Wk2 Part B: Business Research into Their Use of Social Media

 

#1 First Light –  First Light — Beautiful Grass-Fed Wagyu & Venison First light meat company is a New Zealand based, grass-fed wagyu beef company that offers retail and wholesale beef and also supplies the USA.

Their Instagram has 6,703 followers, they are following 492, they have 405 posts, an active highlight header. Their last story was 8 hours ago, and their last post was 1 day ago 9/5/2022. They display a good use of hashtags, they tag a lot of collaborators, and their captions read more like blog posts that offer helpful information and recipes for their followers. Despite their amazing Instagram, they do not get a ton of comments, but they respond positively to virtually every comment that they do get.

On Facebook, 5,556 people like their page, and it appears their Instagram posts are synced to their Facebook with a post also 1 day ago 9/5. They only have a handful of likes per post and very little (<5) comments per post.

 

#2 Snake River Farms - https://www.snakeriverfarms.com/  Snake River Farms is a leading pioneer of the American Wagyu beef industry. They offer high quality beef and pork, and distribute both retail and wholesale throughout the USA. They use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube platforms, all of which have links on the website.

 SRF is a verified page on Instagram with 240K followers, following 332, currently has 1,519 posts and an active highlight header. Their last post was 9 hours ago, and post on average every 2 days or so.

 On TikTok they have 22.2K followers, 296.7K likes, they have 62 posts, 1 of which is pinned and has 6.6M views. They utilize hashtags well, all of their posts get several likes and comments, however don’t often reply to them.

Nearly 73K people follow them on Facebook, and 9,600 followers on Twitter with their latest post on 8/26/2022.

 

#3 Country Natural Beef –  Country Natural Butcher Shop (countrynaturalbeef.com)Country Natural Beef is a sustainable, humane beef company based in Oregon and offers pasture raised beef.  They offer beef bundles for retail sale and for wholesale distribution in the USA. On their website there are links to Facebook and Instagram.

On Instagram CNB has 3,131 followers, follow 1,023, and have 1,178 posts. They have a good highlights header, their last post was on 8/29, they utilize hashtags but many of them are micro niched. They rarely get comments, however when they do they give a positive response.

 On Facebook, They have 3632 people that like their page, the last post was 8/26, and appears to be linked to their Instagram. While most posts have no comments, a few have 2 or 3.

 

#6 The Butchery- www.butcherymeats.com The Butchers is a full service butcher shop and deli with 4 locations from Del Mar to LA. On their website, they have only an Instagram link, however they also have a Facebook page.

 On Instagram they have 12.6K followers, follow 2,017, have 479 posts, no highlight header, no recent stories, and their last post was 3/26/2022. Their posts currently get around 10+ comments. The vast majority of their posts are close up pictures of meat, and would likely do better if they had some more personal lifestyle picture mingled in.

On Facebook 870 people like their page, their last post was 4/13/2020. They receive very little likes and comments and it appears their content is synced to their Instagram.

 

#7 Old World Meat Company- (oldworldmeatcompany.com) I found this little meat shop on accident while Googling the butchery in Del Mar. It turns out it's right down the street from my house, so I explored their website. This place specializes in sausage making and burgers. They offer sandwiches, salads, and sausage and burger packs. They have social media links on their website. They are using Yelp, Facebook, and Instagram to promote business.

 On Instagram they have 621 followers, following 623 people and they have 35 posts since January of 2020. They do well responding to their comments, but each post has under 10 comments, most with 3-4 comments and <100 likes. Most posts don’t utilize hashtags, their last post was 6/5/2022. Only posted 2 stories in 2 years but it looks like they were closed for all of COVID and reopened for weekends only 11/2021.

 On Facebook, their last post was on 8/6 and are a bit more active on this platform. On Facebook, 716 people like their page and they often reuse the same pictures for new posts. Like on their Instagram, they have very little comments on their posts and very few shares.

 

Overall, Instagram is often the top dog on the social media platforms. What I’ve found is frequency of posts, richness of content, and interaction with followers is what separates some companies from others. The major companies that are national and global more than likely have a professional social media manager who takes charge of the companies posts. Content quality, and frequency of posts is a big differentiator and factor into what makes a successful social media platform.

I’ve learned that consistency and content that not only sells product, but sells a story is the secret for success on social media platforms. When I saw a company posting only pictures of product, I was far less engaged that when I saw pieces of life on the farm, dogs that came to visit, and recipes that I could make at home. I was more engaged with these posts, than when I was just looking at a piece of meat/food and asked a question like “Who can guess what cut of meat/dish this is?”

I think when I start my own social media I will share recipes my family has enjoyed, cute animal photos (because I have some!) and other personal interests that I think will grab attention, and others will enjoy and find value in as to build an organic audience.