How Buy From The Bush used social media and storytelling to generate $9 million in revenue for rural SMEs

Grace Brennan co-founded the Buy From the Bush (BFTB) movement in October 2019 using social media. Since then, the campaign has generated $9 million in revenue for rural small businesses.

The journey from a volunteer-led hashtag movement to a financially viable business wasn’t instant, but it has been successful.

Since launching, BFTB has attracted more than 550,000 followers across Facebook and Instagram. And, more than 50,000 transactions have been processed via its marketplace.

In a recent interview, Brennan shared with SmartCompany Plus how effective storytelling and social media use can create long-lasting social, cultural and financial change — even away from the big side of town.

Key takeaways

1. Always be clear on your purpose and what you want to achieve

2. Develop a strong voice and use it to foster relationships with your community

3. Stay in your lane — be clear with your messaging and try not to get distracted by comparisons

Creating a new rural story

When launching BFTB, Brennan’s rural community in western New South Wales was ravaged by drought. As a city-slicker turned countrywoman, Brennan could see the impact on her community and the disparity in urban media coverage.

“The media focus was pretty two-dimensional,” Brennan explains. “It was focused on farmers in paddocks, and it was mainly about men. But I witnessed small businesses, largely run by women, being impacted.”

As funds dried up within drought-affected towns, small businesses were feeling the impact of less spending. Brennan observed staff lay-offs, less investment in new stock and shorter opening hours. Revenue suffered because no one had money to spend locally.

“My ambition in launching BFTB was to introduce friends and family to the incredible businesses out here. I thought they might want to do their Christmas shopping in the bush, injecting dollars into communities that needed it,” Brennan said.

Because most BFTB businesses didn’t have online stores, Brennan turned to social media.

Using the BFTB Instagram account, Brennan showcased content from drought-affected businesses. She told the story behind each product and asked customers to contact the store directly for sales.

Then, she told businesses to use #BuyFromTheBush (a hashtag that now has over 400,000 posts) to help identify more brands than she could showcase in her curated feed.

Meanwhile, Brennan and co-founders — Millie Fisher and Georgie Robertson — utilised PR at every opportunity.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by #buyfromthebush (@buyfromthebush)

“We used PR to tell our story and invite people in. And, we were explicit in asking our community to share the message,” Brennan said.

“Sometimes, when you start a business, it’s a bit cringey to get into the sales element, but we were hopeful and shamelessly hustled. There wasn’t a lot to lose and plenty to gain for our communities at that time.”

And their hard work paid off. The campaign attracted 100,000 followers within the first month, and Meta went out of its way to support the campaign.

“Meta, who was Facebook at the time, contacted me within a few weeks of launching to offer their support,” says Brennan. “It has been a powerful and incredibly useful relationship.”

Recognising the campaign’s potential, Meta prioritised upskilling Brennan. Then, Meta took the workshops on the road and into drought-affected communities to train business owners.

“We always wanted to help small businesses build their capacity, and Meta helped create social media training workshops and shared insights,” said Brennan. “It was pretty incredible to have these opportunities in regional communities.”

Beyond drought relief

By early 2020, it became clear BFTB customers supported the movement beyond Christmas shopping.

The Black Summer bushfires ravaged regional Australia, and customers were keen to support affected communities. Then, shortly after the fires, COVID-19 hit Australian shores shutting borders and access to regional communities. BFTB stepped up to support these communities too.

Brennan expanded the BFTB seller terms to include all rural communities — not just drought-affected. And Meta moved their training opportunities online, helping the movement to continue thriving.

“When COVID-19 struck, most of these businesses had already begun investing in e-commerce and branding,” explains Brennan. “They had begun to see the power of a digital footprint. They knew they could use Facebook and Instagram to connect with global customers — not just their local community. It positioned them well for when the pandemic hit.”

One year after launching, BFTB moved beyond a volunteer-led movement. Brennan and her colleagues launched a one-stop revenue-generating online marketplace. The marketplace now earns enough to pay all six employees.

“Generating revenue from the movement has had a massive impact,” Brennan explains.

“The workload wasn’t sustainable without paying staff. Now we can invest in long-term projects to create sustainable support for rural businesses.”

The power of storytelling

Since the start, BFTB has relied on the power of storytelling. Brennan knew customers had to understand the impact of their dollar, which meant connecting customers with the back story of each product and seller.

“Every customer wants convenience and a bargain. But, I’ve realised there is an appetite for products that can’t offer those things if you provide an engaging story and focus on the impact of the purchase,” said Brennan.

“With Meta, we’ve been able to tell the story of what happens when you buy from the bush — the next impact layer beyond initial dollars. We can share the impact on local employment, and how it changes perceptions of the bush. We can also share the potential of digital businesses in rural Australia which are vital to the Australian economy.”

But upscaling from a social media movement to a profitable business hasn’t been without challenges.

“One challenge we faced in growing the business was ensuring we didn’t lose the intimacy we had created as a social media campaign. Maintaining connections between customers and business owners continues to be a work in progress.”

Maintaining that connection is, according to Brennan, multi-faceted.

“If we are going to really grow rural Australia in a significant way and change the perceptions of what rural areas have to offer beyond farming, we need storytelling elements like Facebook and Instagram, as well as digital business,” said Brennan.

“I’ve also learned there’s great power in bringing your whole self to work as a woman, a mother, a partner in a farming business and holding nothing back. You have to stop thinking about your career credentials and start thinking about what you know you can achieve with the skills and experiences you’ve got in your kitty.

“That’s when you’ll really start getting stuff done.”