5 Strategies Food & Beverage Brands Can Use To Boost Their Social Media Presence
Food plays a huge role in our lives. Whether it’d be a birthday meal, a work lunch, or an anniversary dinner, it’s all inherently social. The food and beverage industry contributed £30bn to the UK economy in 2021. The business is booming which is partly due to its contribution to social media.
At the time of writing this blog, 489M posts use the hashtag #food on Instagram. Food and beverage brands are constantly seeking new and unique ways of sharing their products online so they can stay ahead of the game. They must utilise social strategies to break through the noise to combat a large amount of competition on social media sites.
Here we’ll discuss 5 strategies that can be used on social media to boost your food and beverage brand. They cover a wide range of marketing tactics that will get your brand noticed.
- Professional Photography
Capturing an image is the easiest method of creating content to share on social media. Approximately 90% of all adults own a smartphone in the UK. Platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Be Real all take advantage of this by encouraging users to share their experiences on their sites.
Not only are images easy to take and share, but they’re also simple to digest. Images speak a thousand words so a brand’s message can be translated into one image. However, to make the message clear the images must be of professional quality. Higher the image quality the easier a brand’s message will be realised by its audience.
An image’s quality isn’t solely determined by what type of camera it’s taken on. It’s down to the lighting, background, props, camera equipment and editing that’s used. The quality of a brand’s images can directly affect the perceived quality of the brand in general. Images which are atheistically appealing and speak to their audience can help drive brand interaction such as social shares and website traffic.
Imaging for a food and beverage brand is highly important in promoting its message and products. This could be images of food, the restaurant, or staff. Each image needs to be of high quality so the audience can learn as much about your brand from one image.
2. Video Marketing
In recent years, the sharing of videos on social media has overtaken images. For example, Facebook videos get 135% more organic reach than photos. 83% of marketers say that video marketing is more important than ever. Businesses have become aware of this and have started to up their video marketing game.
In 2021, 83% of businesses said that they use video as a marketing tool. Businesses have slowly become increasingly aware of the pros of using video marketing. It’s especially beneficial to small businesses as it’s inexpensive and easy to produce with a big ROI.
88% of shoppers seek videos or photos of products before purchasing. This should influence what type of content food and beverage brands are sharing on their social media. Video content enables potential customers to visualise, learn and understand products easily. Video content such as reels and TikTok’s are a type of video content that are popular on social media and could be a huge asset in promoting a business and its products when utilised correctly.
3. Influencers/Bloggers
Blogging is the online equivalent of ‘word of mouth’ as influencers can share their thoughts and opinions of brands with their followers. Influencers have become an essential asset in promoting companies and their products.
As a food and beverage brand, working with bloggers/influencers could be very beneficial to your marketing strategy. 79% of consumers trust food bloggers which means they have brilliant brand value as their audience listens to them and trusts what they say. The cost to a food and beverage brand to work with a blogger or influencer could be relatively small compared to the publicity and awareness it could bring.
An influencer following could range anywhere between 10K to 10M, it all depends on your budget and where in that space your brand would lie. Through collaborations, you can give your brand a boost by targeting your ideal market through the influencers following.
4. User Generated Content (UGC)
Even if you’ve never heard of UGC, you’ve likely created it before. User-generated content (UGC) relates to any content that is created by a user rather than the brand. This could be taking a snap of your food at a restaurant, taking a video of you cooking or leaving a review.
The hashtag #food is the 25th most used on Instagram with over 181 million tags. Through social channels, food lovers can share their dining experiences. Then, this content can be used by brands to promote their products.
This type of content is hugely beneficial to food and beverage brands due to its authenticity. People trust photos taken by users therefore, UGC tends to attract more engagement. It has become the foundation of social proof in recent years with 88% of shoppers seeking photos or videos of products before purchasing them.
Due to UGC being lucrative content, brands have started to create paid UGC. This is where an influencer or blogger is gifted products to try in return for coverage on their social channels. The type of content that is posted is very similar to organic UGC so reaps all the benefits. Food and beverage brands can take advantage of this as it costs very little to achieve however can be hugely beneficial in promoting their brand and products to a wider audience.
5. Giveaways/Competitions
Giveaways and competitions have always been popular with users on social media. Everyone loves a freebie so it’s a great way to get people engaged in your brand. It involves encouraging customers to participate in your social media posts; this could be liking, sharing, or commenting. In return, your page is then elevated to a greater audience which causes excitement and a buzz around your brand.
A 2020 study by Tailwind found that competitions on Instagram get 3.5X more likes and comments than regular Instagram posts on average. This could massively boost your brand’s presence online as it will increase your following by reaching new audiences.
Hosting a competition is a simple and quick social strategy which could bring instant rewards when conducted correctly. Common giveaway ideas for a food and beverage brand include gift cards, free products, or free experiences.
