If you’re a food and beverage maker, this is an exciting time.

Because of the incredible rise of mobile technology (consumers spend over 15 hours a week researching on their phones), there are incredible opportunities to gain new consumers and retain your existing ones. But there are also increased risks of losing consumers to competing brands.

How can your food and beverage brand thrive in this changing marketplace?

Recognize that your consumers are always connected through mobile

In our constantly connected world, mobile devices have become king. This provides immense opportunities for food and beverage makers.

Grocery stores have one of the highest highest mobile usage levels of any industry, with 30-35% of food and beverage product page views being accessed from a mobile device. This means you always have an opportunity to reach new consumers, and engage with them quickly.

Remember, consumers are researching your brand while moving

Whether it’s an existing or prospective consumer, they’re most likely researching nutrition and ingredient information, recipes and grocery lists on the go. In many cases, this means standing in the aisle deciding between your brand and a competitor—and 93% of consumers that research on a mobile phone go on to make a purchase!

These consumers are using many channels to make a purchasing decision, including searching the web, blogs, social media, in-store messaging or word-of-mouth.

But how can your business be ready for these fast-moving consumers?

Create a seamless experience across mobile devices

Make sure your branding and content are optimized for any mobile scenario—including having fast load times, simple website navigation and displaying the most relevant content display first.

You may even want to consider mobile-first development, which prioritizes needs and considerations of mobile consumers above all.

Embrace and encourage consumer generated content (CGC)

As discussed in our last blog, when it comes to mobile, food research doesn’t normally begin with your mobile site or app—it usually starts with search. The fresh, authentic, keyword-rich content contained in CGC like reviews has been proven to positively impact SEO, improve your search rankings and drive more traffic to your site.

By encouraging consumers to contribute CGC about your products, and by publicly interacting with them on social media channels (including quickly responding to their questions and comments), you can also increase their loyalty and gain new consumers.

Start the conversation now

As discussed above (and in our previous posts, here and here), there are incredible opportunities and challenges for food and beverage brands—whether you’re new or established.

These opportunities are being driven by dramatically increased food and beverage choices, as well as the unstoppable growth of mobile devices and their CGC-contributing users. Brands that adapt to and engage with these excited but fickle foodies have the greatest chance for success.

This blog post is the last in a three-part series on the Food and Beverage Industry. To learn more, download our latest whitepaper: The info-hungry consumer: 3 trends transforming the online food and beverage landscape