Achieving Excellence in Social Media Strategy for Success
The Food and Beverage Industry is huge, and it caters to a lot of different people and areas – from selling direct to the public with Business to Consumer (B2C) approaches, to selling Business to Business (B2B) with wholesaling – there is a massive market to consider, and the right social strategy will make a big difference between being seen, and not.
Product Development takes a huge amount of resources – time, money, staff, energy – and after so much effort; you want to see your brand become a success. Your marketing campaigns will be determined by a number of different factors, and it’s important to consider these before you start.
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Selling directly to the public and selling wholesale to other businesses are two very different business streams, and how you showcase the appeal of your products and focus your marketing campaigns will depend largely on who you’re aiming at.
Even if you’re selling B2B and B2C, you still need to have separate strategies for your brand marketing. What might appeal to a business customer – such as bulk pricing, promotional products or a complimentary display case, isn’t going to necessarily appeal to a direct consumer.
Brands need to identify who they’re trying to appeal to, and then create their brand development strategy around the wants and needs of that audience.
What is Your Value Proposition?
Although B2B and B2C strategies will differ, they will have elements in common. Your Value Proposition is what makes you stand out and unique – it’s why people should buy your goods. This may be expressed slightly differently between business and consumer customers, but the essence of the message will be the same.
With B2B Customers, you could create a Press Release to send to appropriate media channels, such as Industry magazines or websites. Social channels such as LinkedIn are useful for connecting with industry professionals and can give you additional exposure to the decision-makers of these companies.
Engaging with Consumers is vastly different – these are people who aren’t necessarily looking for products and can take their custom where they please. You need to identify your target customers and be visible on the sites they frequent. Instagram, for example, is extremely popular for sharing images of food and drink, and Facebook allows you to build community pages to go deeper into your brand’s story.
To fully understand how platforms like these have evolved and shaped modern marketing, explore The Evolution of Social Media.
Are You Encouraging People to Trust You?
Whether you’re an established brand or new to the F&B scene, internet marketing is open to the whole world, and people are much more inclined to deal with companies and brands that they can trust.
You need to be open, honest, and transparent about your processes – and if you claim that your product helps support a small village in South America, then it needs to support a small village in South America.
The speed at which news travels on the internet is practically instantaneous – which means scandals can easily go viral. By having a social media strategy that emphasises the integrity and core of the brand, you’re much more likely to build trust and gain a loyal following of potential customers.
Silent complainers can significantly impact brand reputation without you realising it. Learn how to identify and manage these issues here.
Take-Aways
To keep interest, both B2B and B2C, you need to be seen regularly. You want to make people think of you first – no matter your product, you want to position yourself as the market leader.
But no matter how regularly you post, if you’re not providing content that your audience wants to see and care about – it won’t help you.
If you think a piece of content is ‘good enough, ‘ you need to scrap it.
Your content must be kept at a high standard and maintained in your brand image and voice. The more people recognise you, and associate you with quality – the more they will remember you, purchase with you, and recommend you to others.
