A Guide to Social Media for Catering Companies

We are living in the digital age and we keep hearing about how social media is the “go to” to drive business and customers to your business and website. Did you know that 79% of independent catering companies use social media. Although a large amount of catering companies are present on social, many of them struggle to figure out ways to successfully increase brand awareness.

This got us thinking at Berica, so we have put this guide for social media just for you. In this article, you’ll discover

• Why does every Catering Company to be on social media?
• How to set up your profile for success
• Establishing effective social networks
• Create a social media posting strategy
• Choosing great images to post on social media
• Post ideas

Why does every Catering Company need to be on social media?

If you are reading this and you’re not currently on social media then you are missing out on a large potential customer base. Social media is an easy way to acquire customers. Did you know that research has shown that 61% of people find out about caterers through social media. It is second only to word of mouth or recommendation from peers.

So, how do you market on social media?

Set up your profile for success

Your business profile is the first thing when people search for your catering company on social media. Ensure that you create a perfect profile with accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information such as you location, business hours and contact details. Dependent on your social network include information such as your website, offers or deals. The fewer clicks it takes to find out about your catering company the better.

Instagram provides a limited set of words to include in the profile bio, Facebook allows you to input information including opening hours, address, messaging options and popular times to visit. Don’t forget LinkedIn as another possible option to tap into the corporate market.

Facebook also provides you with various other advantages too such as:

• ‘Book Now’ button - helps to convert curious visitors.
• You can upload your menu – making it easier and convenient for existing and new customers to review your offerings.
• Allows recommendations and review – customers are looking for establishments with a good reputation as well as good ratings. This allows you to have a direct conversation with existing and new customers.
• Set up multiple locations (within the area that you like to service) – the huge advantage is that every time a potential customer triggers a search for your catering company nearest location to them comes up (great if you have more than one physical shop front).

Establishing effective social networks

Social media marketing for a catering company is a great way to generate brand awareness and online reputation. It is essential to be on all major social media channels because this empowers you to share images that are the essence of your business.

Google My Business

Is a free online tool that enables business owners to mark their business on Google Maps, permit photographs of that business to be labelled through GPS information and above all, it’s what empowers your customers to utilise Google reviews.

Let’s be honest the first thing anyone does when they want to find a new food place is to (a) ask their friends for recommendations or (b) pull it up on Google and look at the reviews. A Google My Business listing would help improve your shop front Google search rankings where your business shows up in the list of a Google search.

Instagram and Pinterest

When it comes to social media, Instagram and Pinterest are also great platforms to showcase your brand. Both are heavily image-driven platforms and perhaps the most popular with caterers and with an increasing digitally savvy consumer both of these tools are fantastic for catering companies.

However, make sure that you are posting fantastic photos which will help your business attract more customers, engage with your online community and make more profits!

Facebook

Facebook remains by far the most popular social media site. It is absolutely essential that your catering company has a Facebook page. Ensure that your brand identity is conveyed through the page as well as a consistent brand voice. Provide value by posting useful information, tips, discounts and special promotions. Want to take it to another level? Explore Facebook paid advertising which can be hugely successful.

Let’s not forget #hastags

Hashtags are very important as that can get much better reach for your audience that may be following certain hashtags. i.e if you are providing corporate catering and you're posting an image on an event you've set up. Rather than doing a hashtag that is likely not followed like:

#yourbusinessnamecorporatecatering your post would be further reaching if you do tags like #team, #teamevent, #teamculture, #lunch, #staffshout.

These are just suggestions and would suggest only tagging in 3-5 max.

Create a social medial posting strategy

As well as creating a social media posting strategy for your catering company you also need to stick to it! Easier said than done.

There is nothing more irritating for a customer that looking at your social media pages and finding that you haven’t posted in months! The newsfeed moves really quickly, so you need to be visually active if you want to stay relevant in your customer’s minds. Set up a posting schedule and your business can maintain. A top tip is to design social media posts for a month in advance at the same time allowing for flexibility to do the ‘impulsive in the moment posts’ from your platter presentations.

And finally,

Choose great images & videos to post on social media

By posting photos and videos consistently and regularly it will remind your customers to order that favourite take-away meal. But watch out, the quality of your photos and videos need to reflect the quality of your food. It can be said that “social media marketing lives and dies by the quality of the photos”.

Have it as a rule that your business will never compromise on the quality of the visuals that it uses.

• Select as a minimum 6 high-resolution images showing the great variety you offer

And don’t be afraid to use

• Design tools and editors to add ‘sparkle’ to them. Canva is a great collaborative tool for design creations.

So, in conclusion "Successful social media marketing is like catering - you need to understand the fundamentals, have the right catering tools, know the right ingredients, and have the confidence to follow a recipe with a dash of creativity"

berica.co.nz | 0800 237 422 | sales@berica.co.nz