Pretty, isn’t it?
This aesthetic meat and cheese board was created by G R A Z E, a meat and cheese board delivery company using local Texas ingredients. We ordered a board for our own office (and yes, it was as delicious as it looks).
But it wasn’t just the board that caught our eye. Alyssa Case, the founder of G R A Z E, prepared her social media platforms like one of her boards—colorful, beautiful, and meticulously thought-out. In only a few weeks of operating her business, Alyssa she has seen several orders and quickly generated a following.
Impact of Social Media in Business
Why did Alyssa prioritize G R A Z E’s social media before other startup tasks? Since its creation, social media has improved the reach to new users, making it easier and faster. According to Pew Research Center, over half of U.S. adults aged 18 to 64 use social media. 68% are Facebook users as of 2018, almost 75% use YouTube, and 35% use Instagram, a 7% increase from 2016.
The tricky part, as in any market strategy, is emerging against your competitors when reaching these users.
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Social Media Tips from G R A Z E
The Swyft Filings Team was curious about G R A Z E’s marketing strategy and next moves, so we asked the owner, Alyssa Case, to share a few tips and tricks with other business owners. With your own marketing strategy in mind, here are some general rules of thumb that assist with G R A Z E’s social media strategy:
#1. Know your audience.
New business owners often defer to cross-posting when starting out on social media. Cross-posting is equivalent to a “hail mary” in football—copying and pasting the descriptions across all social media to hopefully reach someone in the audience. Instead of this tactic, identify who your audience is and which platforms serve them the best.
For example, G R A Z E’s main audience are “event planners" and "people who entertain.” After understanding the audience, she is now able to write descriptions on Instagram, which may or may not differ from Facebook through different hashtags, descriptions, or even different media. Alyssa also found that event planners and party hosts use other social media platforms. After learning about Pinterest in our previous article, Alyssa wants to explore Pinterest’s advertising platform.
#2. Partner with successful accounts in your industry.
“Influencers” are individuals who have established credibility in an industry. Examples are beauty bloggers who have gained a following by sharing beauty tips and tutorials, or food bloggers who try and recommend quality restaurants. As reported by eMarketer, 89% of respondents believe that influencers positively impact how people feel about a brand. However, if the relationship is not cultivated correctly, asking influencers to endorse your business can get expensive.
This is one strategy that Alyssa is passionate about. “I am putting together packages of information that I can send out to influencers and then gifting them a board, and then if they enjoy it, I would love to have them share it and build brand awareness to get my name out there,” said Alyssa.
#3. Engage with users consistently.
Consistency is a large part of branding because it shows you care about your viewers and the content you present them. In social networking, consistency can mean a number of things—scheduling posts, responding to questions and comments, and following up afterward. Not to mention, social media such as Facebook and Instagram reward consistency by showing active accounts above others.
Block out an hour or two each week to schedule your social media posts and write a unique description for each. Users also like to know that there is a person on the other side of the screen, so save time throughout the week to personally respond to comments and messages.
G R A Z E invests time to “[build] that kind of authenticity within the brand, because at the end of the day, [...] people are going to want to buy a board not because it’s delicious and tasty, but people like buying into a brand—you know, like the who and the why behind it.”
#4. Ask for feedback.
Once you’ve reached the users and actively engaged with them, ask for feedback on their experience to improve your business’s processes. Are you responding too late at night? Is there better content you can produce?
“In my followup email afterwards, [I provide] a link to share any feedback or review [...] I don’t want to be pushy about it, but if they have something to say, I want them to know that I want to hear it and I’m open to it,” Alyssa expressed. “I am really big on asking for feedback from anybody and everybody—letting people know that it’s always and option. Right now as I’m growing, please feel free to share any feedback because that’s how I’m going to get better.”
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