From the first point of contact to the last bite!

It’s no fluke how Little Mushroom Catering has become one of the premier full service catering companies in the Waterloo Region. Hard work, determination, a great staff and a strong leader with a passion for food, people and success.

Little Mushroom Catering was created in 2010 by Stephanie Soulis who is President and CEO. She started LMC as a natural extension of her love for food and quality service. The one thing that has made Stephanie so successful in such a short time, other than her work ethic, is the way she uses social media as a marketing tool for her business.

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Some organizations have found it difficult realizing the benefits of social media marketing. So many question its value due to measuring its impact or attracting interest, not Little Mushroom Catering.

Peter Roesler, President of Web Marketing Pros, lists five reasons why organizations should be using social media as part of its marketing activity:

1. Increasing brand awareness.
2. Legitimizing your brand. Use of social media let’s people know your brand is engaged with the world and that people are interested in it.
3. Increase sales.
4. Customer service can also be improved through social media – communications with customers can be more effective.
5. Content distribution is another social media marketing benefit. Creating content enables your organization to engage with customers and create conversations.

Let’s put the focus back on LMC’s strategy and how Stephanie has been able to use social media to build her business. LMC has been able to integrate several of the points above into their strategy along with improving brand loyalty, decreasing marketing costs and creating better search engine rankings.

Little Mushroom’s Path to Success

Stephanie has worked hard to build the LMC brand throughout the years. In 2016, Stephanie won the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur Award and the Libro Growing Prosperity Award. She has been featured in a commercial for CTV in Libro’s Share the Future campaign and also sits on many boards within the region, such as Foodlink Waterloo Region and the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce.

I recently had the privilege to meet with Stephanie and she explained “we have built our marketing strategy around sponsorship and social media. On the social media side we have 4 main platforms we use; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.”

1. LinkedIn is generally used to network for both Stephanie and Little Mushroom. It has been a great source to meet new business contacts, showcase LMC’s services and recruit extra staff.
2. With over 4,800 followers on Twitter, LMC is able to engage in meaningful conversations with customers and potential clients. The LMC Team is able to talk food, let people know where to buy foods locally and showcase their community involvement.
3. LMC’s Facebook site lets customers and fans know what the company is up to. It’s a great way to introduce new venues, show the great work the company is doing at weddings and events and they are able to be part of groups that are related to their business.
4. Finally, the last social media platform LMC incorporates into their marketing strategy is Instagram. This allows LMC to cater (pardon the pun) to fans and customers who love their “food porn.” They have 3 accounts within the organization and tend to keep things light. They also have a hashtag that has become very popular when posting, #lilmushlife. Another great use of Instagram comes with being able to cross promote with some of their strategic partners such as decorators or venues.

Lessons for Others

From the first point of contact to the last bite, Little Mushroom Catering is the leader in Waterloo Region for innovative full service event catering. Their use of social media as part of their overall marketing strategy has helped build their brand, showcase their belief in FOOD INTEGRITY, COMMUNITY SUPPORT and create a solid online presence.

 

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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