In this episode of Cooking Up Sales, Cyd Mitchell of Sugar Coin Academy shares ideas to get your creative juices flowing on social media. Use her tips to brainstorm social post ideas for your food business and you'll never wonder "What should I post today?" again.
In this video, you'll pick up new ideas to help you create social media content for your food business like:
- Taking your audience behind-the-scenes as you work on orders
- Running specials or creating social media-specific products and giveaways for your followers
- Sharing customer feedback
- Going beyond holiday-based social media content
- And more!
Watch the recording below:
Video Transcript
Cyd Mitchell:
Thank you guys so much for joining Cooking Up Sales with Castiron. This is our ninth or tenth session, and I’m super excited to be sharing this content with you all. I am Cyd Mitchell of the Sugar Coin Academy and of Sweet Fest, and I am one of the coaches with Castiron. Welcome everybody! The agenda for today: we're going to go through a brief introduction to who I am just in case you're brand new to the session, and then we're going to do an overview of the topic, and then we're gonna jump right into the content ideas for social media. Then there'll be a time for Q&A. If you are watching the recording, then you can also put your questions in the comments area over on YouTube as well.
Alright, so introduction- who am I? I'm Cyd! I updated my picture from the last time that you guys saw me here. I am an accountant, as well as a business coach here in the foodie space. I went to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill for undergrad as well as for grad school, I got my masters in accounting. And I worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers as well as some other accounting places or in the finance department for a lot of companies. So if you see above the line, that's my accounting background, my finance background. And then below the line is my life since I've been in the foodie and cake world. The little ‘S’ is for Sweet Fest, which is a business resource for those of you in the food space. There's a blog, there's trainings as well as the Sugar Coin Academy, which is the logo right next to that with a little piggy bank. It's also the business courses as well. So everything that I talked about is related to business, growing your business, starting a business in the food and beverage industry. That means if you sell bagels, if you sell donuts, if you sell baked goods of any kind or food of any kind, then this content is absolutely for you. Alright? So I'm also the American Cake Decorating Business Columnist, as well as the business blogger for Retail Bakers of America. I contribute to Pastry Arts Magazine. Then, of course, I host Cooking Up Sales with Castiron and then I jump in on some of the fun activities that they have, such as Camp Castiron. I'm so glad that I said that correctly because I feel like I could just stumble over that! But Camp Castiron, which just happened recently -I contributed to that, and then some other things as well with Castiron. So I'm here being a business resource for all of you guys.
Alright, so welcome! Welcome! In the background, and probably a little bit later, you will see Emily. She is our contact over at Castiron, and she will be your support. She's basically on the support side of things and she's my personal contact there at Castiron. I chat with her all the time about different things, and then sometimes I connect with the Product Development Group and give them the feedback that you guys have given me or the feedback that I've come up with. So Emily is a great resource. Just make sure you take a screenshot, get that email address just in case you have some questions about the platform in general.She'll be able to help you out with that. Also, don't forget to check us out over on YouTube. So search for Castiron HQ or Sugar Coin Academy and you can find business content over there as well. There's a full playlist of the Castiron Cooking Up Sales so you can basically go back and watch all of the previous episodes. There should be about maybe five or six hours worth of content over there. You know, just telling you more about how to grow your business, how to grow your online store, different tools to use, you know, to get yourself kind of found when Google gets you here with social media. It's all kinds of information, definitely make sure to check it out. And then when you go there, make sure that you like the videos and you subscribe as well because that's what all the YouTubers say, right? Alright.
