Food shortages and panic at grocery stores in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic have changed the way average grocery consumers think about sourcing their food.

As small ag producers know, there isn’t really a shortage of food, just a disconnect between how a small farm’s food reaches the average consumer’s table. Here’s the crucial question: “How do you let consumers know your thriving ag business can serve their needs when grocery stores fall short?”

To connect with these hungry consumers, you must inform them that small ag businesses exist and can fulfill their food demands. There are lots of tools to do this, with social media being one of the most powerful options — and it’s free.

Social media is an important marketing tool all small businesses can use to spread information about their products and mission. Facebook and Instagram are the most useful social media platforms for small businesses. Facebook owns Instagram, and you can link these two platforms so you can post from just one channel to create new posts on both accounts.

Include a photo or video

Posts with visual components get more attention than just text. You don’t need to be a professional photographer to take great photos, nor do you need an amazing camera. Use what you have and practice capturing moments. Here are some examples:

Also, experiment with live videos of you performing daily tasks. Take your followers out to feed the chickens with you, give them a virtual tour of your farm or introduce them to your employees. If a live video is too much pressure, explore the “stories” feature on Facebook and Instagram, where you can post lifestyle videos but still can edit them before they go out to the public.

Technical considerations

Be consistent. Try making a content schedule for your business to make things easy. For example, commit to posting once a day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Then plan what kind of posts you’ll make so when the day comes, coming up with ideas is easy. For example:

Monday. Post a recipe using your product along with a picture of the dish or someone making the dish.
Wednesday. Post a picture of the farm or a task your business is focusing on that day.
Friday. Post about the farmers market you are attending that weekend or the products you are taking to a retail store.

Use industry‑related hashtags. Tags help noncustomers find your posts if they are interested in the topic you hashtagged. The best way to organize your tags is be sure one‑third of them relate to a broad audience, one‑third relate to a more specific audience, and one‑third relate specifically to your business. For example, a small producer who sells pasture‑raised chicken, eggs and goat milk to the local community could use these hashtags:

Broad audience. #smallfarm #chickens #goatsmilk
Specific audience. #farmfresheggs #nubiangoatmilk #pasturedpoultry
Your business. #yourbusinessname #thelocalmarketyousellat #productname

Include a call to action encouraging customers to engage with your post or your business, such as:

Content is king in the social media world, so take some time to think about how you would like to share your business with your audience. Consider the values you want your customer to know about and decide how much of the process you want to share with your followers.

If you need assistance developing your content strategy or deciphering your mission, contact the Wyoming Small Business Development Center Network for marketing advice and coaching. The Wyoming SBDC Network’s team of regional advisers is ready to assist in creating a plan that grows your follower count and, in turn, your sales.

Engel writes for University of Wyoming Extension.

Source: University of Wyoming, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.