Social media usage is at an all time high, with the majority of individuals older than 18 saying they regularly use platforms like Facebook and YouTube (Pew Research Center, 2024). More than 60% of adults ages 18 to 29 routinely use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat (Pew Research Center, 2024). This means that one of the most effective ways to market local food to all age groups, and Millennials and Generation Z in particular, is through social media. Age, however, is not the only demographic to consider when marketing local food. Data also shows that gender plays a significant role in social media usage; women are more likely to use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok than men regardless of their age (Pew Research Center, 2024). Agents should consider this when using social media and should focus on marketing to female consumers–a demographic that has already been shown to have favorable opinions of local food (Eiseman & Won, 2023; Feldmann & Hamm, 2015). Marketing local food is important for extension agents who work in the local food space because NC Cooperative Extension’s purpose is to support agriculture and the people of North Carolina (North Carolina State University, n.d.). The following is a set of best practices for social media usage to promote local food.

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Carousels - an Instagram post that contains more than one image or video; the format of the carousel encourages users to swipe left through the post to see your content

Brand - “a public image, reputation, or identity conceived of as something to be marketed or promoted” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-a)

Algorithm - “rules, signals and data that govern the platform’s operation” and “determine how content is filtered, ranked, selected and recommended to users” (Adisa, 2023)

Hashtag - “a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-c)

Engagement - how social media users interact with your profile and content–measured in likes, shares, comments, direct messages, and clicking on your profile (Sprout Social, 2022)

Content - images, written statements, videos, and other forms of information you provide on your social media platform (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-b)

Platforms - “an [app] or website that serves as a base from which a service is provided” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-d)

General best practices for using social media as a local food marketing tool fall into two categories: your brand and the consumer’s access to you (Allen et al., 2010; White et al. 2014; Schiro et al., 2020). Having a recognizable brand on social media means that consumers are easily able to weed out fake accounts and access your content. This can be done by choosing a recognizable profile picture, matching your username with your description, using hashtags to categorize content, and following related content and content creators (Allen et al., 2010; Schiro et al., 2020). Recognizable profile images allow consumers to find you when they are engaging with content that represents their personal values. Thus, creating a recognizable logo to use across digital media formats can indicate to consumers, once they are familiar with your brand, that you are a trustworthy source of information or have a reputable product.

Aside from creating a recognizable profile image, you should create content that social media algorithms will promote to your intended audience or viewer; this can be done by focusing on creating quality content instead of a large quantity of posts (Schiro et al., 2020). Quality content is informative, consistent, and trustworthy (White et al., 2014). This type of content is more likely to be shared, liked, and commented on which boosts your platform’s overall engagement (Schiro et al., 2020). Ways to achieve this are to be transparent about who you are and what you do, be a generally likable organization, listen carefully to your consumers that are interacting with you on social media, and be responsive to them (Kerpen, 2011). These same findings were reflected in Schiro et al. (2020). This responsiveness is especially important for female consumers as they are more likely to seek relationship creation on social media, as well as use the platforms more in general, than their male counterparts (White et al., 2014; Eisemen & Won, 2023). Fostering a sense of authenticity on your digital media platforms can enhance your brand’s reputation as likable. Posting images with people (yourself, employees, etc.) rather than objects can help people connect to your brand, and also helps your content break through social media algorithms when compared to images without people in them. Additionally, involving your followers as the people in your posts leads to higher share rates and increases your chances of producing viral content (Schiro et al., 2020). Thus, sharing a bit about who you are, what is important to you, why you do what you do, and then involving your followers in it can help foster authenticity across your social media content.

Once you determine what you should post, the question becomes how much content you should make and when you should post it. Determining posting frequency can be challenging because it is highly dependent on your particular audience. However, there are some general guidelines for how regularly you should post to each social media site. For Facebook and Instagram, you should aim to post once or twice per day (Suresh, 2024). You should plan to post more for social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok; the goal should be between two and five times per day (Suresh, 2024). The time that you post is also an important factor to consider. As most people use social media during their leisure times, it is best to post your content in the mid-morning to lunch time hours, 10am to 1pm, and in the evening, 7pm-10pm (Suresh, 2024).