So overview! In this era of social media dominance platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok have become powerful tools for businesses to connect with their audience, build brand awareness and drive sales. Alright. For food business owners specifically, social media offers a great opportunity to showcase your mouth watering products, engage with customers, and ultimately increase your sales. However, we all know that simply having a presence on social media is not enough. You can't just show up and expect for sales to happen. You do need to have a strategy to engage with your potential customers online and on social media, right. The real challenge comes with creating content that not only captivates your audience, basically grabs their attention, but also inspires them to take action. Alright? No matter the type of food business you have, or the type of business you have in general, you have to have the keys. The keys of success lie in crafting creative, engaging content that sets you apart from your competitor. Alright, I messed up that sentence but you get the drift! Basically, the key lies in crafting engaging content. Being out there, being present, is not just the only thing.You need to have something that's going to, again, inspire them to take action. Alright in this session, I'll be sharing six valuable tips that can help you unlock the power of social media and inspire your content strategy. These tips are designed to not only engage your audience, but also potentially increase your sales. By the end, my hope is that you'll have actionable ideas that will help you in your social media marketing efforts, alright. So I don't want to just get you all hyped up, but I want you to be able to just take what I'm talking about, and then go over to your social media, Instagram, Facebook, wherever- or maybe even just go over to a journal and start writing down ideas. So that's the hope and plan and purpose for this whole conversation. This was the slide that I was looking for: there's a whole playlist if you want to play catch up, over on the YouTube channel. So I think we're up to nine now, eight or nine, maybe 10 (this may be 10). There's tons of content, and you should go check it out. Make sure that you play catch up and learn a little bit more about how you can grow your business online.
Alright, so tip number one is to share behind the scenes content. Alright? Take your audience behind the scenes of your food business. Share photos or videos of your process. Introduce your team members, introduce yourself, or also you can showcase your menu. Showing behind the scenes content is important for food business owners because it fosters a sense of transparency, authenticity and a deeper connection with your audience. It provides a glimpse into the inner workings of the business making the audience feel involved and connected to the brand. For example, sharing photos or videos of the food preparation process showcases the care and attention put into each dish while introducing team members humanizes the business and creates a personal connection. So it makes sure people know that there is a person, that there is an owner, behind the brand. And a lot of times people want to invest in the personality behind the brand and the mission behind the brand. You can showcase that by showing behind the scenes content. Another example is highlighting how you source your ingredients, which could place an emphasis on quality and sustainable practices, especially if that's something that's a brand value of yours. So for instance, if you know that if you get fresh eggs from a local farmer, then maybe highlighting that and showcasing the connection that you have with that farmer and maybe showcasing them on your page and just, you know, expressing to people that this is what we do in order to get quality ingredients. Overall behind the scenes content helps build trust, establishes a unique brand identity, and encourages audience engagement.
Now I will put a little asterisk- y’all know I love asterisks- I will pull an asterisk on this and say that if you are going to show behind the scenes content, you want to make sure that you pay attention to what's actually in the scene, okay? So make sure that you have clear hygiene practices, that nothing crazy or gross is going on in the scene. You want to make sure that your stuff is on point, okay? So maybe clean up your space a little bit. Or, you know, if it's one thing that you are making for an actual customer project- maybe it is, you know,- pay attention to having gloves on or having your hair tied back or something like that. You know, the hygiene practices that you guys need to have. I'm just putting it out there because it's a gift and a curse to be able to share behind the scenes because people may also be very judgy about what's going on behind the scenes. Okay? So just kind of putting that out there, that's my little asterisk.
Okay, another piece is reviews and testimonials. Share testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers. Ask your loyal customers to provide feedback and encourage them to share their positive experiences on social media. User generated content builds trust and credibility, showing potential customers that others have enjoyed your food and had a great experience. Testimonials can also influence the purchasing decisions of potential customers. We've all been there. I know, that's me- I read the reviews. By showcasing positive testimonials you can create trust and establish your brand's reputation.
For example, sharing a customer's excellent review about the taste and quality of your food can entice others to try your products. I will say this, if you (and I'm not saying that you need to) go to your Facebook page or take a screenshot of your Facebook page reviews, or take a screenshot of a text message, if that is a part of your brand- and absolutely you can do that. But you can just as easily copy and paste that same content into a Canva template that showcases the reviews and makes it look a little bit prettier. Or you can put it onto your website or you can, you know, showcase it in a little different way - Make a beautiful branded post around it as well. Okay, so I want you to showcase your reviews, but also make sure that you're doing it in a way that also fits your brand. Hope that makes sense.
Also highlighting a customer story about how your food helped them celebrate a special occasion can showcase the type of emotional connection that your business can create. And we all know that people buy based on emotion, right? Ultimately, customer reviews and testimonials can act as powerful endorsements that validate your food business and attract new customers. Like I said, I'm one of those people that before I buy something, whether it's on Amazon, or just on an online store that I'm connecting with, I want to see if they have reviews and what people are saying . And I'm one of those people who jump straight to the most negative review because it could be something petty, or it could be something legit. Alright, so here are a couple of quotes that I felt like needed to be shared related to reviews. Almost nine out of ten customers read reviews before making a purchase, making reviews a critical factor in buying decision. 65% of shoppers trust products more when reviews have user generated content, such as photos and videos. 91% of consumers in the 18 to 34 age group trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family, friends and other personal acquaintances. Alright, so what would that look like on your Castiron store? So you have your gallery right? Now you could create different, like I said, take the information, the feedback or reviews that you've gotten from customers via text message or via your Google reviews or your Facebook reviews- wherever you get your reviews from- in your DMS and then make them into beautiful images using Canva or Photoshop or whatever your graphic design preference software is. You make some branded content, and then you put them on your gallery over on your Castiron store. And that's one way to showcase your reviews as well. Alright?
Offers and promos create exclusive offers or discounts specifically for your social media followers, and promote these deals on your social media platforms to incentivize your audience to visit or order from you. This should help drive traffic and encourage potential customers to take action. Again, we're trying to motivate people to spend money with you. Highlighting special offers and promotions is important for food business owners because it can create a sense of urgency, which will encourage customers to act sooner rather than later. Limited-time deals and exclusive discounts encourage potential customers to try your offerings or make repeat purchases, right? Also sooner rather than later because they want to get in on the limited time deal. Okay, by showcasing these promotions on social media, you can reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your business. Okay, so here's an example.
For example, offering a buy-one-get-one promotion can entice customers to include a friend and ultimately increase your overall sales. So it could be, but I'm not saying it has to be free, right? It could be buy one, get one 10% off or buy on, get one 50% off or buy a cake and you get a cupcake, you know, a company cupcake for this birthday person, right? We're in the COVID times! So we want to make sure that the birthday person has a cupcake that they can blow out the candle on, whereas the rest of everybody else can eat off of this cake, right? So that's something that you can make work within your brand, whatever that looks like. Another example is a discount code exclusively shared on social media, rewarding your followers and encouraging them to engage with your content. Alright, this is something specifically you’re going to tell people. Like look, you have to check our social media. You have to follow us in order to see our exclusive discounts that come out once a month or something like that. And then maybe you even send that in your email blasts or you post that on another social media channel, directing people to come to your most popular social media channel. Ultimately, highlighting special offers and promotions on social media helps boost customer engagement, attract new customers, and, of course, drive sales.
Alright, the next one, collaborate with others. Partner with influencers or food bloggers who have a strong presence on social media. I am all about the collaboration. Collaborating with influencers or food bloggers is important because it allows for increased brand exposure and access to a larger targeted audience. If you are specific about which influencers you want to work with or which food bloggers you want to work with, then you can really target or key-in on a specific audience and a specific demographic.
For instance, if you are gonna use Atlanta as an example if you have a wedding shop, a wedding design company, or a wedding cake design company in Atlanta, then maybe you want to connect with a wedding planner or big influencer in the Atlanta space and you want to collaborate with them in some way. Maybe you do some type of styled shoot or something that they would share out your content in a collaboration effort. Alright? So you can key in on that because, more than likely, people who are following that Atlanta wedding planner are probably brides, couples, grooms, and people who are interested in getting a wedding cake. Influencers and bloggers have established credibility and a dedicated following, making their endorsements and recommendations highly influential. By partnering with others, you can tap into their audience and leverage their influence to promote your products or services. So for example, having an influencer or blogger create content featuring your products and sharing their positive experience can generate buzz and attract new customers. I have a really good example of that: I have a friend who owns a cheesecake, honestly a cheesecakery, but a cheesecake business in Atlanta. And for Mother's Day, she had a collaboration brunch with a food blogger, a big food influencer, that was also from Atlanta. They did a co-branded brunch for mothers on Mother's Day and because both of them were reaching out to their own individual audiences, they were able to have a really large successful event, because they were getting pull from those different areas and the networks of the people who were also coming because they saw it from them.
