great label can tick all of these boxes while also having a design that can stand out from the crowd. A supplement manufacturer should be able to know the law and be able to back up any claims made on the packaging with solid facts.
Once the labeling has been completed, you need to be able to print it. This needs to have the level of printing that you’d expect. A manufacturer needs to give you exactly what you’re looking for with the level of volume that you need. Any loss of quality in the printing of labels can have a negative effect on the brand and the reputation of your business.
Product management
A supplement manufacturer should also be able to help expand your range and ensure that your supplements are of the highest quality.
Stock formula
Having stock formula available can help a company expand on its range of products and give more options to the customers that they’re serving. This can save a lot of money while still being able to have your private labels affixed to them.
Storage
Any storage of supplements needs to be completed in the right environment where they won’t degrade over time. The storage facility should be able to keep those supplements in perfect conditions while organizing them in such a way that makes them easy to obtain when required.
Dynamic ordering
You’ll want your supplement manufacturer to be able to fulfill all of your order requirements. They may be able to help with complicated logistics and also being able to order stock. If all of this can be done in a simple way, it can increase the efficiency of your business.
Packaging
Finally, you want to be able to get your product to your customers. Getting the right packaging will help to put the final touches to your supplements. This includes the bottled, bags or the packets that your supplements are going to be delivered in.
This can be more complicated than it seems such as ensuring the right number of pills does into a bottle or making soft gel tablets have enough protection. Your supplement manufacturer should be able to give you great advice on which solutions are going to be the best for you.
The packaging of the product is not only about getting the right quantities and ensuring standards are met but also about selling your brand. Having a bespoke solution will allow you to get exactly what you need and match your expectations. With the right solutions, you’re going to be able to get the final product that you need.
