Beyond the Booth: How Natural Food & Beverage Brands Can Turn Expo West Momentum into Year-Round Growth with Social and Influencer Marketing
A strategic framework for natural food & beverage brands
Every year, thousands of brands leave Expo West with the same set of wins: distribution commitments from major retailers, buyer relationships, and optimism about growth. Six months later, most of those brands face the same harsh reality: their products are sitting on shelves, not moving off them.
The problem isn't the product. It's not the packaging (most of you have got wonderfully aesthetic brands). It's not even the retail placement.
The problem is this: you secured distribution before you built recurring demand.
This article outlines a strategic framework for how natural and organic CPG brands can use social and influencer marketing to solve the fundamental challenge of post-Expo West growth, capitalizing on shelf space by mobilizing a community of advocates.
The Expo West Paradox: Why Retail Wins Don't Guarantee Success
Expo West is designed to solve one problem: getting your product in front of buyers. And it does this brilliantly. The event is a retail gateway, the fastest path from "great product" to "stocked at Whole Foods."
But here's what Expo West doesn't solve: consumer awareness and intent.
And the way consumers are discovering products has evolved. Your brand aesthetic might help you when your customer is in the store, but the competition for attention in-store is tough. Instead there are methods to create intention before the customer even steps foot in bricks and mortar.
Lets be honest… Retailers don't care if your product sells through in the first 90 days or sits on the shelf for six months. They'll just delist you and move on. The burden of creating demand falls entirely on you — the brand.
Most brands approach this backwards. They spend months preparing for Expo West, perfecting their pitch deck and booth design, optimizing for buyer meetings. Then they secure the distribution deal and realize they have no plan to drive consumer demand. By the time they start thinking about marketing, they're already 60 days from launch and scrambling.
The brands that succeed do the opposite. They build demand engines before and during retail negotiations, so that by the time products hit shelves, consumers are already searching for them. Ironically, celebrity-owned brands can be particularly effective at doing this.
The Demand-First Framework: Building Pull Before Push
The most successful natural food and beverage brands don't think about social and influencer marketing as a post-launch tactic. They think about it as the foundation of their entire go-to-market strategy.
This requires a fundamental mindset shift: retail distribution is the last step, not the first.
Here's the strategic framework that drives sustainable growth:
Phase 1: Build Awareness Before Distribution (Pre-Expo West)*
*you’ve missed this boat, but there’s still time to activate this step.
The goal here isn't to sell product — it's to create familiarity and curiosity.
Start building/relaunching social presence ahead of your retail launch. This means:
Create a point of view, not just a product. Don't lead with features. Lead with why your brand exists and who it's for. The most effective early-stage content answers questions like: What problem does this solve? What do you believe that others in the category don't? Why does this matter now?
Example: A gut health brand shouldn't start with "our probiotics have 12 strains." They should start with "most people are treating symptoms, not root causes — here's why gut health is the actual answer." and even better think about “5 telltale signs you should be using [BRAND] probiotics”.
Seed with micro-influencers who align with your mission Product seeding at this stage isn't about driving conversions. It's about building social proof and creating authentic content you can repurpose. Target creators with 10K-100K followers who have genuine engagement and share your values. These partnerships cost a fraction of what you'll spend on retail media later, and they're significantly more effective at building trust. Research shows micro-influencers drive 42% of consumer consideration for food and beverage purchases — not because of reach, but because of relevance. Also use this as an opportunity to convert their audience into your community.
Use content to educate, not advertise At this stage, your social content should focus on education: ingredient deep-dives, category myths, sustainability practices, founder story. Teach audiences why your approach is different. This builds credibility that pays dividends when you're asking people to pull your product off a crowded shelf.
Phase 2: Time Momentum With Retail Launch (Expo West to 90 Days Post)
This is where most brands make their first major mistake: they announce the retail partnership, post a "now available at Whole Foods" graphic, and assume demand will follow.
It won't.
Yes product discovery is happening at the shelf, but with shoppers becoming more cost conscious, and equally health conscious, the need to focus on building reason-to-shop is more important than ever.
Strategic brands time their influencer and content campaigns to coincide with retail availability, creating a demand surge right when products hit shelves. This is critical for three reasons:
Retailers track velocity in the first 90 days. Strong early performance earns you more facings, better placement, and protection from delisting.
Algorithm momentum matters. Social platforms reward content that drives immediate engagement. If your launch campaign creates a spike in searches, shares, and clicks, the algorithm amplifies your reach organically.
