It was a gloomy Saturday morning as I entered the Dentist’s clinic and headed to the waiting room to wait till it was my turn to go through torturous pain (also read: root canal). As I settled into the stainless steel chair, I looked around to check my fellow victims, a twenty something female sat with her head bowed down phone in hand, on her right was a middle aged man, again looking down with phone in hand; surveying the rest of the room I noticed all present were busy with their phones which wasn’t a very uncommon sight but it got me thinking of how our lives are being affected by these smart phones and the social media we are so keen to be on all the time.
Social media can most easily be defined as a network of various websites where people meet, share and interact. I remember Orkut, Myspace and Hi5 etc – what fun we thought they were, perfect way to spend the ‘extra’ time we had. Then there are Twitter, instagram, google plus and Facebook, totally addictive examples of social media, where users just ‘have’ to check for updates every other minute! From uploading photographs of every (and any) event happening in our lives, to sharing ‘memes’, to stalking relatives and friends, to adding/following anyone we’ve said hi to, to bringing revolutions and creating hate groups, to marketing for business ventures, for home entrepreneurs – social media has it all.
There is a difference of opinion on the advantages/disadvantages of social media. The main argument of those against it is that one is glued to a screen all the time causing physical repercussions and all interactions on it are virtual which reduce a person’s social skills. The wrong use of such medium may lead to detrimental physical and mental effects.
On the other hand, the benefits of social media are many, from marketing your brand, to establishing a business from home, to increasing customer base, to shortening distances worldwide, social media has for sure brought about a change globally. Anything can be made popular using social media.
Lately things related to food are very popular all over the social media and food promotions. You see almost every other person tweeting or instagramming the meal they just had (that includes me too). Somehow the trend for sharing the food we just had or are making on social networking websites has become very common now. People all over instagram, twitter, facebook etc are posting pictures almost every other hour. There are various groups on Facebook which are dedicated to food only where people share the reviews of their favorite eateries specifically highlighting what they liked or disliked. The restaurateurs and various owners of the eateries also have a chance to reach out to their customers via these groups or pages, update them regarding different activities, new launches, and the sort. Social media has had an impact on us not only individually but has had an effect on the way we do business as well, the way we market our products.
Earlier, we only had Ideal Bakers, or Hobnob, or United Bakers, bakeries where we needed a car to get to but ever since people have started using Facebook, and that too so frequently, the entrepreneurs have had a chance to use it to their advantage and the customer has the convenience to have it ordered at their homes. There has been a sudden increase in the number of home based bakers , more like a plethora of home based bakers and caterers just because social media is cheap marketing. The entrepreneur gets first hand feedback, the advantage of word of the internet, sharing, easy and cheap marketing, which are all sources of benefit to the business. Taking the same example of a home based baker, the baker has a chance to show the samples to people, answer queries live and faster and get the customer’s feedback via his/her facebook page or twitter account. The customer on the other hand has many choices to choose from, does not have to leave the house, and can easily order online. Not just the home based bers or caterers, even the restaurateurs use facebook pages to introduce customers to new additions in their menu, post photos of the latest entries, interact with the consumers, take orders online, get the consumers’ feedback and improve. Food groups as mentioned above are also a source of consumer-owner interaction.
If we look at it from another angle, we see how much opportunity social media has given to women who have baking, or cooking talents to share or use effectively as a business. It has provided a great opportunity to many people, especially women, who in our conservative society are not preferred to work to showcase their skills and make money out of it; hence, sharing the economic responsibility with their husbands, fathers etc and getting a chance to create their own identity. Talking about myself only, I started my blog way back in 2009, hoping to create my own virtual identity and for the sake of sharing my skills with people all around the globe. It does not use a lot of my time, hardly an hour for each post including editing the photos and writing so it is a very convenient hobby to be busy with. A year after my blog had started, it got nominated for the best food blog in Pakistan, later on, received the award for the best food blog in Pakistan in 2011 which gave me even more recognition, opportunities and chances to use it well for my own benefit, especially if I wanted to start a business some time later on in life. Taking advantage of my blog’s age, and my award, I created my own page on Facebook, built an audience, shared recipes, took requests to attract a certain number of loyal followers and later used my very own page to advertise my mini catering business. I received orders, sent customers photos of the food, and answered their queries, while sharing some of my recipes on the page to keep it interactive. I later on decided to give cooking classes as catering was a bit too much of a work, and consumed a lot of my time; thanks to facebook and twitter, I could advertise almost for free for my classes as well. The reputation I have built for my blog over the past years allow me to accept invitation from various eateries to review their menus and give my honest feedback to help them understand their consumers and targeted audience. Not only this, my page is also a my portfolio in a way; it proves my abilities and lets me be a part of various magazines as a freelance writer. Social media is more responsive, interactive and easy to use than people leaving homes for the very same tasks. The feedback you get from the people keeps you going and helps you improve. Happy customers equal to them sharing your posts on their timelines. All one has to be alert of is, to know when is the right time to post something on the social media. Early morning? No. Afternoon? No as well. Evening? Yes, why? Because people are then home from work, schools, and colleges and have some time to spare to spend on these websites. Just mastering some more techniques like these will get you more likes or followers for your page or business. Another one might be not spamming your followers’ timelines that may lead to them disliking your page.
People have started taking internet and social networking websites very seriously. So much so that social networking websites are more attractive and popular than blogs. They are always logged on to one website or the other, making it easy of us entrepreneurs to reach out to them. . A person only needs the basic understanding of the internet to be a member or a part of such social networking websites. The era of artificial intelligence has made us all very lazy, the consumers as well as the entrepreneur enjoy the benefits of social media and the internet – everything is literally, just a click away; may it be ordering food, deciding where to get the food catered for the wedding, or getting the birthday cake.
Social media, may it be Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram, is a very good tool for not just food, but many other businesses. If used wisely, and at the right times, these social networking websites can help us reach out to many people, not only nationwide but worldwide. In this day and age, one must realize its importance and utilize this powerful tool for their own good as well as their work.