Food for thought
Social media has seen an unimaginable explosion of user-generated content and for a lot of people, sharing the food and drink they consume is a significant theme. The demand for food and drink content is continuously growing and food brands have their part to play in creating new and interesting content. In doing so you can unlock the power of social media in reaching and engaging with target audiences like never before.
As with any other form of marketing or promotion, it is always best to outline your strategy from the beginning as it will save time and trouble in the future and ensure your brand is received in the best possible light.
Define Your Brand’s Objectives
Even within the demographic of people looking for food and drink content, it is essential to identify your specific or ideal target audience and their preferences. In doing so you will help your content differentiate itself from its competitors and engage with your target audience on a core level.
Clarity is key and never is this more evident than in being crystal clear in setting the goals for your social media promotion. Social Media can be very fickle and you need to have goals that go deeper than pure likes and shares. If you want engagement then choose engagement and agree on how that will be measured from the beginning.
Choose the Right Platforms
Once you have identified exactly who you want to engage and know exactly what you want them to do, only then should you consider which platform(s) to use. Research online to gain a full understanding of the strengths and demographics of the popular social media platforms and only choose those that will allow you to achieve your social media goals.
Only by selecting platforms that align with your brand and target audience are you able to achieve the results you want. For some food brands, this will be a lot easier than others as their demographic may instantly engage some of the more modern platforms.
Develop a Content Strategy
For some creating compelling and visually appealing content is the easy part, for others it can play a significant challenge. One way to take a lot of the stress and worry away from this process is to craft a detailed and comprehensive content strategy. A successful strategy will assist will instrumental in showcasing your products and brand personality through engaging posts. You want to encourage and utilize user-generated content to build trust and authenticity on a scale far beyond your in-house capabilities.
Engage with Your Audience
One of the most significant benefits of using Social media is its highly interactable nature and the ability to engage and communicate directly with your audience needs to be managed accordingly. Responding promptly to comments and messages is the bare minimum, if this is likely to be a problem then build this into your strategy. Engagement can take many forms and you should encourage user interactions through contests, polls, and giveaways wherever possible.
Another important opportunity to consider is collaborating with influencers and industry partners for greater reach into their audiences and followers. Choosing the right influencer and working closely with them to create quality content is time well spent and can deliver significant results in a very short space of time.
Leverage Hashtags and Trends
Stay Proactive – when amending and updating your strategy it is important to challenge old presumptions and by researching popular food-related hashtags and trends you should always stay current with your audience.
Depending on the platform, be aware of how to maintain or improve visibility, for example by using relevant hashtags to increase discoverability and engagement.
It is important to keep up-to-date with current food trends to remain relevant, but not be dominated by them. As long as trends and fashions are used to update your strategy you shouldn’t have to worry about being left behind.
Conclusion
In short, research, plan and deploy your strategy and don’t get caught up with unnecessary distractions – a lot easier said than done. Ensure you focus on keeping tout branding consistent and your engagement should take care of itself. Schedule reviews and take the time to sense-check your strategy against competitors, trends and your defined goals. If changes need to be made, make them and apply them until the next review period. You should be open to ongoing adaptation and experimentation to stay ahead in the social media landscape but must take precautions to not be ruled by them.
If you would like to know how we can help you promote your food brand on social media or more traditional channels get in touch and we would be happy to discuss how we could help.