Consumer psychology favors urgency. "Just launched" and "available now" messaging converts better than "we've been around for a while." Use the launch window to your advantage.
Tactically, this means:
Launch coordinated influencer campaigns tied to retail availability Don't run one-off influencer posts. Run coordinated campaigns where 5-10 creators post within the same 7-10 day window. This creates a perception of momentum and "everywhere-ness" that drives consumer curiosity. Pair this with geo-targeted content that connects online interest to in-store availability: "Grab it at your local Target this week."
Drive traffic with conversion-focused content Shift from educational content to conversion content: recipe videos featuring your product, "try this instead" comparison content, influencer unboxings and reviews. The goal is to move people from awareness to active consideration. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are particularly effective here — video content for food and beverage brands averages 220K+ views per post, significantly higher than static images.
Make it easy to buy Integrate "where to buy" functionality into all your content. Use Instagram Shopping, TikTok Shop, and website retail locators. Consider limited-time discount codes shared through influencers to create urgency. The easier you make it for consumers to find and buy your product, the faster you'll see velocity improve.
Consider Influencers as your modern-day in-store sampler.
Phase 3: Build Community for Long-Term Retention (90 Days Onward)
Once you've survived the critical first 90 days, the focus shifts from acquisition to retention and advocacy. Most brands never make this shift — they keep running the same launch playbook over and over, burning through budget without building anything sustainable.
Smart brands use this phase to turn customers into a community, and community into a growth engine.
Shift from influencer partnerships to user-generated content (UGC) The most cost-effective marketing at scale is content created by your own customers. This requires intentional UGC strategies: branded hashtags, customer spotlights, contests and giveaways, recipe challenges. When you build a library of authentic customer content, you reduce reliance on paid partnerships while increasing trust. Currently, 85% of consumers say they're influenced by content from friends, family, and real users more than brand content or celebrity endorsements.
Engage in two-way conversation The brands that build loyal communities don't just post content — they respond, ask questions, feature customers, and create space for dialogue., brands like Tonies are doing this particularly well This sounds basic, but most brands treat social as a broadcast channel rather than a community platform. The difference shows up in retention rates, lifetime value, and word-of-mouth growth.
Optimize based on what's working By this point, you should have 90-180 days of performance data. Which content formats drove the most engagement? Which influencer partnerships converted? Which platforms delivered the highest ROI? Double down on what's working and cut what isn't. Social strategy isn't set-it-and-forget-it, it requires constant iteration.
Platform Strategy: Where to Focus Your Effort
Not all platforms are equal for CPG brands. Here's where to focus based on your target audience and goals:
TikTok: Discovery and Virality TikTok has fundamentally changed how food and beverage brands build awareness. 70% of Gen Z uses TikTok for food recommendations, and 84% actively try food trends they see on the platform. This is where consumers discover brands they've never heard of, which makes it perfect for challenger brands competing against legacy CPG companies.
The content that performs best on TikTok is lo-fi, authentic, and trend-responsive. Recipe hacks, "what I eat in a day" content, product comparisons, and ingredient storytelling consistently outperform polished ads. Food content on TikTok averages 220K views per post, significantly higher than most other categories.
Also, think about the types of personalities who use your products. People are influenced by the perception products can create of oneself, not just the benefits. If you see an athlete using an energy drink you’ll be more likely to consider it than if it’s a interior designer. It may seem logical, but many brands make the mistake of casting the net wide and wasting resources.
Instagram: Community and Conversion Instagram remains the most effective platform for building community and driving purchase intent. 60% of consumers use Instagram to discover food brands, and Instagram Shopping integration makes it the easiest path from content to conversion for DTC sales.
Use Instagram for high-quality visuals, Reels for discovery, Stories for behind-the-scenes and community engagement, and Shopping tags for seamless purchase paths. Instagram's engagement rates for food and beverage content average 1.9%, lower than TikTok but higher quality in terms of conversion intent.
YouTube: Education and Authority YouTube is where you build authority. Food and beverage brands average 608K views per video on YouTube, the highest of any industry. This is the platform for long-form content: cooking tutorials, ingredient sourcing stories, founder interviews, sustainability deep-dives.
YouTube content has a longer shelf life than TikTok or Instagram — videos can continue driving traffic and conversions months or even years after posting. If you're investing in high-quality production, YouTube should be part of your strategy.
Don’t stop there, consider platforms like Reddit, Pinterest and Facebook depending on the product your shipping. Niche community groups can be found on these platforms and can drive bottom line performance.
