Proven Ways to Grow Your Small Food Business
Let’s be real– running a food business can indeed be unpredictable. In order to ensure steady income, you have to pay attention to a very important business aspect: marketing.
The thing is, marketing is not a one-and-done deal. It’s an ongoing process of making sure that you’re putting your brand out there and making efforts towards brand awareness and customer loyalty. If you want to embrace bigger opportunities for your budding food business, here are some great starting points:
- Make the most of social media
The best thing about social media marketing is you don’t need a ridiculously high budget to actually get traction and generate business. Even with a small budget, you can start a targeted ad campaign that can help you drive leads and customers fast. Besides paid social media ads, you can also work towards driving organic growth by creating a social media calendar and consistently reminding your existing and prospective followers that you do exist and are eager and ready to serve.
In your content calendar, you can showcase your menu, signature dishes, customer reviews, special promotions, and even behind-the-scenes of your kitchen action. Especially with reels and stories and the use of hashtags, organic discoverability on social media is now easier than ever. All you have to do is be consistent and trust the process.
If you’re too busy or low on budget, you can save time and money doing this activity by simply using poster templates or restaurant templates online. In just a few clicks, you can have ready-made graphics to showcase what you’ve got on social media.
- Attend food festivals
Food festivals take place all year round, depending on your location. If you live in major cities, there usually are weekly or monthly food events from farmers’ markets to pop-ups and themed festivals. If you’re in a smaller town, food festivals are usually seasonal. No matter the frequency, just grab every opportunity you have to build brand awareness through these regular festivities.
This not only allows you to attract new customers and potentially build social media buzz, but it also exposes you to more opportunities like networking and partnerships. Any business operating locally can benefit from such food scenes. For sure, the logistics are well worth it once you slowly but surely establish awareness and authority in your space.
- Partner with local influencers, bloggers, and delivery platforms
Influencer marketing is now getting more and more popular– and for good reason! People trust people more than brands, and word-of-mouth advertising is a timeless marketing strategy that’s here to stay. Besides, local influencers, bloggers, and delivery platforms already have their own following or user base, and teaming up with them gives you instant access to such a relevant and huge base of target audience. The key is just to find the right people to work with and build relationships with these key partners to really drive your business forward and well into the future.
- Collaborate with other local businesses
On top of working with influencers and bloggers, other local businesses can also be your strategic partners. There’s a sense of community in every local food scene, and the key is to find complementary businesses that you can work with to amp up your game.
For example, if you’re into baking or the pastry business, working with coffee shops can be a great way to cross-promote each other’s products. You can even feature each other on social media and become official partners in selling and sharing each other’s businesses. Marketing requires out-of-the-box thinking, and there are so many opportunities you can tap to expand your reach in the local landscape.
- Create a Loyalty Program
You know how it’s cheaper to retain customers than to acquire new ones? As long as your products are undoubtedly scrumptious, there’s no reason people won’t think about giving it another try. A solid loyalty program allows you to compel existing customers to come back sooner and often. Whether you’re using a punch card, points-based system, or even a loyalty app, this marketing strategy is definitely one of the best ways to run a sustainable food business while also turning your customers into brand advocates.
Just stay open to opportunities and make marketing a constant activity that is really as important as your core operation. With persistence, and the right strategies, your food business will become a well-loved staple in your community. Just keep at it and explore other effective and creative marketing ideas that work for your brand. There’s always a way forward, and the key is just to look out for it and pursue growth and progress day by day.