Okay, another example is organizing a collaboration where an influencer takes over your social media for a day, providing their unique perspective and engaging with your audience. An example of that is maybe if you participate in some type of event, and you know that this other influencer is going to be there, or this is an event where they probably should be there. So maybe it's a Food and Wine Festival, and then you have them just take over your phone! Maybe you pay them a little bit and you say “Hey, take over and do live stories from my page showcasing what we're doing, and all the other exciting things that are going on at the event and then encourage people to come visit us at our booth. Right? Alright.” Collaborating with influencers and food bloggers, amplifies your reach, enhances brand credibility, and ultimately drives business growth.
Alright, contests and giveaways. Giveaways- engage your audience by running contests or giveaways on social media. Social media contests and giveaways can generate excitement, encourage engagement, and expands the reach of your brand on social media. Contests and giveaways incentivize users to participate, often requiring them to like, share or comment on your posts, which increases visibility and engagement. Alright, we've all been there, where a friend of ours tagged us in a post in the comments because they wanted to win a mixer or a date night or some product. We've all been there! Maybe we've tagged our own friends. But that has also brought attention to posts that we personally would have never paid attention to, and you can use that same strategy to your advantage with your business. By offering attractive prizes or exclusive experiences, you can create a sense of urgency and encourage potential customers to take action. For example, running a tag your friend contests where participants have a chance to win a free item for themselves and a friend can expand your reach as participants share your content with their networks. So I got ahead of myself, but that's exactly what we were talking about. Another example is hosting a giveaway where participants have a chance to win a gift card to your business by sharing or reposting a photo of their favorite item on your menu. Okay, contests and giveaways foster community, boosts engagement, and can lead to increased brand loyalty and sales. Oh, one more- here it is.
Share stories. Use storytelling to captivate your audience. Share stories about the inspiration behind your menu items, the history of your business, or the values that drive your brand. By sharing stories, you can highlight the values, traditions, or inspirations that shape your business. For example, sharing the story of how a family recipe passed down through the generations became a signature item on your menu can invoke a sense of nostalgia, it can make people get more inspired by your story, or maybe even just be more drawn to your story because they realize the connection to legacy.
Another example is creating a storytime series that shares memorable interactions with customers showcasing the positive experiences and relationships fostered through your business. For those of you who've been paying attention to Tik Tok or Instagram, we heard about Kate Gates a couple of weeks ago, where basically a baker showcased a cake and talked about this interaction that she had with the customer. Now this went viral for negative reasons, but something along those lines like, “look, I'm creating this cake,” or “when I was creating this cake, here's what happened.” Like “I was stuck in traffic for, you know, 45 extra minutes, I thought the cake was going to be late, but it turned out to be amazing!” Or, you know, we've all had one of those cake disasters where the cake falls apart on the delivery, and then we had to save it. So with those types of things people actually get drawn into the story. That's the reason why binge watching TV is such a big deal- because we all get drawn into a story. Alright? Especially a good story. Storytelling adds depth to your content and helps create a personal connection with your audience. It evokes emotions and helps establish a unique brand identity.
First, before we recap, before I came on here I got an email and I hope you guys got an email too, that talked about a new feature, which I'm super duper excited about. You can add pages now to your website on Castiron! Super duper excited. So you can now have more control of your web design, and improve your customer shopping experience by adding new shop pages to your shop, such as Gallery, About, FAQ, and Contact. And then, Castiron pro users can even add a separate page to showcase their availability calendar. So I know if I'm excited you guys have probably got to be over the moon about this thing, but I'm excited to see it in action for sure. Also, if you go to the blog, so if you go to castiron.me/blog, and you go to this area to look just like this the same picture, you can actually sign up to be a part of the demo. They're going to showcase what it all looks like as well.
