I got a call from a potential client the other day asking about social media help. He said he is skeptical because, well, I let him tell it:

1 – content. What you say and how you say it will impact the results you are looking for. Food pornography is one thing, and of course nice photos matter. But beyond that, it also takes knowing how to engage with people, and coming up with something interesting to say that is much harder than it looks. Making the calendar and sticking to it is what drives a great program. Being slightly edgy and clever also helps. And talking to people in their language without always trying to sell them something is important, too.

2 – ad spending. Social media is coin operated. Many people will tell you that you should never buy followers, but the truth is, social media platforms make reaching their viewers a pay-to-play process. Keep in mind, charging people like us is how Mark Zuckerberg has become one of the most wealthy people in the world. He charges money to be active on Facebook and Instagram. You may reach about 5% of your followers with a simple post. Perhaps 10% if you do something like a photo contest and people engage with the contest. But if you put $20.00 behind the post you will more than likely reach more than ten times that amount of eyes.

3 – consistency. Social media doesn’t work in an instant. It takes time. All advertising takes time. McDonald’s didn’t become McDonald’s the media giant by spending for a little bit in the 1950’s and then wandering off. McDonald’s spent an estimated $447M on advertising in 2020, much of it on social media. The US Small Business Administrations suggests 7-8% of your gross revenue should go toward your marketing budget. While the digital marketing budget averaged 42% of the overall marketing budget in 2019, that’s expected to jump to 45% in 2020. That means if you sold $1.2M in pizza and pasta last year, your budget would be at the low end $84,000. If 42% of that went to social media, your recommended budget would be $35,280.00 or $2,940.00 per month.

Also, working with us opens up a dialog over time and we have a lot of everience with the food industry. I talk to a lot of restaurant operators every month and so I know first hand the problems they are facing, what’s working and what isn’t in staying healthy in business. In many cases, that’s worth the price of admission. As a business owner, you have few objective people to talk to about what you’re doing and how it’s working.