Developing your essential oils brand is an exciting time, but one that requires a lot of concentration and motivation. There are many elements to consider as you start building your essential oils brand, in order to create effective momentum in the marketplace. By taking these issues into consideration during startup, it will be easier to make predictions about your company’s growth.

Where to Get Started in the Essential Oils Business

The most vital components involved in creating your essential oils brand should be at the forefront of your planning stage, even before you sell your first bottle of oil. These components include:

• Identifying your target audience
• Mapping out the brand’s packaging
• Developing the brand’s culture
• Pricing competitively
• Creating the conversation

Each step is an important part in preparing a business process, but also defining a marketing strategy. Taking the time to “map out” your branding strategy gives you key insight into your business operation’s specific needs. It also enables you to come out of the gate strong while avoiding costly logistical pitfalls.

In order to sell your oils to customers, you need to first identify who is buying essential oils. If you plan to start locally, you can talk to friends and relatives about your oils. Ask them for feedback on samples of your product and seek out recommendations for people they know who are also using or are interested in essential oils.

You can also take samples to the public. Local farmers markets or consignment opportunities with other retailers can introduce your products to prospective customers. Offer free samples in exchange for feedback about your oils and how each customer incorporates oils into their lives.

The Internet is incredibly valuable for cultivating information on essential oils sales in your region. You can search other essential oils businesses on social media to learn more about what customers are talking about and how they are using oils.

Once you have a solid understanding of what people are doing with the oils they buy, you can start brainstorming ideas on how to cater to their needs. With background knowledge on your customer’s needs and likes, you can create products specifically designed to pique their interest in your products.

Your essential oil bottles need labels that are unique, compelling, and create the visual personality for your company’s brand. You may consider a custom logo to accent your bottles and other packaging. Hire a professional graphic designer to develop your company’s visual assets. While it is a substantial investment to outsource graphic design, it ensures you get a professional-looking, versatile set of visual assets to print on your bottles. Provide the designer with as much input as possible concerning your concept and don’t be afraid to ask for reasonable changes before the designs are finalized.

Your logo and additional brand collateral will not only be utilized on your packaging labels, it will be used for your marketing and promotional materials. Take time to explore other essential oils brand packaging concepts and create drafts of what you want your products to look like.  imagine your products on the shelf and consider what would help them stand out from other brands. Your core goal should be to ensure your designs are different from other retailers, but are striking enough to capture the consumer’s attention.

Figuring out how to keep your oils at the heart of the business is not an easy task, but it is a necessary one. You want to bring the right kind of attention to your oils while ensuring your customers know they matter and their support is appreciated.

Building your brand’s culture starts in person with the physical encounters you have with prospective buyers. Leveraging the broad appeal of engagement through social media to build relationships with current customers, and to attract new buyers, can establish a community. Pay attention to the feedback being offered online and factor that information to further develop your products and adapt your marketing strategy. Remain responsive to online customer requests and inquiries.

Pricing products is often difficult for new business owners. It is important to consider several points when making your pricing determination. These points include:

Your total costs:

You need to factor in all costs associated with manufacturing your essential oils, including:

• Wholesale essential oil bottles and caps
• Essential oil materials (essences, oils, and carrier substances)
• Packaging (labels, boxes)
• Shipping materials
• Your labor hours ‘(and hours of any helpers)
• Overhead costs (electricity, phone)
• Marketing fees (paper supplies, website hosting)

These costs all need to be factored into the price of each individual bottle. You can take the total amount and divide by the total number of bottles being produced from one batch to develop a baseline cost. This helps you figure out how much you need to charge to, at least, recoup your expenses.

The competition:

Once you have an idea of what it costs to make each bottle of essential oils, you should research the competition’s pricing structure across a broad variety of products. You never want to be the most expensive brand on the shelf, but you certainly shouldn’t be the cheapest, as it can potentially reflect negative connotation about the product’s quality in the consumer’s mind.

As you begin to produce and sell more products, you may realize you’re not making enough profit on your sales and will need to adjust your pricing accordingly.

Keep in mind, some ingredients will be considerably more expensive than others depending on their availability, how they were grown and harvested, and the extraction process used to procure the oils. You must carefully track pricing for your ingredients and record when they increase. You should also regularly investigate the cost of supplies from other vendors.

One of the most effective ways to get people talking about your brand is to start spreading the word locally. Your friends and neighbors are an ideal test market before you take your business international through Internet sales. Word of mouth advertising is often the key building block to your company’s foundation. You can also enlist the help and support of area retailers in showcasing your products on a consignment basis. Contact local newspapers with a press release about your new company and line of products.

Host private parties in the homes of your customers to show off your line of products. Use a well thought out demonstration at a local community center to educate newcomers to the many uses of essential oils. You should also showcase your knowledge and experience with the oils in your online presence.

As you work through each of these initial steps, you will gain a larger understanding of what it takes to make your essential oils brand stand out from the rest. You will also become fully immersed in your business, your customers, and your passion for creating new and innovative essential oils products.