NC State is a brand that people immediately recognize. Using the university's brand helps establish trust in the content being distributed.

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NC State is a brand that people immediately recognize. Using the university's brand helps establish trust in the content being distributed.

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Deciding when, what, and how to post your content are key steps in marketing local food on social media. However, there is one step that still needs to be addressed. It is important to determine which platform is best for your content – you have to decide where you should post. The best way to determine this is to figure out why you are posting your content. For instance, you will want to use different platforms if you are trying to create relationships with your followers versus trying to provide educational content (Accion Opportunity Fund, n.d.). The following is a good rule of thumb to follow for each of the main social media platforms:

Creating content that consumers can trust in a consistent manner is the one of the best ways to get them to interact with your product (White et al., 2014). Additionally, you want to be transparent and responsive in your communication (Kerpen, 2011). All of these things can be accomplished by utilizing the tactics described by Qu et al. (2017) and Schiro et al. (2020): create short videos with embedded captions that do not rely on sound and carousels highlighting the people involved in local food. Qu et al. (2017) recommend that these videos be 30 seconds or less; this is supported by the recent findings of Schiro et al. (2020) that short form videos generate the highest levels of engagement. Engagement is also increased by using videos that do not rely on sound, as it recognizes the general behavior of the roughly 80% of social media users who only watch videos on the platforms on mute using captions or visuals to absorb content (Schiro et al., 2020). Carousels are beneficial for the Instagram algorithm as they lead to longer engagement with your content. Both videos and carousels that increase length of engagement will help boost your content through social media algorithms, when compared to single, static images. This can allow consumers to create relationships with you, will keep them engaged, and will make them more inclined to purchase their food locally (White et al. 2014).

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Accion Opportunity Fund. (n.d). Choosing the right social media platform for your business. ↲

Adisa, D. (2023, October 30). Everything you need to know about social media algorithms. Sprout Social. ↲

Allen, K., Abrams, K., Meyers, C., & Shultz, A. (2010). A little birdie told me about agriculture: Best practices and future uses of Twitter in agricultural communications. Journal of Applied Communications, 94(3). ↲

Eiseman, D., & Won, A. S. (2023). Community attitudes toward local foods and producers: The role of warmth versus competence across demographics for social media engagement. Journal of Applied Communications, 107(1). ↲

Feldmann, C., & Hamm, U. (2015). Consumers’ perceptions and preferences for local food: A review. Food Quality and Preference, 40, 152–164. ↲

Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). McGraw-Hill. ↲

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Brand. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 12, 2024. ↲

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-b). Content. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 12, 2024. ↲

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-c). Hashtag. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 12, 2024. ↲

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-d). Platform. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 12, 2024. ↲

North Carolina State University. (n.d.). How Extension works. ↲

Pew Research Center. (2024). Americans' social media use. ↲

Qu, S., Lamm, A., Rumble, J. & Telg, R. (2017b). The effects of online video on consumers’ attitudes toward local food. Journal of Applied Communications. 101(4), 1-20. ↲

Schiro, J. L., Shan, L. C., Tatlow-Golden, M., Li, C., & Wall, P. (2020). #Healthy: Smart digital food safety and nutrition communication strategies–a critical commentary. Npj Science of Food, 4(14). ↲

Sprout Social. (2022, October 20). Social media engagement: What it is and tips to improve it. Sprout Social. ↲

Suresh, A. (2024, March 21). Social Media Posting Schedule: How to create and schedule using tool. Sprinklr. ↲

White, D., Meyers, C., Doerfert, D., & Irlbeck, E. (2014). Exploring agriculturalists’ use of social media for agricultural marketing. Journal of Applied Communications, 98(4). ↲