PosterMyWall free class: Create quality social media content faster and more easily
Everyone dreams of creating thumb-stopping social media marketing content more quickly and easily. Well, Sarah Morgan, Marketing Coordinator for Buttermilk Kitchen, has cracked the code–and she’s on board to share her secrets.
Buttermilk Kitchen is an Atlanta-based brunch restaurant that nurtures its customers with wholesome food created with sustainable local ingredients. In this PosterMyWall free class, Sarah demonstrated the system she uses to create, organize, and schedule social media content that reflects the Buttermilk Kitchen brand.
Here’s what Sarah had to say:
1. Highlight your mission in social media posts to showcase your brand
With your social media feed, you want to create a mood that is centered on your mission. Highlight what defines you as a brand, whether that’s through pictures, videos, or captions. Sarah achieves this by portraying the image of an organic, family-friendly restaurant that is just good vibes.
One way to ensure your brand is highlighted across your posts is to have a consistent color palette. Buttermilk Kitchen opts for a combination of warm tones like brown, yellow, and beige with shades of blue.
2. Figure out your brand voice before you start posting your social media marketing
What is a brand voice?
As a business owner, it’s very important for you to identify your brand voice before you start social media marketing. Essentially, having a brand voice means having a brand personality– which drives your posts and the way you interact with customers. Here are the questions Sarah suggests you answer to figure out your brand voice:
What is the purpose or goal of your business?
This simple statement can guide you in creating the right voice. For instance, at Buttermilk Kitchen, the goal is to create brunch food that is made from scratch using buttermilk and other sustainable ingredients. Keeping this in mind helps Sarah to brainstorm ideas for new posts and to create captions that tell a consistent story.
What do you offer?
In other words, what is the experience you deliver to your customers–and how does that experience benefit them?
Buttermilk Kitchen offers a local foodie experience in a comfortable, casual, convivial atmosphere. Therefore, Sarah’s posts articulate what customers can expect: expertly-prepared comfort food that can be shared with friends and family.
How do you want your customers to feel when they interact with your brand?
Strong brands are established by creating an experience that causes your customers to experience positive emotions. Defining the emotions you want to provoke is another way to define what content is–and isn’t–right for your brand. Buttermilk Kitchen strives to make its customers feel: happy, comfortable, healthy, and satisfied. They want to evoke a sense of loyalty and belonging by supporting a local business and local suppliers. They want people to feel pleased with themselves for eating healthy.
Who are you attracting?
Think about this – who is your ideal customer? And what kind of customers are coming frequently to your restaurant? Merge these two types of customers (if they’re the same, that’s even better) to create a target audience. Then craft your posts to be appealing to that audience.
For Buttermilk Kitchen, this target audience is local families and friend groups who are looking for a fun, casual, weekend experience to share.
3. Create keywords that describe your brand
Once you’ve answered the above questions (Sarah recommends writing them down for more clarity), it’s time to start analyzing your responses. This is a rigorous process of scanning the words you used and figuring out common themes and keywords. What are the words that you’ve used most frequently to describe your business and customers? What are some things that you find yourself talking about repeatedly?
To help you understand this process, here are Buttermilk Kitchen’s main keywords:
- Approachable
- Community
- Friendly
- Chef-driven
- Refined simplicity
Keywords are incredibly useful because they’re buzzwords you can go back to when you’re trying to figure out what kind of message to send through your social media posts. This brings us to the next point.
4. Curate content themes out of your keywords and put them in a calendar
Once you have your brand keywords, use them to create content themes. These are ideas for social media posts that reflect the message your keywords are conveying. Put these themes in a social media calendar and figure out which theme will be promoted on what date.
Sarah likes to create her calendar at the end of each month. That way she can plan all her posts for the next month, including posts about special events, new menu items, and national holidays.
The advantage of pre-planning is that it reduces stress: you can do it all in one go instead of worrying about what to post every day. Plus, when you keep a detailed record of content ideas, it’s much easier to stick to your content themes and maintain a consistent brand voice.
Of course, even when you have a calendar, last-minute changes are inevitable. Expect the unexpected, right? Especially if you’re doing something fast-paced like restaurant marketing. Don’t panic when that happens. If you have a calendar, you can always move things around if you need to.
Here’s what Sarah’s weekly calendar of themes looks like:
On Sundays, Sarah focuses on a menu item. Then on Mondays, she highlights a retail item from the restaurant pantry that empowers people to make healthy, organic food at home. On Tuesdays, she promotes another menu item. Wednesdays are behind-the-scenes days where Sarah’s social media posts let customers see how their food gets made. On Fridays, Sarah highlights a customer. And finally, on Saturdays, Sarah posts a shot of the restaurant at its busiest, which gives customers a peek at what the Buttermilk Kitchen dining experience is like.
In addition to the typical schedule, Sarah creates spots for posts about upcoming giveaways and collaborations.
A few things to keep in mind when making your calendar
- It’s okay to repeat similar posts just like Sarah did. As long as they stay true to your brand.
- Use your content to give your followers an inside scoop, like behind-the-scenes footage, as often as possible. They LOVE it! Plus behind-the-scenes content immediately makes your social media page more valuable because it provides something that people can’t find anywhere else.
- Finally, learn from Sarah’s example: use your social media to highlight your customers. Including them in your social media journey makes your brand more accessible.
Start building your social media content strategy today!
With these strategies and Sarah’s free social media planning template, you can start creating your content strategy for Instagram, Facebook, or any other social site. These tips will work for any type of marketing, whether that’s restaurant marketing, retail, professional services, or anything in between. Just remember to keep it interesting and true to your brand.
Once you’ve curated a content strategy that you’re satisfied with, find some PosterMyWall templates to edit and customize, and create gorgeous, on-brand posts in minutes.
Other articles you might like:
- Shoot high quality photos and videos on a budget
- Social media marketing for restaurants and bars
- 12 amazing Instagram marketing tips for small businesses
