Savvy producers use social media to maximise profit

Social media offer small food and farm businesses a cheap and effective means of advertising. Yvonne Fontyn spoke to three e-commerce entrepreneurs about how they identify their target market, decide which platform to use for marketing, and go about advertising their goods and services online.

- Yvonne Fontyn

The Instagram florist

Jina Rabinowitz of Johannesburg started her business earlier this year. “I was a nursery and playschool teacher for many years,” she says. “My middle daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the end of 2017, so while I loved teaching, I needed to find something that would give me more flexibility in my working hours. I wanted to do something of my own, and I’ve always adored flowers. I decided to do a floristry course.”

Rabinowitz completed a floristry course at the Dalton & Bloom Floral Academy in Randburg and launched her delivery-based floristry service, @27stems, soon thereafter.

“I called the business 27stems because 27 is my house number. It’s a happy home that l love very much, so 27 seemed like a lucky number. I decided to start small, taking orders in manageable quantities so I can deliver the best possible product. It’s just me for now. But I hope to employ an assistant and a driver in the future. I usually make all my deliveries myself in my car. When I have too many or the customers are far away, I use my faithful go-to courier, Mr 24 Deliveries. They offer a great same-day delivery service,” she says.

IDEAL FOR IMAGES OF FLOWER DISPLAYS

For marketing, she uses Instagram, which is particularly suited to visual displays.