5 Reasons Your Catering Business Needs Social Media
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Everyone who is anyone in business understands the importance of social media. The rise of the internet and the explosion of online marketing sees businesses scrambling to keep up with the advantages. The ability to reach an international audience is crucial for businesses and when you’re in the business of catering, it’s a lifeline.
Catering is a hands-on business, and with the importance of attracting customers as well as clients, social media needs to be utilised. Social media is like gold when it comes to advertising to a targeted market. Don’t forget, when you start up a new catering business, you need good suppliers. If your company grows in popularity online, you’re going to attract new suppliers for both your cooking and Leader refrigeration equipment. You need to have a good relationship with you suppliers and if you can promote this alongside stellar customer service online, your company will flourish. Suppliers can give you excellent rates and discounts if you are a good customer, so treat your suppliers as well as you would treat your clients or customers.
So, how can social media benefit your company and what can you do to further your catering business?
Connections. Clients matter, as do your everyday customers. Social media allows you that outlet to connect with both, as well as suppliers. It’s not just Twitter and Facebook, but Instagram and if your catering business is starting from home, then using Instagram to promote your products will be favourable. Creating a catering blog, posting when you have discounts available or when you are launching new products will help you reach clients. You can also use your blog to link to other catering companies and help each other by posting blogs on each other’s sites. Posting the same promotions to Facebook and Twitter will also give you a reach that more traditional methods would not.
Community. As a catering business, you will be relying on reviews of taste to get anywhere. If you attend local food fairs or markets with items from your own business for sale, you can reach the local community and give them a true taste of what your company can offer. Local promotion is vital for caterers as you need to rely on the little pieces of business to push the bigger pieces. By advertising your food locally on selling pages, local social media announcement websites and even the local newspapers, you can get people interested in what you have to offer in your company. Get in contact with bloggers in your community; have them taste what you have to offer for free in return for a promotional post on their blogging platform. Word of mouth is as important as the taste of your food – let them come!
Choose. You don’t have to be a company that chooses between supplying food professionally or to the public – you can be both! You have a passion for what you do or you wouldn’t do it, and this is what you need to show. Post images of your newest creations online and use your blog to promote your online presence. You need to have a professional online presence so that if you choose to offer businesses catering options, you can network properly and your company looks as professional as it can be. Websites like LinkedIn can give you exposure to local and international businesses. If your company supplies hot food, then setting up lunch time links with companies is a smart decision, as the people who try your food will be raving about you to others. If you are offering baked goods, you could supply logo cakes and biscuits at corporate parties. There’s no reason for you not to break into the corporate world if you have the motivation to do so.
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The way you work your company, whether it’s from your kitchen at home or from a professional kitchen that has all the bells and whistles, needs a strong online profile. There isn’t a business in the world that survives for very long, or is very profitable if they are not online. Technology has developed to the point that a good, well-loved company is everywhere! Your catering company can be big if you make a point of marketing with social media. Ad campaigns, blog posts, scheduled tweets and photo adverts can elevate your business above others in your field. Your company can also target audiences with your campaigns and see your food picked up and enjoyed across both public and private sectors.
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