Okay, I can't confirm this date. But coming up next month, we're going to talk about summer sales strategies. Maybe when Emily comes on here, then we can confirm the date or not. But just know that we will be back again next month talking about summer sales strategies. I didn't even realize it put those three S's together. But it should be fun going forward!
Alright. So a recap! Social media content ideas. Number one- by taking your audience behind the scenes of your business, you create a sense of transparency and authenticity that allows your audience to form a deeper connection with your brand. Also, don't forget that asterisk to make sure that you pay attention to what's actually in the scene, okay? And make sure that you are following proper protocol and processes for your business so that things don't go south, but that it is always a positive note when you're showing things behind the scenes. Maybe when you're on deliveries, that type of stuff, highlighting your team members as well. User generated content builds trust and credibility showing potential customers that others have enjoyed your food and had a great experience. So, ask your loyal customers to provide reviews and feedback and encourage them to share their positive experiences on social media and to tag you, so then you can repost it as well. Number three, create exclusive offers or discounts specifically for your social media followers. Promote these deals on your social media platforms to incentivize your audience to visit or order from your business. And this is where I forgot to add in the slide, I took a whole screenshot and everything, but you can create coupons and discount codes within your Castiron store. I believe it is in the marketing area, but I can get Emily to confirm that as well. But make sure that you are doing that to help get the word out! And also, because we're using this as one of our content ideas, if you want to create a discount or have a limited time offer you can create that within your Castiron store. Okay, number four: partner with influencers and food bloggers to expose your brand to a wider audience. They can create content featuring your products, share their experience with their audience, and recommend your business. They can even take over your social media for you or just create content that maybe they don't share on their page, but you share on your page. So whatever fits your brand. Engage your audience by running contests or giveaways on social media. And then finally, use storytelling to add depth to your content and help create an emotional connection with your audience. Alright, again- we want to evoke emotion because people buy based on emotion. A lot of us do. Alright! Questions!
Emily Brungard
Great job as always Cyd, I love it! I just dropped in the chat that your coupons-they're under your website settings, and I dropped the link. That's a feature that's available to everyone so you don't have to be pro or anything to use the coupons. So definitely make use of that. Great way to grow your email list too! Yeah, great job. Love all these ideas.
Cyd Mitchell
Thank you. Yeah, so to kind of go off of something that you just shared the link for- and I did touch on a little bit- the new pages. Is that just for pro people? Or is that for everybody? And then is an availability calendar only for pro people? Can you give us some more insight on that?
Emily Brungard
Yeah! So everybody will have access now. It's live now in Castiron. Everybody has access to a few new pages. You can have a dedicated ‘About’ page. So previously, your about section was on your main shop page, but it would get cut off after a couple of lines and your audience or your customers would have to click ‘read more’ or something to view it all. So now it lives on its own page. Now, no clicking View More. You've also got a photo gallery page- that's not new, but it is, you know, not the only extra page so people might click on it even more after this. Also a FAQ page. I think it's gonna come especially in handy for people who maybe have unique fulfillment options. So maybe you only do, you know, a couple of pickups a month as the way that people get their orders from you. Or if you take custom orders and people want to know “why are you asking me all these questions?”, “What do you need for me in order to make this a success?”, you know, any frequently asked questions would belong in the FAQ page. And then there's also a Contact page which just enables your customers to reach out to you if they have any questions. Those are all included in the basic plan. On top of that, because the calendar as a whole is a custom order availability calendar, where your customers can see, you know, are you available to do my wedding cake on this day or what have you, That's only available in the Pro Plan. So then being able to see your availability is also only available in the Pro Plan.
Cyd Mitchell
Makes sense, makes sense. Okay. And then can you, I don't know if you know this off the top of your head but, can you remind us when the date is for like I did see in that email, there's like a demo or something like that. Do you remember when that is?
Emily Brungard
Um, it is June 22. So June 22 at noon Eastern you will be able to join Lindsey on our team who is just an absolute pro at, you know, using Castiron to the best of your ability, she'll be leading that. And she will show you all of the new pages and how to add them and how to customize them and all of that. And, you know, there's more coming, right? Like, who knows what our product team will manage to get out before that. And that's several weeks away.
