Over the last few years, we’ve noticed the huge toll trying to keep on top of the so-called “social media strategies” being promoted online has been taking on food and drink leaders. Already feeling as though they are stretched to their limits trying to navigate their way through the heightened uncertainties of running a business while balancing health inspections, managing staff, packing orders, we could go on… over the last couple of years they've also fallen victim to the bad advice telling them to worry about building audiences and hopping on dance trends.
During the pandemic, our frustrations with how bad we’d noticed the situation was becoming came to a head, and so we started looking for the source of where all this bad advice was coming from. With the help of a quick google search, it didn’t take long to find an answer. It turned out that social media platforms were paying content creators millions of euros to create content that would help keep their platforms relevant and increase their shareholder value.
As a result, we started seeing more content online encouraging social media users to use platforms like influencers. Essentially we were seeing a rise in content being created by content creators for content creators. The advice they were putting out there started trickling down to small and independently run business owners, as well as other food and drink leaders, who in turn started trying to market like influencers.
They started trying to keep up with advice promoting the posting of 3 reels per day or focusing on arbitrary goals such ‘going viral’ or gaining 1,000 followers in 7 days. They invested hours of time into social media without a real strategy behind it, and as a result, found social media too stressful, began burning out or doubted the power it could actually yield for communicating with their audience.
And believe us when we say that social media can be a really powerful and valuable tool for food and drink leaders in Ireland; 4.28 million people in Ireland use it every day and 68.5% of people say they use it to research a business before they buy from them. However, you have to know how to use it correctly in order to get the real benefits; and constantly chasing trends is not how sustainable businesses are built.
That’s where the power of a Social Media Strategy comes in. It allows food and drink leaders to block out all that unnecessary noise and ensure that your social media efforts are driving you towards achieving your actual goals, to concentrate on the content that ensures your social media marketing efforts are fruitful and that the time and effort you are putting into your social media presence is driving a return.
And most importantly, a Social Media Strategy will help you from falling into the trap of wasting your time lining the pockets of social media shareholders and get back to spending it on doing what's important and of value to you.
We're tired of seeing food and drink leaders being distracted from focusing on what it is they really love. Get in touch to find out how we can help you block out the noise and focus on using social media to grow sales by emailing ciara@conquerdigital.ie.