Late last year’s drought and bushfires inspired Grace Brennan to start an Instagram account and Facebook page, Buy From The Bush (BFTB), to encourage Aussies in big cities to buy regional and support rural businesses.
The campaign quickly attracted fans from around the country who were able to use social media to support Aussie businesses.
According to a recent AlphaBeta Australia study, the impact of the campaign on rural Aussie businesses has been significant.
In its first four months of launching, a total of $5 million was generated for featured businesses, connecting them with new customers in Australia and overseas. Three quarters of featured businesses now ship interstate―more than double the share that did so prior to the campaign.
“It’s exciting to share the findings of this research which illustrates the impact of our BFTB campaign on individuals, businesses and communities,” says Brennan.
“It’s evidence of how powerful community driven action, enabled by digital technologies like Instagram and Facebook, can be. It has changed lives.”
Indeed, Kennedy the Label’s Christmas sales generated $30,000―a fourfold year-on-year increase―after being featured on BFTB’s Facebook and Instagram.
Annabelle and Dom Kennedy own a 40,000-acre sheep and cattle station in Nyngan, central New South Wales and throughout the drought, Kennedy the Label, Annabelle’s clothing and lifestyle business, has been the family’s sole source of income.
“BFTB came at the most incredible time,” she says. “We had already seen the closure of most small retail outlets in our town and were facing another Christmas period in an economy where there wasn’t anything around.”
After being featured three times in October, mink and me’s online revenues exploded, growing almost five-fold in the two months that followed.
“We had a really good season in Coonamble, then basically the tap got turned off right around harvest time in 2016,” owner Lucy Moss recalls. “The drought has been quite difficult on a store like mine. Discretionary spending is one of the first things to go when things get tight.”
With online sales now driving half mink & me’s retail business, Moss is investing in further training in social media and Facebook marketing―skills that will help keep her ahead of the curve.
“BFTB has given me the confidence and finances to take the business to the next level,” she says.
Since being featured on BFTB, Wattle & Twine’s web traffic has grown more than tenfold and sales have boomed off a base of only a few hundred dollars per month. Customers across Australia continue to support the co-op; two Sydney schools ordered 300 handmade gifts to be distributed at a Mother’s Day event.
“BFTB has cemented in my mind that the Aussie spirit is really about rallying behind people when they need support. And the Aussie spirit is alive and well,” says founder and cattle farmer, Amy Ballinger.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be a great equaliser for businesses in regional and remote Australia, adds Mia Garlick, director of policy for Facebook Australia and New Zealand.
“The research highlights how social platforms have helped to level the playing field for bush businesses. It can send a message of hope during these challenging times for small business owners across the country, especially those impacted by bushfires and Covid-19. Something as simple as a social media post can help business owners connect with customers across town, across the country or even in other countries.”
BFTB has been particularly impactful among female entrepreneurs, with 97 per cent of featured businesses run by a woman. As a result of the campaign, 45 per cent of business owners learned new technical skills, including marketing and IT.
Many BFTB benefits have flowed through to regional and remote communities, improving both bank balances and morale. Business owners reported spending their earnings on local goods and services, and attempting to ‘give back’ by volunteering or joining community groups.
“With ongoing investment I believe BFTB has the potential to significantly improve economic and social outcomes for rural Australia in the long term,” concludes Brennan.
