Whatever your product and your market, a CPG’s social media presence is a must.
Social media platforms help to raise awareness of your brand and products. They connect you with your customers. And they have the potential to increase your leads and your sales.
However, to achieve all this, you need stellar social media posts. Here’s how to create them…
Tailor your post to the platform
Get to know your platform before you post. Facebook is different from Twitter, and Insta is different from TikTok.
What do high-performing CPG social media posts look like on your platforms of choice? How many characters can you use? How do posts show up in a user’s feed?
Also, take note of any differences within platforms. For example, if you’re posting to your Instagram feed you’ll want to use images of the highest quality.
Post to Instagram Stories, however, and the bar is much lower – giving posts a “behind the scenes” quality.
Tailor your post to a buyer persona
As with any marketing activity, you should create content with a buyer persona in mind.
Your posts should be more about your buyers than your brand. What are their frustrations and motivations? What are you helping them to achieve?
It might be that you speak to different buyer personas on different social media platforms. For example, Instagram generally attracts a younger crowd than Facebook.
You may even speak to a number of different buyer personas on the same platform. Just make sure their needs aren’t so wildly different than your page starts to feel inconsistent.
Aim for consistency
Consistency is another important element of any great social media post. Your posts should always have roughly the same look and feel – one that aligns with your brand.
Keep content, visuals, copy and even color schemes in the same ballpark each and every time you post.
Cohesive, consistent posts will help you communicate your brand personality. This makes it easier for followers to get to know you, to remember you, and – ultimately – to trust you.
Ace your visuals
Social media posts with images get a huge engagement boost. So don’t ever (and we mean ever) create a post that doesn’t include some sort of visual element.
Great photography can work wonders. But why not mix it up with some other eye-catching visuals?
According to a Sprout Social survey, marketers ranked video as the form of content most important to achieving their marketing goals.
These days you don’t need a professional videographer to create winning video content. Create your own lower-quality videos for platforms like Instagram Stories and TikTok.
Infographics are also super shareable. If you’ve conducted some research relevant to your social media following, share the stats.
Use a graphic design package like Canva to turn your research into a visually appealing and informative image.
Capture products in context
When picking which images to use with your CPG’s social media posts, put emotion front and center.
A picture of your product can only do so much. But develop a story around your product and you create emotion in a viewer.
Perhaps you can show your product being used by a mother and child, or a group of friends. Perhaps you can link your product to a wider social initiative.
Make people feel something when they view your social media posts and they’re more likely to share and buy.
Hone your copy
Everything you write on social media is a representation of your brand. Try to stick to a brand tone of voice – whether that’s knowledgeable, friendly, or even irreverent.
Keep captions short enough for the platform you’re writing for and for your followers too – nobody wants to read a social media essay.
Above all, don’t forget the basics. Always run your posts through a spelling and grammar check before you publish for all the world to see. Sloppy copy errors definitely don’t make a good impression.
Use hashtags on relevant platforms
Hashtags on Facebook look spammy. But they’re an accepted part of the Instagram and Twitter experience.
Conduct some hashtag research and then cherry-pick a few to add to your post caption. Hashtags will help your post and your brand become visible to more social media users.
Consider partnering with influencers
If you’re not already partnering with social media influencers or other brands, you’re missing out on a huge marketing opportunity.
Influencers are regular people with social clout. They have thousands of loyal followers who trust their recommendations.
By creating posts in collaboration with influencers, CPG brands can introduce their products to a whole new audience and improve their brand image too.
Interact with your followers
Social media communication is never a one-way street. Keep an eye on your posts and respond to as many follower comments as you can, prioritizing queries.
Besides social traction, there are lots to be gained from communicating with your followers in this way. Social listening can provide brand and product ideas directly from your customer base.
Analyze
A key part of social media marketing is analysis. You need to understand what works and what doesn’t. So, approach social media posting in a strategic way.
Test out different post formats. Post similar posts at different times of the day. Use different CTA phrases. Then look at which posts perform best in terms of engagement and referrals to your website.
Once you’ve found a winning formula, repeat it to maximize social media success.
Want to get your products in front of more people?
If you’re a CPG brand looking to break into new markets, stellar CPG social media posts are a must. But so is having the right distribution partner on your team.
Buffalo Market specializes in distributing products for mission-driven food and beverage brands. We get your products on the right shelves in the right stores.
Want to increase your brand’s sell-through? Tell us a little about your brand and your needs and we’ll be in touch to talk strategy.
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