Last week Derek Key and I had the opportunity to travel to Baton Rouge, LA for the Louisiana Food Processors Conference, which was held on the LSU campus. Derek was a guest speaker and laid some knowledge down on how to grow your community online via social media.
The night we arrived in Baton Rouge we met up with our friends from Red 6 Media (@RedSixMedia) and Cancer Services of Baton Rouge. They showed us around downtown Baton Rouge (where the Red 6ers new office digs are located) and the LSU campus. The majority of the group were LSU grads and knew the culture within the campus and the city. It was a real treat hanging out and getting to know the group and the city of Baton Rouge.
As a Louisiana staple, our clients ad friends from Tony Chachere’s (@tony_chacheres) were front and center at the conference.
We met other Louisianan food processing companies such as Blue Runner Foods and Camellia. A highlight of the conference was hearing two iconic Louisianan chefs, Dickie Brennan and John Besh speak about integrating local ingredients in markets/restaurants and micro farming of Louisiana.
Here are my top takeaways from Derek’s talk on growing your web presence with social media:
- Social Media matters more now than it did a few years ago. Broader demographic – not just adolescents, but Mom Bloggers, CEO’s, etc.
- Facebook has over 1 billion users, Twitter – 200 million, LinkedIn – 160 million, Instagram – 100 million, Flickr – 75 million, Pinterest – 25 million
- Know your audience and cater to them. Meet them at the appropriate platform.
- Social Media gives you a chance for interaction and reaction with your audience.
- 90% of what people say on Social Media is positive. Have a policy for replying to positive and negative feedback.
- These platforms give you a chance to listen to your audience. Learn their interests so you can better serve them.
- Nothing will go ‘viral’ if you don’t put it out there.
- Keep your website as your home base, connecting all your platforms together.
- Remember the 4/5 Rule: 4/5 times you post, post about someone or something else other than you and your product.
- Measure effectiveness and then adjust to what you’ve learned.
- Keep an eye out for new apps such as Vine, Instagram and Over
Our time in Baton Rouge was short and sweet. Final thoughts?
Louisiana is always a good time! I’m a die hard Texan/Aggie, but I enjoyed my stay on the LSU campus. This video/song sums up the spirit there: