Do it for the ‘gram

By Shaan Bajaj and Mahmood Hossain

Content creation is absolutely necessary for modern settings, especially if you aim to take your small business to greener pastures. Multinational companies and world-renowned brands understand the crucial nature of creating content and its direct impact on their brand, product, or services. Creating content for your Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) means providing your potential clients and target market with information they can use, for free. Additionally, it becomes easier to retain existing customers by maintaining quality engagement through various social media platforms.

Apart from word-of-mouth, taking a bit of your creative time and creating content, with the help of minimal equipment, can work wonders for your business. According to HubSpot, 40 percent of marketers claim content marketing plays an essential role in their marketing strategies. On the other hand, 81 percent say their content is essential to a business strategy. Now, imagine what it can do for you and your brand if you can successfully, and consistently, create content for the web. To make things easier, we’ve chosen a fictional cloud kitchen and provided you with real-world basic steps to help promote the brand and its service with all the necessary tools. A cloud kitchen is a cooking facility that is made for only delivery-based preparation; it can also be prepared from your own home kitchen. However, you can utilise the steps of this short guide for your own SME.

First and foremost, familiarise yourself with your own brand.

BRAND IDENTITY

Definition: your brand identity refers to how you present your brand; it is essentially your brand’s persona. It includes visual elements like the logo, colours, and text fonts you use across your communication material. This includes how you want your consumers to feel when they interact with your brand, therefore it also refers to your brand values, and your brand voice.

Why is brand identity so essential?
Your brand identity is the foundation of your marketing strategy, if you have a clear, consistent, and authentic brand identity, you will gain loyal consumers who will also become brand ambassadors for you. The most successful brands – think McDonalds, Nike, Apple, and Starbucks – have managed to streamline their identity into every interaction they have with their consumer, gaining them world-wide recognition, loyalty, and profits.

Questions to answer when building your brand’s identity

• What is your story?
• What problem does your brand solve?
• Who is your competition? And how are you different?
• Who is your ideal customer? Build a buyer’s persona.
• How do you want your customers to feel when they purchase
  your product/service? Describe using three adjectives.

These are just a few questions to consider that we think are essential, however, the more questions you ask, the clearer your brand identity can be.

CLOUD KITCHEN EXAMPLE:
“At our cloud kitchen, each Indian dish is a recipe passed down through generations, with its own history. Whether you are busy working a 9-5 job with no time to cook or just miss the taste of home, order a box of home-like comfort to your dining table.”

TARGET AUDIENCE

When you think of your customer, who comes to mind? Who is buying your product/service? Those are the questions to keep in mind whenever you create content for your business. Knowing your target audience will help you understand how to market your business, and what is the best way to reach them. This will determine the platform you use, the type of language that will resonate with your audience, and lead to a better understanding of your consumers.

This is where you need to build a buyer’s persona; to do so you need to identify your target demographics, giving you information that you can analyse and improve to increase sales.

Target demographic information includes:

• Age
• Income
• Sex
• Location
• Occupation

Google Analytics can help you understand the type of audience you are attracting, and most major social media platforms offer insights into your audience once you activate a professional profile.

Why is this important for content creation?

• You can make content that directly speaks to them.
• Once you know the platforms your audience is using, whether it is Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LINE, or WhatsApp, you can focus on making content optimised for that particular platform.

Cloud kitchen’s target demographic:

• Age: 18-35
• Income: THB 20k-40k per month
• Location: Central Sukhumvit area
• Occupation: 9-5, working professional, admin professional, financial services

HOW-TO & EQUIPMENT
Once you’ve understood the values of your brand, cemented its identity, and comprehended the demands of your customers or audience, you’re halfway there to a solid routine of content creation for your cloud kitchen.

As a starter, there is no need for an arsenal of production equipment and a team. If you already have the tools, like a DSLR camera, great. But know that this is not a necessity, especially with the platforms you’ll be working with. With today’s advanced technology, your Android phone or iPhone will be enough. Again, don’t be afraid to look up tutorials and how-to videos to apply them to your own content creation strategy.

PLATFORMS
Now, for the platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp Business. There is no argument about which platform is the most impactful when it comes to food, and that is Instagram. As reported by the app itself, 90 percent of its users also follow a business page. Whatever you post on this platform can simultaneously be shared on Facebook, e.g., stories or reels. You can run various offers, polls, and contests, and develop loyalty programmes.

Twitter can be used to enhance engagement with your audience to get a better understanding of what they are really thinking. You can ask them questions, discuss trending topics, create or re-share memes based on your products or service, etc.

Then, there is WhatsApp Business, which is essential for a cloud kitchen that is catering to local customers. Moreover, you’re still within the ecosystem, as the app connects with your Facebook and Instagram pages. This app allows you to personally connect with your customers and answer any of their queries, not to mention offer opportunities to promote your products and services, or events. Additionally, the WhatsApp business profile allows you to add a link to your website (or social media handles), a description of your business, location, email address, and more importantly, showcase your products or services.