Understanding Social Media for the Meat Industry in 2020

You’ve heard that social media is important – but with dozens of channels, unlimited content types and a new normal, knowing where to start can be tough, especially when the meat industry has experienced so much change. This blog will give you some tips on how to leverage social media within our current landscape, where adaptability is essential. Here’s some helpful industry insight from our social team:

The Social Media Marketing Funnel Explained – Michael Craddock

To truly understand social media marketing, you need to be familiar with the marketing funnel, which sounds a lot more complex than it is. With any content marketing (social media, blogs, emails, etc.), you need to consider the journey your audience will go on with you: how will they buy from you if they don’t know you? How can they engage with you if they’ve never heard of you? You must get inside the head of your target in order to connect with them. This year alone has shown marketers and meat companies that understanding your target audience is vital to ensuring success. People want to know where their meat comes from, how it’s packaged, etc. The answers to those questions help your customers make more informed purchase decisions.

To help them choose your products, you need to better understand their journey. So, let’s explore the marketing funnel, which usually follows the pathway of Awareness, Interest, Engagement and Action. If you can bring Awareness to your brand, then the next order of business is Interest. Consider a blend of visual and written content to evoke Interest and make audiences want to learn more about your brand. Next up is the tricky task of Engagement – people like being heard and feeling connected! If you can successfully tackle engagement by addressing audience questions, the Action (also known as conversion) is simply moving them from comments, likes and shares to direct messages, purchases and emails for more information. Just remember:

Social media is a place for people to escape so make sure the funnel you use for your social media audience takes people to new places of discovery.

Using Social Media for B2B Marketing – Cassandra Staley

Social media is a great way to market to B2B (Business-to-Business) audiences. By incorporating effective social media practices into your marketing strategy, your meat brand can build much-needed authority and demonstrate “thought leadership” by addressing common concerns and sharing insight with other professional audiences. From Awareness to Action (lead generation, purchases, etc.), this can touch every part of the funnel. Did you know that 75% of B2B buyers and 84% of C-Suite executives use social media when making a purchase, according to the International Data Group? These groups are the people your social channels should be talking to! We know the meat industry makes relationship-based decisions … so why wouldn’t you build a relationship on social media, especially during an uncertain time like this? It’s the perfect time to reassure people of your values, your quality of service and willingness to go above and beyond.

Social media is a powerful tool to further your B2B network and create trust.

What if I DO Want to Talk to Consumers? – Meredith Boyce

B2C (Business-to-Consumer) marketing is how businesses connect with consumers whether that is through email, a call center or social media. The key to B2C social media in 2020? Nimble communication. According to the Q2 2016 Sprout Social Index, 90% of surveyed consumers have used social media platforms to communicate with companies. Our social team frequently fields important messages for our clients on social media – and on our off days, we reach out to brands via social media for customer service, too! The real-time nature of social media provides fast answers at the tap of a few buttons and the chance to provide immediate feedback.

That’s absolutely integral for any company’s marketing plan as it helps to facilitate change in the direction you should take your content, business or products – now you can know what you should either change or keep doing!

Social media is a necessary means of communicating with your B2C audience in 2020.

Social Media in a Post-COVID Landscape – Jordan Justice

We know the world has changed since COVID-19 shook us all. (See our insights hub on how meat consumers have responded to the crisis here). Transparency is key, which makes social media a necessary part of your tool belt. Consumers are more concerned than ever about where their products come from and are expecting openness and honesty from the brands they are loyal to. But be cautious: Balancing this growing need for transparency while avoiding tone-deaf messaging needs to be top of mind. Make sure the content you produce isn’t always about you and your product: in the middle of a pandemic, sometimes people just want to know it’s going to be OK. Social media is the perfect place to share real-time updates about protocols your company is taking to keep employees safe, how meat is managed and other relevant topics. Know that your followers aren’t expecting you to have all the right answers but appreciate efforts to have genuine dialogue. Don’t be afraid to pivot your strategy when needed: Flexibility and the ability to change direction are critical to staying connected to your customers.

Consumer interest in company values will not be disappearing anytime soon – your followers will appreciate your honesty.

As you’ve read, social media marketing and the marketing funnel are more critical than ever in today’s quickly-evolving meat industry. Engaging dialogue and real-time, transparent customer service with your target audience? It’s a match made in heaven. June 30th is #NationalSocialMediaDay – make sure you thank whoever is running (or will run) your accounts. We hope this blog gives you confidence navigating social media in this new landscape as the meat industry recovers from a global pandemic. Just in case things get rocky, though, we created a quick social media glossary to help you stay on track (Download below). Happy Socializing!