Do you own a home-based business, but aren’t sure how to expand your reach? Jaikia Fair, owner of Sauzy Suzan, was once in the same boat. That is, until she figured out a social media marketing plan that worked for her.
Jaikia has been running Sauzy Suzan, a business dedicated to producing a variety of sauces and dips, since 2020. She’s created a whole range of sauces with unique flavors, and has found many different ways to market her home-based business.
We sat down with Jaikia to learn more about her social media marketing techniques and how she uses them to promote Sauzy Suzan.
Hi. Can you start by telling me about Sauzy Suzan?
Sauzy Suzan was created for people who would like to cook but sometimes can’t or aren’t good at it. I make sauces, butters, cheesecake dips, and dressings. They’re for pretty much anyone who’s not a good cook or needs some help with cooking. Some people don’t season food very well, or don’t know how to mix in the right ingredients. With Sauzy Suzan, all you have to do is select the right sauce to add a splash of flavor.
I am a sauce person. I add sauce on everything all the time. I used to just make sauces for myself and give them to family and friends. My aunt used to call me Sauzy Suzan because of my love for sauces. So one day, I decided to make a business out of it.
How many customers do you have right now?
Right now, I have at least 100 loyal customers. This might seem like a small number, but my business is growing day by day.
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The biggest challenge is getting people to try new, unique products. When I was a child, I was taught that not everybody’s food is the same as yours, so you might not be able to eat everything you’re offered. This belief, or misbelief, is why when I started this business, the hardest thing was getting the people around me to try out new recipes.
How do you encourage people to try your products?
I try out a lot of different ways to show off my sauces and other products. I want to get people’s opinions on the sauces before I officially launch them so they know that this is a reliable home-based business and there is a real person attached to the brand.
I get people’s opinions through taste tests, where I send out a sample to people I know and have them review it. I share a lot of recipes online to show people how they can use my products when cooking different kinds of meals. I’ve also catered small events where I’ve presented meals in which my sauces are a key ingredient, so people can try out different sauces in different meals. I call this catering service a “Sauzy Social” where people can invite upto 5 friends and hire me to serve a variety of my sauces with food samples.
What marketing strategies do you use?
I focus on online marketing and word of mouth.
Get creative with word of mouth marketing
How do you use word of mouth to market your sauces?
First, I always encourage people I meet online or offline to volunteer as taste testers for my products.If they agree, I provide them with a product I already have available. They try the free samples, and if they like it, they tell other people about the products they tried. I also give people my business card so they can pass my brand name on to others.
I recently tried another strategy where I hosted an event called “Seat at the Table”. This was basically a dinner party where I showcased my sauces with different foods. I provided four courses, and with every course people got to try a different product of mine. For the salad course, I offered a variety of salads with my range of dressings. For the main courses, I provided a variety of sauces to try with different dishes. For dessert, people dipped pieces of fruit into my homemade cheesecake dips. This was a versatile way to showcase all the products I offer. About 60 people attended, and I got a lot of positive feedback.
What marketing platforms do you use for online promotion?
I have business pages on Facebook and Instagram.
Keep your social media alive with vibrant content
What kind of promotional content do you post on social media?
I like to post a lot of different things on my social media pages, to keep the content fresh and engaging. I’m a creative person, so I like to add a bit of that creativity into the posts that I create.
One example is the “Seazon Pass” that I post occasionally on Facebook and Instagram. This is just a fancy name I came up with for a Sauzy Susan gift card. This is my way of promoting my products and extending special offers to my customers. These gift cards can get them a discount when they purchase my products.
Another example is my weekly “Dad Joke Wednesday” posts. Every Wednesday, I create a post with a joke or pun I find funny, and post it on social media. I love dad jokes! I post these because I feel like these jokes show both me and my brand as fun, quirky, and different, which is exactly what I want to portray. I have a quirky sense of humor, and I like to show it through my brand as often as I can.
Share new and different ways for customers to use your products
You post a lot of recipes on social media. Can you tell me about those?
The recipes I share all easily incorporate my products. For instance, if I’m trying to promote a certain sauce I’ve made, I’ll post recipes that people can use that sauce with. It’s another way to encourage people to cook with my products.
Mix things up with seasonal content
What does your design process look like?
My business colors are orange and blue. I try my best to incorporate them into most of my posters. But I also recognize that these colors don’t always go with everything, so I do mix things up sometimes.
When I’m creating a design, I imagine colors that go with my theme or image. For instance, if I’m showcasing a certain food, I’ll add the colors that match it best. Similarly, if my post is related to Christmas, like the “Sauzy Holidaze” cooking tips I posted last year, I’ll trade in the blue and orange for green and red.
While brand colors are important, I think it’s important to be versatile with your content and keep trying new things.
PosterMyWall makes it easy to come up with creative content ideas. I’ll search for templates based on a keyword, then review the templates to find one I want to customize.
Create an easy-to-navigate website
Do you have a website?
I do have a website. I’ve made it as simple for people to navigate as possible . I’ve added food visuals and some of my most popular products to the homepage so people can easily click on them.
I also have a page called “Tasty Testimonials”, where I post the reviews I get. If people need to read a couple of reviews about my products before making a purchase, they can head on over to my testimonial page. Adding authentic reviews helps me show that I value my customers’ opinions.
Since I am the only person that works at Sauzy Suzan right now, I decided to be humorous with my “Meet the Team” page. The “team” is a collection of pictures of myself with different job titles.
And of course, all my contact information is there too, so if anybody wants to reach out or has a question, they know where to reach me.
That sounds great! What’s next for Sauzy Suzan?
My plans are to become more active and consistent with my marketing efforts, and for Sauzy Suzan to become a household name.
And as I grow, PosterMyWall will continue to play a huge role in my business because it’s where I make all of my content. It’s easy to use, has the best features, and it works for someone like me who’s just starting out and doesn’t have a huge budget.
Great! That brings us to the end of this interview. Thank you for joining us, and best of luck for the future of Sauzy Suzan!
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