Purpose
Tuti’s Apapacho is a sweet treat shop owned by my husband, Henry, and me. However, it was Henry’s grand idea to create a small business to share some love through desserts. Though our family were great supporters, we needed to reach out to more people. From past experiences, I have learned that Instagram is a great way to get our name out into our community. Our purpose for this project was to use Instagram to reach out to the community and spread the love through desserts. As for me, my purpose was to learn how digital content creation can impact a small business and take what I learned with me in my future career. I also desired to help Henry fulfill his goals of making a successful dessert shop.
Challenges
A challenge for me happened towards the end of the project. My mentor suggested creating a video would likely grab attention from current and future followers. For most of this project, I stuck to making static posts and reached a point of comfort. Making videos was simply not on my to-do list because of my fear of being looked at weirdly in public. Stepping out of my comfort zone to fully create a mini-vlog using my phone, voice-recording, and computer editing was a huge step out of my bubble. The results from the video were outstanding and exceeded my expectations. This is how I learned that making a variety of content is crucial to growing a following on Instagram.
Project Processes
Weekly, I made posts at least twice a week, either by making an Instagram Story or posting it on the main page. Many of these posts were created using Canva, an online graphic design platform that is user-friendly. The important part of posting was sharing the content on my personal Instagram, where I have a larger following.
Some content would include making special promotions. Depending on the holidays, we would create new temporary menu items. This frequently generated a lot of excitement. These specials also led me to create new menu designs, which I enjoyed dedicating my time to. Before making any big changes like these to our content, I always made certain that Henry included his ideas and input for each of these promotions and specials. Although he was mainly focused on making the desserts, he still needed to be involved in the content I was creating. After all, he is the primary owner of Tuti’s Apapacho and should have been aware of what was being posted.
I consistently asked our followers or new accounts for orders. For new accounts, this included sending an introductory message along with our menu and the method of payments we could receive. If we received orders, I would inform all our customers that we would make and deliver their items over the weekend. I kept note of these orders through a notepad and a Google Sheet. Henry and I would then work as a team to make and deliver these orders. Other times when I did not have the time to reach out to every single account, I would make a simple Instagram story advising our followers that we were ready to receive orders through direct messaging.
Once orders were complete, many of our customers would give a review via our Google Survey or through Instagram stories. These reviews helped us recognize what we needed to do to appeal to our customers’ needs. Many Instagram stories helped us gain recognition. Word of mouth was another excellent method that many of our customers used for us.
At the end of each week, I would update myself with the data analysis provided and collected by Instagram. I spent time studying the changes and made comparisons. This helped me know what was working and what was not as far as creating content.
Overview
In the end, we have been filled with so much joy. I am so impressed by how effective this project has been on the Instagram page. The page has gone from 57 followers at the beginning of this project to almost 140 followers at the end. I am confident that we have reached our target audience effectively and hope to keep it rolling!
This project has proved to Henry and me that Tuti’s Apapacho is worth our efforts and commitment. The responses, comments, and reviews we receive only fuel our motivation to continue pushing forward! We are so fortunate for our experiences and are excited to see our growth.
Takeaways
I have learned an immense amount during this project, but here are my main takeaways:
- Social media is crucial for small businesses. However, I’ve learned from my mentor and from this project that content creation has to have value to viewers. What that means is to be intentional with every post in a strategic manner. Value could mean the content is entertaining, educational, or inspiring to the audience. Content creation should be interesting and inviting. It should not be random, meaningless, or only interesting to the creator because this can drive people away and negatively impact the impression people may get from the business.
- Consistency is key! Without consistency, there are no opportunities for growth. Consistency can make or break a business. I especially saw this when I was searching for a mentor on Instagram.
- Have patience for growth. At first, I had a difficult time seeing the growth I wanted to see in a short period. However, like growing a seed, it takes time, effort, and patience to see things flourish. If you are consistent, you can rest assured that positive outcomes are headed your way.