How to Create a Blog to Inspire Good Health

Research shows that there is an increasing global trend toward healthier eating. Younger consumers are willing to pay more for healthier products. According to a recent global survey conducted by Nielsen, an American global information and measurement company, Consumers seek fresh, natural and minimally processed foods. They value products with beneficial ingredients that help fight disease as well as products that promote good health.

The Nielsen Global & Wellness Survey, which polled 30,000 online respondents in 60 countries, reveals that there is a gap between the consumer’s desire to achieve better health and its willingness to pay a premium for healthier foods. As noted in the survey, the younger generations are more inclined to pay more for healthier products. Thus, retailers have a tremendous opportunity to bridge this gap by creating content such as a blog that will inspire good health.

As consumers strive to achieve better health, their purchasing decisions are greatly influenced by the health attributes of foods. For instance, American consumers are becoming increasingly aware or conscious of how their actions are affecting their health and wellness. The Harris Poll, compiled by Harris Interactive, concludes that three-quarters of U.S. act on that awareness, taking into account the value of fresh foods (89%), fiber and whole grains (81 each) when shopping.

Hence, now is the right time for health food stores to create blogs in order to distribute relevant, valuable, consistent and compelling content that informs, engages, and inspires its targeted audience. The benefits of creating a successful business blog do not only include more exposure for an organization, but it could also potentially increase an organization’s sales and profits.

Health food stores like Whole Foods are already taking advantage of the benefits of blogging as it attempts to inspire consumers to attain better health and healthier eating by sharing and updating valuable and relevant posts. Other health food stores such as Safeway, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe’s, etc. should invest their resources and time in creating blogs.

Most of the health food stores including the ones aforementioned only post recipes on its site; however, this method is no longer efficient nor effective because consumers expect more. These health food stores pride themselves on providing an array of organic or natural products from reliable suppliers such as local farmers. Thus, it should also be blogging about these things given that environmental and socioeconomic concerns also influence the consumer’s purchasing decisions.

Creating a successful blog is no easy task, nevertheless, if successful you can gain a loyal audience and convert that traffic into leads. Below are 5 tips for creating a killer blog for a health food store:

1.  Create and tell a compelling story that will inspire consumers to take actions to change their lifestyles to better themselves

• Not every blog has to be about the products and services the store offers
• Inspire the consumers to be a well-rounded person

2. Keep blogs up to date and relevant to the targeted audience.

• Post blogs on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest)
• Include high-quality pictures and high-quality videos

3. Weekly/Monthly newsletter via email will further promote the products and services offered.

• Include sales and promotions information within the newsletter
• Include cooking class sections and new recipes
• Seasonal or Holiday inspired recipes and decoration ideas

4. Keep the audience involved.

• Encourage the audience to use the comment and reply functions
• Dedicate a post every month to an inspiring reader who was willing to take actions towards self-improvement
• Encourage the audience to share the blog on their social media

5. Have an expert/guest speaker to promote the organization’s products and services to establish credibility.

• Also, have a main blogger who can develop meaningful relationships with the audience as well as one that the audience can relate to and trust

Health food stores should take advantage of consumers’ shopping trends by acting now through establishing blogs with meaning content for the growing segment of consumers who aspire to better health. This would be a great opportunity for them to inform consumers of the value of understanding good nutrition and good health. There are many sites that provide a step by step guide and helpful tips to starting a blog so getting started is easy.

Sky Brilliandt – Content Creator

Created in partnership with Furman University.