“It tastes good!” “You want to eat this.” “World’s best!” “Like grandma used to make.”
These and other clichéd food descriptions are boring and do nothing to describe your beloved food product or menu item.
When enticing fans to enjoy your food from a website, social media, catalog, or another marketing piece, don’t be boring. Instead, try these copywriting techniques and get the reader to experience the flavor!
Conversational writing only.
Write like you talk. Use short sentences. Address your reader. Don’t be afraid to break a few grammar rules either…especially if your bad grammar is memorable.
Example: Hey, Colorado mustard lovers! Just in time for summer barbecuing season we’ve released our fan-favorite sriracha-style mustard.
Evoke an image. Include an image.
Great writing takes you to another place. Colorful copywriting establishes a scene and creates a picture in your mind.
Example: Order two hand rolled steaming hot arborio rice spheres stuffed to perfection. One with carefully wilted spinach in a delicate cream sauce and the other with a classic combination of ground beef, peas, and decadently melted mozzarella cheese. Both topped with our house made tomato-basil sauce.
On top of drawing a picture with your words, include an actual picture. According to a study done by MIT, the brain processes an image in 13 milliseconds. The brain is wired to immediately try to understand what it is looking at and make a judgment. Combine this with the fact that most people do not read marketing copy word for word and prefer to scan headlines and images, you can see why images in your copy matter.
Follow tried and true copywriting rules.
Active voice and benefits-driven copy cannot go overlooked. These two copywriting techniques are a must for any industry.
Example: Get the only breaded tenderloin sandwich this side of the Missippi served with fried pickles. All ingredients sourced from local farmers!
Make them trust you.
Give your potential partners and fans reason to believe in you. Social proof comes in many forms including a professionally designed website, quality product photos, reviews/testimonials, videos, stats, a list of existing retailers/partners, social media followers, and the list goes on. Integrate these nuggets into sales copy whenever you can.
Example: Since introducing our line of sauces to Kroger customers last fall, XYZ Condiment Co. has reached more than 15,000 homes in the Pacific Northwest. The numbers don’t lie. If this many moms can convince their kids to eat broccoli thanks to our sauces, how could you go wrong?
Tell them to buy!
Tell them to BUY with a call to action. Make it direct. The best ones call out scarcity.
Example: Order a sauce variety pack before July 31 and receive a limited edition condiment gun.
To recap: Must-follow food copywriting techniques
- Describe your product, menu items, or recipes so that your reader can nearly taste it. Avoid cliché words like “delicious” or “tasty.”
- Write in the active voice.
- Spell out the benefits, not the features. In other words, don’t talk about what your company does. Highlight what the customer gets.
- Include an image. Professional food photography is best.
- Include trust signals like a phone number, testimonials, and links to press mentions.
- End with a direct call to action.