Cyd Mitchell
When I saw that email come through, I was so thankful that I saw it come through before coming on here because I was like, “Oh, we got to talk.- we gotta talk about this.” I'm really excited to see that. I feel like that may have been one of the recommendations from the feedback session that we had before. So that's just really awesome. Excited about that.
Emily Brungard
Yeah, definitely something that we heard from a lot of people that we want more pages. And, um, you know, obviously, we just launched it but this should theoretically help you improve your SEO. More pages means you can put more content on your website, you know, if you're really going after ‘Atlanta cake baker’ or something like that, you want to show up for that. You know, maybe your FAQs talk about your service area and your product offerings and things like that. So it just opens up the opportunity. And you know, maybe you were hesitating before to add a super long about me section because it was getting cut off- well, now you've got your own about page. So go ham!
Cyd Mitchell
No, I love that, I love that. Yeah. Okay, so I see there is a question: Will these tips work for an online baking supply store? Absolutely. I feel like everything I talked about can really work as just a general rule for most businesses, and especially online businesses. You know, giving your customer reviews? That's, I mean, yes, of course…. So go on behind the scenes? Absolutely. Like let's say if you have a restock, or if you have something, you know, something fun going on with this bake supply company that you have, the reviews and feedback, offering discounts to your social media followers, partnering with influencers, doing contests, telling stories- Yeah, absolutely, those all could work.
Emily Brungard
Totally. And don't forget to drop your questions in the Q&A, or in the chat if you have them. I had a question about giveaways. What do you think about the risk that people are, you know, just following you or commenting because they just want the free thing? And they don't really care about your business? They're not, you know, they're not committed to supporting your business. They just want the free thing. What do you think about keeping up the momentum after a giveaway ends?
Cyd Mitchell
No, I think that's a really good question because there are definitely people who will follow and then unfollow. I think if you give a strategy where maybe they have to tag a friend, and then maybe then they’ll likely like they have to follow and that tag a friend. And so then that friend is probably going to follow and they're going to tag another friend. And so you may end up getting, you know, this like influx of followers, but then if you are sharing content that is of quality, then they may stick around. So I wouldn't not do a giveaway, because I'm scared that people are going to unfollow because then you really just not going to get anywhere! So it's better to do it, get those followers and then if a couple fall off, that's fine. But also like you said, you want to keep the momentum, right? So you share and then after that you don't just stop sharing, right? Like after the giveaway is done, now you need to continue to maintain showcasing your work and sharing tips and doing all the fun things that get people engaged as well.
Emily Brungard
I love it. Yeah, that's great. Because I've seen that happen when I've done giveaways, you know, not for food business but for other things. So definitely something, you know, to look out for I would say. But yeah, it's a great way to grow your following and you're just kind of expanding your sphere of influence by, you know, ‘tag three friends’ or what have you,
Cyd Mitchell
And then the likelihood that 100% of the people will unfollow you after following you is very unlikely, right?
Emily Brungard
Exactly.
Cyd Mitchell
So I have no idea what the statistic is on that but I doubt that everybody who follows you will unfollow you.
Emily Brungard
I don't think so either. I think we have time for one last question. When you are brainstorming, you know, social content ideas- let's say like, you know, the summer does not have a ton of holidays. So if you are used to just using Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's - got all these holidays in a row and I'm just using those to fuel my marketing for social? What are ways to come up with content when you are used to doing holiday stuff but, you know, you're in the summer and it's a little slower. Not so many holidays. What do you do?
Cyd Mitchell
Right. But along with that, the summer does have themes. So there are flavors that are specific to the summer: there are vacations, kids being out of school. There's all kinds of other fun things that you can use to kind of inspire. Pinterest is a good place to find inspiration, and just thinking through things like, “Okay, what is my family going through right now? And what are other families going through right now?” So if you have, let's say, a food business where you do meal prep, then maybe this is an opportunity to showcase snacks as well, because there's going to be, you know, kids are going to be home for the summer. And now we can provide healthy snacks for the summer. So just thinking it through, and I get that because I'm definitely a big like,”Okay, well, February is Valentine's and May is Mother's Day, and June is Father's Day.” I totally understand that. But also along with that there are themes that I feel like you can kind of, you know, use to go along with the summer as well. So maybe you have a “beat the heat” type of promo or something that maybe, you know, you give some type of discount on whatever fun idea or whatever. Or maybe you have some type of s’mores kit that you put together and maybe you have a s'mores flavor. These are things that are still very summer related even though it's not connected to a holiday specifically.
