More and more people who are trying to quit smoking are finding that it is not a one-size-fits-all sort of endeavor. In the last decade or so, we have seen an explosion of smoking cessation tools hit the market. Consumers can now find everything from prescription pills and nasal sprays, to e-cigarettes and vapes.
One of the more innovative ideas in the tobacco cessation market has been the influx of companies creating tobacco free dip. Smokeless tobacco, or dip, has been around to over a century now. While people all over the country use it, it is primarily steeped in Southern tradition, and people who use it are very partial to their brand.
Creating Tobacco Free Dip That Satisfies
Dip is about the ritual, the feel, and the flavor, and quitting your chew is not just about quitting the nicotine. The processing of tobacco for dip, however, causes a greater number of carcinogens to be present in the product, which is why it is known to cause oral cancers, throat cancers and problems with the digestive system.
The challenge, then, is coming up with a product that looks, smells, feels, and tastes like the chewing tobacco people love, without the stuff people don’t love. Several companies have tried to put out a product that would be satisfactory to the most discriminating dip fans, but few have succeeded in finding the right ingredients.
Black Buffalo has managed to create a product that could even fool tobacco farmers themselves only after years of research and development, immersing themselves in Southern culture and working next to farmers in their fields.
Marketing Your Tobacco Free Dip
The next step in marketing your dip depends on where you are in the process right now. Have you perfected your recipe? Have you had other people try your product? If so, who? What other products do they use? Which brands are they loyal to?
1. Define Your Market
It is important, above all else, to see who is in the market for your product. Are you a company that wants to stay local and build loyalty based on your location? Or are you looking to embed your brand into a particular culture? Your answers to these questions will help you build your brand’s personality.
Find out who your potential customers are. Get to know them deeply and understand them. Find out what they like and what they don’t, where they spend their time, what they do other than chew, when they use their dip the most, and what their opinions are. Use this information to build your brand.
2. Research Your Competition
Who else is selling tobacco free dip, and what is their unique selling point? Figure out what your brand offers that their brand does not. Learn about which audiences are using which products, and decide if you are going to enter the market in direct competition to them or if you are going to offer something different. How long have they been around? Where are they marketing their products? How can consumers find their products? Are they in stores or just online?
3. Define Your Unique Selling Points
You are going to want to be careful about how you market your product because even though there is no tobacco in it, it is still treated as a tobacco product by the FDA. There are restrictions on the language you use, so you need to do your research and possibly hire an attorney to make sure your marketing tactics are legal.
4. Be Careful About Your Language
You cannot currently say that your product is healthier than regular chewing tobacco, even if it does not contain the carcinogenic properties of traditional smokeless tobacco. You also cannot say that your products are a smoking or tobacco cessation tool, even though this is one of the primary markets you are likely targeting.
You have got to get creative in the way you present your product, making sure to reach the markets you intend to reach, but letting them decide which products are better for them. Find ways to differentiate your products that have nothing to do with health or tobacco cessation.
Maybe your products have more unique flavors than the other brands, or maybe there is a cultural history that people will identify with. Whatever you decide to go with, use it to strengthen your brand’s identity and push to make sure your products have a story.
Final Thoughts On Marketing Tobacco Free Dip
If you’ve got a great tobacco free dip product that you are excited about sharing with the world, congratulations! Keep in mind that you want to narrow down your market so that you can reach exactly who you think may enjoy your product the most.
There currently are not very many tobacco free dip companies on the market, but those that are out there are the absolute best you can find. They have to be because dip users are highly loyal to their products.
Make sure you do your legal research and consider hiring an attorney who specializes in handling products that lie in the grey area. There are some ambiguities about how to legally advertise a product that is not technically made of tobacco, but still falls into the category of tobacco products according to the FDA.
The final piece of advice is to have fun developing your product. The best tobacco alternatives come from companies founded by people who love their product, respect the tradition, and understand their customers.