What Actually Drives ROI: Moving Beyond Vanity Metrics
Most brands measure social success wrong. They track follower counts, post impressions, and engagement rates — none of which directly correlate to revenue.
The brands that drive real ROI from social media track three things:
1. Attributed conversions Use unique discount codes, affiliate links, and UTM parameters to connect social traffic directly to sales. Micro-influencer campaigns in CPG typically deliver $4-6 in revenue for every $1 spent, but only if you're actually tracking attribution. Without this, you're flying blind.
2. Share of voice and sentiment Are people talking about your brand online? What are they saying? Share of voice indicates brand awareness relative to competitors. Sentiment tells you whether your messaging is resonating. Tools like social listening platforms make this trackable.
3. Customer lifetime value (LTV) from social-acquired customers Are customers you acquire through social media more or less valuable than those from other channels? This is the metric that determines whether social is a core growth channel or just a nice-to-have. Track first purchase, repeat purchase rate, and total LTV by acquisition source.
If you're only measuring likes and followers, you're not measuring what matters.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Budget Allocation
Here's the reality most brands don't want to hear: if you're spending more on your Expo West booth than you are on the 90-day social and influencer campaign that follows, your priorities might be backwards.
Expo West costs add up fast: booth space, design, staffing, samples, travel, accommodations. Brands regularly spend $30K-$100K+ on a single event. That same budget, allocated to a strategic social campaign, can drive 6-12 months of sustained consumer demand.
The ROI comparison isn't even close. A well-executed influencer campaign delivers $4-6 for every dollar spent. Your Expo West booth delivers... a bunch of business cards and hopefully a few retail commitments that won't matter if consumers don't buy your product.
This doesn't mean skip Expo West, its fantastic. It means rebalance your budget to reflect the reality of where demand is actually built in 2026.
Why Most Brands Get This Wrong (And How to Avoid Their Mistakes)
Three common failure patterns keep brands from executing this framework successfully:
Failure Pattern 1: Treating social as an afterthought Brands decide to "do some social marketing" 30 days before launch. By then, it's too late to build momentum, secure influencer partnerships, or create quality content. Social strategy needs to be integrated into your go-to-market plan from day one — ideally 6+ months before retail launch.
Failure Pattern 2: Optimizing for the wrong metrics Brands celebrate hitting 10K followers or getting a viral post without asking whether any of it translated to sales. Vanity metrics feel good but don't move the business. Focus on attributed revenue, customer acquisition cost, and lifetime value.
Failure Pattern 3: Underinvesting in quality Brands try to do social "in-house" without the expertise or resources to execute well. Poor content quality, inconsistent posting, weak influencer partnerships — all of it undermines your credibility. If social is a core growth channel (and it should be), invest appropriately. This usually means working with an agency that specializes in CPG social strategy.
The Brands That Get It Right
The natural and organic brands that thrive post-Expo West share a few strategic principles:
They start building demand before securing distribution. They time campaigns to coincide with retail launches. They measure ROI, not vanity metrics. They invest in community, not just content. They think about social as infrastructure, not tactics.
These aren't the brands with the biggest budgets. They're the brands with the clearest strategy.
What to Do Next: An Action Plan for Expo West Attendees
If you're attending Expo West, here's your roadmap:
Before the event: Audit your current social presence. Identify which platforms your target audience uses. Research influencers and creators in your category. Set clear goals and KPIs for what success looks like 90 days post-launch.
During the event: Document your Expo experience for social content. Network with influencers and creators attending the show. Collect insights from competitors' activations and booth strategies.
After the event: Launch coordinated influencer campaigns within 2 weeks. Pair digital demand-building with retail availability. Track performance obsessively and optimize based on data. Build community engagement for long-term retention.
Ardent can help with all three of these steps, so if you need support reach out ross@ardent.social.
Final Thought: Distribution Is Necessary, But Demand Is Sufficient
Expo West will get you shelf space. Social and influencer marketing will get you sales.
In 2026, the competitive advantage goes to brands that understand this distinction and build strategies accordingly. Retail distribution is table stakes. Consumer demand is what separates brands that survive from brands that scale.
If you're heading to Expo West with a great product and ambitious retail goals, make sure you're building the demand engine that will actually move product off shelves.
Because in the end, retail buyers don't care about your story, your mission, or your product quality. They care about velocity. And velocity comes from consumer demand — which you build through social and influencer marketing done right.
Ready to build a demand-first strategy for your brand? At Ardent, we help natural and organic food and beverage brands turn social momentum into measurable growth. Let's talk about how to make Expo West your launchpad, not just your finish line.
