Communications

Not only are Instagram Stories fun and creative, but they’re great for growing consumer engagement, building brand awareness, and driving traffic to your store. Perhaps you are looking for ways to improve how you use Instagram Stories to create captivating content for your shoppers, or are curious how to even begin? Regan Miller Jones, RD shares tips for effectively using Instagram Stories in your work as a retail dietitian:

Our Facebook and Instagram feeds are flooded with food images and real meals that can convey how to use a new ingredient, put together a healthful dinner, or pack a nutritious lunch. Retail dietitians can use food photography to engage with customers, convey delicious ways to serve healthy food and drive sales for specific ingredients. At PBH’s recent Education2Action Retail Dietitian Summit, Kristina La Rue, RDN, CSSD shared these food photography tips:

If you are talking to customers on a daily basis, you are talking to people with prediabetes. It’s just that common states Jill Weisenberger, MS, RDN, CDE, CHWC, FAND, a Nutrition, Culinary & Diabetes Expert. Lifestyle changes are the key. Without them, 37% of individuals with prediabetes are likely to progress to type 2 diabetes within 4 years and most will have the diagnosis within 10 years. Supermarket RDNs can help promote positive lifestyle habits for individuals living with prediabetes. Below are some of Jill’s recommendations:

In my last article, I discussed the unexpected benefits of providing ongoing health and wellness training to your co-workers. However, an ongoing training program will only be successful if it seamlessly fits in with your schedule and a busy retail setting. Below I share a few program ideas and how they can integrate into your store’s operations.

Consumers are often confused and skeptical about the way many foods are grown. Retail dietitians, however, can communicate confidence in the food supply by partnering with farmers to translate food production stories and help consumers understand the journey from farm to supermarket. 

Retail dietitians are thrown into a host of communication occasions, which range from managing questions from shoppers in the store aisles to presenting to senior leadership at their companies.  Understanding and perfecting non-verbal communication can help you be more effective in all your communications.

Recent research from The Hartman Group (2017), indicates that 83% of consumers surveyed were familiar with the term sustainability. As a retail dietitian, you may see shopper interest in this topic play out with purchasing decisions being made and by questions being asked. From climate change to food waste, it is easy to see why customers may be concerned, but to food communicators, the total sustainability issue can be overwhelming. The abundance of misinformation about products and companies, however, provide great opportunities for marketing and education.

Supermarket dietitians are often challenged with customers longing to identify good foods and bad foods, especially when those “bad foods” are linked to causing cancer, a scary disease that claims a half million Americans per year.

It’s today’s reality – consumers, including your shoppers, are addicted to video content. If you’re not creating Facebook Live segments or live stream videos, you’re missing out on opportunities to engage your shoppers.

While there are certainly some individuals who must monitor carbohydrate intake, or cannot tolerate gluten, many shoppers may be unnecessarily eliminating grain items from their diet and are missing out on the enjoyable, affordable and nourishing addition they provide to meals and snacks. The following strategies can help you debunk grain food myths and let shoppers feel good about reaching for that bakery baguette and box of pasta.