To help small catering businesses thrive on social media, we asked CEOs and founders for their best strategies. From leveraging high-quality visuals to encouraging user-generated content, these leaders shared the top eight strategies for efficient social media promotion.
- Leverage High-Quality Visuals
- Showcase “Behind-the-Scenes” Content
- Collaborate with Local Influencers
- Engage the Audience with Interactive Content
- Boost Reputation with Social Proof
- Attract the Audience with Food Origin Stories
- Promote through Charitable Partnerships
- Encourage User-Generated Content
Leverage High-Quality Visuals
Post high-quality photos and videos of your food. People love to see what they will eat, so make sure your social media posts feature mouth-watering photos and videos of your food.
Also, tell stories about your business. People love to connect with businesses that have a story to tell. Share your story on social media and tell people what makes your business unique. Interact with your followers.
Finally, don’t just post and forget. Take the time to interact with your followers on social media. Respond to their comments and questions, and participate in conversations.
Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi
Showcase “Behind-the-Scenes” Content
In our small catering business, we’ve found success with “Behind-the-Scenes” content on social media. Showcasing the preparation process, selecting ingredients, and the team in action demystifies the catering experience and builds trust.
Potential clients see the passion and attention to detail that goes into every dish. It’s engaging and offers a genuine glimpse into our brand, making them more likely to choose us for their next event.
Ranee Zhang, VP of Growth, Airgram
Collaborate with Local Influencers
One specific strategy a small catering business can use to promote their business on social media efficiently is to collaborate with local influencers. By partnering with influencers with a significant following in the local community, the catering business can reach a larger audience and increase brand awareness.
For example, the catering business could identify influential food bloggers or popular community figures on social media platforms. The collaboration could involve hosting an event catered by the company exclusively for the influencer’s followers, offering special discounts or giveaways to their followers, or creating unique menu items inspired by the influencer’s preferences.
This strategy helps expand the reach of the catering business and builds credibility and trust among potential customers because of the endorsement and recommendation from well-known local influencers.
Steve Dinelli, Founder, MarketerInterview.com
Engage Audience with Interactive Content
The business can engage with its audience through interactive content. This means creating posts that spark conversations, ask questions, or encourage people to share their opinions and experiences regarding food and catering.
For example, you could post a picture of one of your delicious dishes and ask your followers to share their favorite flavor combinations or how they would customize the dish. This gets people talking and engaged with your brand and gives you valuable insights into what your customers like and what they want more of.
Another idea is to run contests or giveaways on social media, where people have to like, comment, or share your post for a chance to win a prize or a discount on your catering services. This helps increase engagement on your posts and spread the word about the business as people share the contest with their friends and family.
Johannes Larsson, Founder and CEO, JohannesLarsson.com
Boost Reputation with Social Proof
Utilizing social proof is one of the best practices for promoting a catering business on social media. Testimonials, photo posts, etc., are amazing forms of social proof that instantly boost one’s reputation. People share content about the catering business on their social media platforms and reach a new audience for the business in the process.
Plus, potential customers can also see the posts shared with the catering business on their social media as a reference for deciding if they want them for their next event.
Max Schwartzapfel, CMO, Schwartzapfel Lawyers
Attract the Audience with Food Origin Stories
You may have a lot of ideas and content to promote your catering business on social media, but without an audience, all this content is wasted. The priority should not just be to talk about your business but also about other popular topics that help you cater to the crowds.
A particularly interesting topic that can spice up your social media feed is digging out and presenting food origin stories. These stories could reveal everything about the evolution of a regional dish or follow the origins of a dish that has now gone global. Every story can help you add more numbers to your audience, and you can then use these crowds to promote your catering business.
Gabriele Asaro, SEO Executive, Clash.gg
Promote through Charitable Partnerships
A small catering business can use social media to promote their offerings efficiently. One example would be for the business to partner with a charitable organization and pledge a portion of each sale to their cause.
This collaborative effort shows a sense of support and care towards the selected charity while simultaneously marketing the catering company’s services through visual displays showcasing how they are dutifully committed to helping communities in need. This type of strategy increases the visibility of the catering business and encourages customers to purchase from them because of their heartfelt contribution.
Carly Hill, Operations Manager, Virtual Holiday Party
Encourage User-Generated Content
One specific strategy a small catering business can efficiently use to promote its business on social media is leveraging social proof. They should reach out to their current customers and encourage them to create posts where they tag and mention the catering business.
By collecting and sharing these posts, the business can show its followers that real people are enjoying their food. This kind of user-generated content is powerful evidence of their quality and popularity, enticing more individuals to want to experience their catering services.
Eran Mizrahi, CEO and Founder, Ingredient Brothers
Additional Tips for Amping Up Your Catering Business on Social Media
- Seasonal Specials and Offers: Use social media to promote limited-time offers or seasonal specials. It creates a sense of urgency and can drive quick sales.
- Customer Testimonials: Share glowing reviews from satisfied clients. It serves as social proof and helps you engage with your community.
- Event Highlights: Share photos or a short video recap after catering an event. It’s a great way to show prospective clients the level of service they can expect.
- Interactive Polls and Quizzes: Create fun and engaging polls related to food or event planning. This not only entertains your audience but also provides you with valuable consumer insights.
- Food and Ingredient Sourcing: Share stories or posts about your ingredients’ source. It can make your brand appear more authentic and trustworthy.
- Live Q&A Sessions: Periodically hold a live Q&A session where you can answer questions from your followers. This can range from menu planning tips to how to hire a catering service.
- Collaborations and Takeovers: Partner with other local businesses for Instagram takeovers or collaborative posts. It exposes your business to a new audience and can help you gain followers.
- Time-Sensitive Discounts: Offer flash sales or special discounts for those who book your services within a certain timeframe, encouraging quick action.
- Instagram Stories and Reels: Utilize these features for quick, engaging content that can be more casual and on-the-fly than your main feed posts.
Remember, the key to successful social media promotion is to broadcast and engage with your audience. Make your posts interactive, respond to comments and messages, and create content encouraging sharing and conversation.
