Page 16 - August 2021 Barbecue News Magazine

NBBQA: The Social Influence
If you are in the business of BBQ, then you know how important it is to have social media platforms. Social media, such as Facebook and Insta- gram, is where you get to be in touch with your followers. They are no longer customers there, they are friends, followers, fans, and family, all be- cause we feel closer. When Twitter came out and celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, many fans automatically felt closer to their favorite per- former. Many a business has taken advantage of this by having a big social media presence. A lot of young people of today (and many of us old ones) check out the social media footprint of a product or place before patroniz- ing them. When was the last time you checked out a place on YELP, Trip Advisor or Facebook?
Social media is huge for the business of BBQ. Do you have a restaurant, a sauce, rub, grill or some other BBQ business? Social media is an essential part of your marketing plan. For many, they have hired a person to oversee all their social media communications. From postings to answering ques- tions to making sure their influencers are tagging their product. This is something also new to our business world, influencers. These are people
who travel the country (even the world in many cases) who contract with companies to post a picture with a partic-
ular company’s product (from jeans to sunglasses) in many awesome locations. These people aren’t even famous household names. They just have several so- cial media followers. Some companies pay these in-
fluencers anywhere from $75 to $10,000 (yes, you read that correctly) for a well-placed post.
We, in the BBQ business, are somewhat familiar with
this concept and may not even realize it. Many of
the charcoal companies we are closest to all have
ambassadors, which is another name for influencer.
The influencer isn’t the customer of these compa-
nies (they’d go broke if they were) but rather, the
guy cooking in the backyard who follows that influ-
encer. We buy rubs, marinades, grills, charcoal and
much more because someone we look to is using it. Think
about the Wicked Pig Marinade Matt Ouverson uses or the White Lightning rub Eric Hodson seasons with. How much of each fly off the shelves be- cause these two world champions use them? They are influencers and we want to cook like they do.
The NBBQA seeks to be your social influence. From our social media to our
website to our newsletter, we want you to see us as the one stop shop for all things BBQ. At our virtual fingertips are the top names in the business of BBQ which we rely on to help us all to grow. This association seeks to help you grow as an outdoor cook whether you are in the food competition side or the restaurant side or somewhere in the middle. The educational ses- sions we provide, the social media posts, the get-togethers we’re planning are all designed to help you grow in you BBQ walk. If you have suggestions, questions or just want to say “Hi” then we encourage you to socialize with us as we smoke some meat or grill some steaks (even if it’s virtual for now).
Educational Sessions
The NBBQA has set out to ensure
the educational growth of our
membership doesn’t fall by the
wayside. We depend a great deal
on our conferences to do this each
year. However, as you know, due to
COVID, we have been unable to get
together like we have in the past.
Just like you in your daily lives, we
have had to come up with avenues
to do everything virtually from our Awards of Excellence to our Educa- tional Sessions. Nothing can never really replace the times where we can interact with one another. Laugh, hug and just talk with each other face to face, but this is the next best thing.
Businesses have been trying to figure this out as well as they try to move forward while continuing to grow. Zoom has grown because of this as well as become a household name. The WWE has filmed week after week with
an audience that was virtual. Film and theater casts have reenacted their most famous scenes or reunions in a virtual setting. When talking about a virtual reality now, it has gone way beyond video games. It is a way of life for us as we navigate in this pandemic environment.
Will this be our reality forever? I doubt it very much, but it is ours for right now and in many ways, it will be here to stay. Having said this, the NBBQA is a part of this new wave by offering these four educational sessions. Four of the top names in their given industries have partnered with the NBBQA to offer our members sessions which will help you grow in your business. Certified Angus Beef, a label you see in every supermarket. Legacy Event productions leading the way in media productions both life and virtually. Prairie Fresh provides, not only many championship teams their pork, but
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AUGUST 2021