The impact of social media in the food industry

By Marketing Team

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They say that one of the best ways to get to someone’s heart is through his stomach. But which is the best way for a brand to make customers fall in love with their products? Answer, as you all were thinking is Social Media.

October 16th was World Food Day and although one of the main issues to discuss is climate change and its effects in food and agriculture, we want to make an approach to the use of Social Media by Food and Beverage brands.

Social media influence over food shopping habits has been small compared to other industries, but nowadays every brand has their Community Managers working hard to increase the engagement and number of followers.

From Adglow, we have analyzed most important brands in the market and we will give you our conclusions on the subject.

First, look healthy. Today’s culture is based on a healthy body, doesn’t matter what product are you selling, you have to emphasize the most natural and healthy qualities of your brand. If it is high on calories, for example, it could be a good energy source for sports or hard working days. If it is made out of natural ingredients, why not show the audience how clean and pure is the manufacturing process?

According to the IAB’s V Annual Study of Social Media, sponsored by Adglow, 85% of the audience is following influencers through Social Media, so seems like a great idea to get the influencer that suits better your brand to advertise your products.

Targeting the right audience is a must. The food and beverage online shopper profile in Spain is a working woman between 35 and 47 years, shops every fortnight and is mother of toddlers, also uses frequently social media to get information about products, prices and discounts. Keeping in mind this, you should target your advertising near this collective to drive your sales and improve your engagement.

Keep an eye on risks, although the benefits of using Social Media are obvious you might have some considerations with your Community Manager. First you have to avoid negative interactions as much as possible as long as bad jokes or inappropriate comments,  your public image is one of your most valuable features and damaging it could be very harmful.

Even is a delicate subject, private profiles of company’s relevant people should also care about brand image.

To sum up, to make your food and beverage company make profit from Social Media you have to develop an strategy that creates engagement and emotional links, improve brand awareness and have a nice clean and healthy brand image. This way you will not only fill audience’s cupboards with your products, you will also get to their hearts.

*NOTE: ILUSTRATION DONE FROM A FRAME OF THE FILM "AMELIE"