Leverage on social media to build a brand - Zubaida Abdel-Rahman

Zubaida Abdel-Rahman, pioneer and renowned food blogger also known as the Profession Foodie, has urged young entrepreneurs to take advantage of social media to create wealth.

According to her, as we transition into 2023, it is easy to notice marketing trends all around us changing. We are in an era in which digital marketing seems to have become more popular than traditional ways of marketing. Companies are starting to spend more money on advertising on digital platforms than ever before.

She added that, with all these changes taking place, new opportunities to generate revenue have risen. A huge factor contributing to these changes is the impact social media has had across the globe. “Social media has allowed what digital marketers call “influencers” to create revenue streams significant enough to change an entire lifestyle within a short period of time.”

The Professional foodie advised that, Ghanaian youth should identify these digital advantages and adhere to use their social media platforms to liberate young people from unemployment, poverty and reduce the high dependency ratio in the country. She shared that for a brand to be recognized on social media to make money, there is the need to build trust, and create consistent and helpful content. “Social media platforms are flooded with many types of content creators. A lot of consumers primarily check Instagram and TikTok to see what their favourite influencers are up to. This means founders have to intentionally create an online presence to turn followers into paying customers.

Zubaida added that to be successful on social media, netizens or influencers should create trust, be relatable, and be transparent to create loyalty. Many entrepreneurs rely on a loyal customer base to succeed. “Building trust and connecting with followers is one way to cultivate reliable clients. Showing day-to-day life as a founder, giving followers access to exclusive events, and explaining the story of your brand, creates transparency that customers value. "I genuinely think that people are past the stage of just seeing a business," she said. "People want to hear the stories and the realness."

She recommended that the founders looking to grow in 2023, need to be mindful of the way social media and the economy work hand-in-hand today. “Building trust and personalizing your content is necessary for creating a business that consumers are willing to support. In today's business climate, being the face of your brand and speaking your mind as a founder is often the route to success.”

Zubaida Abdel-Rahman is the founder of Zubzz.com, a pioneer in Ghana’s budding food blogging scene. It is a 4-year-old food-influencing brand popular in the growing foodie community in Ghana. She recently launched a new app Konnect Gh to help locate all the sizzling food places in Ghana.

Starting as a food blogger aka, professional foodie, in 2018, Miss Zubaida built a beautiful space on social media, where she posts food reviews from 5-star restaurants to local food vendors A “professional foodie” as she calls herself, is someone who reviews and advertises restaurants and eateries in Ghana, rating them and sharing advice on the best places to go.

Over the years, food blogging has become a popular career path, with most but according to Zubaida, when she began it wasn’t so simple. “Getting people to take you seriously was hard. Everyone thought it was just an excuse to not sit in an office”. From navigating unhappy managers who get less-than-perfect ratings to funding consistent reviews in expensive restaurants, we got her to share some information and lessons she has learned as one of Ghana’s pioneer food bloggers.

She began her career as a food blogger after a thread on Twitter brought her attention to the fact that there wasn’t enough information online for Ghanaians who liked to eat out. Things like menus weren’t available to help people budget properly, and building on that, she created Zubzz.com, a website that provided people with menus of over 200 restaurants, reviews and recommendations on where to dine. Starting a career in a field that wasn't recognized as “serious” wasn’t easy, she says, “It’s expensive and you get fat”. Some restaurants are very offended if you have anything less than positive to say, and others are wildly inconsistent, making recommending them based on your experience very difficult. It was very rewarding though, and not long after brands began to seek her out to work with her.

She currently has a combined following of almost 115,000 social media followers, and 50,000 website subscribers from 8 international countries, her favourite being Twitter where she averages 10 million engagements a month. Shortly after she began hotel reviews and international reviews, where she tours foreign countries for the best places to dine.

With 5 countries covered so far, she’s slowly becoming recognized for her travel blogs as well, where she provides helpful visa and flight information, as long as ways to travel on a budget. Follow her reviews and recommendations on her Instagram (@zubaidah.x), her Twitter (@zubaidah_x) or her website Zubzz.com.