When a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand knows how to effectively use social media, it can help to skyrocket their business growth.
Before you learn about which platforms will work best for your brand, you might like to read up on the Do’s and Don’ts for CPGs in digital marketing and why it’s worth investing your time and money into. We’ve also previously covered the importance of having a strong social media presence, especially as it lets you engage and connect with current and future customers.
This time, we wanted to dig deeper into the best social media platforms, specifically for organic food CPG brands.
Find your target audience
When you’re conducting market research for your CPG, it’s important to get to know your target customers. Not just in terms of their likes, dislikes and spending habits, but also in terms of where they hangout ー including when they’re online. If you find the right platform for consumers of organic CPGs, you’ll find it easier to grow your community and drive more website visits as well as conversions.
Here are the top 3 social media platforms that your organic CPG should consider becoming active on, as well as user stats and an explanation of their culture and uses:
User Demographics
Monthly active users: +478 million
Gender split: 77.1% female, 14.5% male
Age range: 38.8% aged 25 - 34, 19.7% aged 18 - 24
On Pinterest, users scroll through their feed of various ‘pins’, which have been displayed according to an algorithm that determines what each user will be interested in based on their past searches.
It’s known as the ‘aesthetic’ platform, full of beautiful imagery that’s pleasing to the eye. That’s why visuals are the most important aspect of Pinterest. You’ll first draw in a user’s eye through the image, before they decide to follow the link attached.
It’s more than just photos
What was originally just used as an inspiration board has now become a convenient shopping channel, with half of Pinterest users in the US using the platform to shop.
The good news for startup CPG brands is that 97% of the top searches on Pinterest are unbranded. That means that they’ll make generic searches, like ‘healthy organic dinner ideas’, then will choose the pin that stands out the most. Moreover, 80% of pinners have discovered a new brand or product on Pinterest ー your organic CPG could be next.
We’d recommend using stunning photography to set your content apart from the rest. Link it to something valuable to the consumer, such as a recipe that uses your product ー not forgetting to use relevant keywords in the title and description!
Organic Valley
Organic Valley is a great example of an organic food CPG succeeding with Pinterest. Their pins display an array of mouth-watering food - from sugary desserts to more savory dinner delights.
They include clear branding, without compromising aesthetics. Each pin features a clear title for the recipe that you’ll find if you follow the link.
User Demographics
Monthly active users: +2 billion
Gender split: 51.6% male, 48.4% female
Age range: 31.2% aged 25 - 34, 31% aged 18 - 24
Instagram delivers a never-ending style feed of photos based on which accounts you follow and engage with the most.
A decade ago Instagram was seen as more of an ‘aesthetic pictures’ platform, but in recent years it’s been pulling away from that.
On Instagram, it’s becoming increasingly important to write value-packed captions that build upon the accompanying photo or video. It’s also worth mentioning that IG is putting more emphasis on video content and pushing its Reels feature onto its users. In fact, the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri actually stated that it’s no longer a photo sharing app.
We’d recommend that you use Instagram for - well, pretty much everything. Got new products? Share them on Insta. Got a recipe idea? Share the tutorial on Reels. Got an environmental charity that your brand supports? Promote it on Insta. Fancy introducing the team? Introduce them on Instagram Stories.
Nature’s Path Organic
This brand is nailing their Instagram strategy. If you take a look at their profile, you’ll find a mix of beautiful photography that shows off the products, as well as pictures of the team, giveaways, seasonal recipes and more.
Their reels do the same, giving their followers some cheeky behind the scenes action or using the organic food products in a creative way.
Tiktok
User Demographics
Monthly active users: +1 billion
Gender split: 60% female, 40% male
Age range: (specific to the US) 25% aged 10 - 19, 22.4% 20 - 29
Tiktok is the newer social media platform on the block, which explains its younger user demographic. It’s a video sharing app, allowing users to create content up to 3 minutes long.
Brands were originally wary of joining Tiktok, previously known for its ‘silly dance’ content ー which weren't seen as useful for business promotion. However, it’s now full of brands promoting their products or services through current ‘trends’ on the app.
Find a bigger following
Tiktoks have the ability to reach anyone on the platform, even those who don’t follow you. So long as your content engages the first round of people that see your video, the platform will push it out to a bigger audience. If this second batch of viewers engage, they’ll push it out to an even bigger audience, and so on. As long as people keep engaging, your video has the potential to go viral within minutes.
We’d recommend that you use this app to make short, snappy cooking videos that feature your product. As it turns out, ‘recipes and cooking’ is in the top 10 content categories on Tiktok, so there’s definitely a hungry audience out there waiting to dine on your organic recipes. ASMR videos where you can hear the chopping and scraping of the cooking process always go down well!
Alkemist Organics
This brand posted its first video in June of this year and they’ve already racked up over 600,000 followers. See what we mean by Tiktok’s viral potential?
They pair satisfying videos that show how they make their organic pressed juices along with trending sounds on the app. It’s a simple yet effective recipe for success.
Ready to grow your CPG?
Once you’ve started growing your community and brand awareness on social media, you’ll probably need a helping hand to cope with all your newfound popularity.
Buffalo Market is the leading distributor of organic and plant-based foods or beverages. We can help your CPG get stocked in stores across California and Las Vegas. If you’re looking for a specialist distributor that knows exactly how to handle your organic goods, get in touch today!
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