Emily Brungard
Absolutely. I love it. And I mean, who's to say you can't do you know, Christmas in July and get some very early pre-orders for something for the holidays.
Cyd Mitchell
To that point- that is probably why Christmas in July is a thing, right? Because businesses have discovered that there's a lull in sales because everybody's outside or whatever, and so we need to find a reason for people to come in. Maybe it is a semi annual sale, or maybe, you know, it's something that just kind of gives you that little boost because people are going to be excited about most promos -something that you know is a limited time or whatever. Especially if it's on something that they love, you know? And especially, for instance, there's always going to be some type of awesome movie coming out. Right now The Little Mermaid is a big deal, right? So if you do some type of mermaid theme thing, snack, or whatever treats you can take to the movies, or when it comes out on streaming. And you're like, “Well, The Little Mermaid is out on streaming, and if you need your home movie snacks, we've got you!” So there's things that are going on, you just have to pay attention to the news or social media and see how you can take that thing and twist it into something that matches with your brand.
Emily Brungard
Yes, I love it. I love it. And, you know, it doesn't have to be copyright infringement. You know, The Little Mermaid- you just happen to be making some mermaid cookies, you know? They don’t have a logo on them. You just love summer mermaids. Yeah,
Cyd Mitchell
Yeah, they've got this color palette- very, you know, they got some seashells and some beachy things.
Emily Brungard
It works. Awesome. Cyd thank you so much! Any closing remarks on social and keeping the lights on through the summer slump?
Cyd Mitchell
Right. I mean, I would say don't get discouraged. I mean, it's easy to get discouraged, right? Especially when over the years we've seen engagement dip because there's like this pay to play, kind of push on social media. There is likely a core group of people who are interested in what you have to offer, make sure you continue to speak to them. One of the things that is a pet-peeve of mine since livestream started is when people come on to the live stream and then say, “Okay, we're gonna wait until more people come on instead of just starting because it makes it feel like I'm not relevant.” Because I'm one of the first two people to be on the live stream. We don't know if the other 50 million people are going to show up. So now you're making me feel like my point doesn't matter- me being here doesn't matter. And so, you know, if you continue to just keep that energy up, regardless of whether it is one person on your live, or 45 people on your live, or whether there's 45 people liking your post, or whether it's one person liking your posts, keep showing up because people are going to be attracted to that energy. The, “I'm excited to share this content with you” type of energy. I know it can get frustrating. It can get discouraging, but just consider these are your people, okay? And just like how you want to show up for your family, your friends, those are your people. Those people who are constantly liking and commenting on your things. Those are your people as well. Also, don't forget to be social!
That is my main sticking point when it comes to social media. Don't just show up on social media, post to your stuff, and then not come back to comment on anyone else's thing. Not liking anyone else's thing. Literally just using it to share your content- that's not the purpose of social media. I know that we've kind of made social media into its own thing, right? Like social media, first of all didn't exist, what, 25 years ago? Right, and so we've had to kind of learn as we grow and you know, using it for business as opposed to personal. But there still is a social aspect to running a business social media page, right? If somebody comments on your post, like the post, tell them thank you, even if they just dropped an emoji or if they dropped their tag their friend, then say thank you for tagging your friend or something. Continue to engage and provide a sociable atmosphere with your social media content. And that will work wonders.
Emily Brungard
Amazing. Well, that's what we got for today, everyone. Thank you so much for joining. We will put the recording of this up on our website. So watch out for that. And if you're watching the recording, thank you for tuning in. Let us know what you thought in the comments. And we will see you all again for the next Cooking Up Sales. Bye everyone!
