The Buy From The Bush social media campaign has generated more than $9 million in revenue for rural small businesses, according to an impact survey by Meta.
The campaign, created and founded in 2019 at Warren, in the Orana region of NSW, was created to showcase products from business in rural communities hit by a cashflow-sapping drought.
Social media search engines, mainly instagram, allow Buy From The Bush to harness the power of a keyword search to enable businesses to sell and consumers to shop with purpose.
The Buy From The Bush impact report shows 97% of businesses in the campiagn are owned by women, and 69% of rural small to medium businesses (SMB) agree that digital businesses present opportunities for rural communities to grow.
Almost all (96%) of rural respondents believe small businesses are critical for regional communities. The power of digital connectivity has shown businesses can exist anywhere and that the emergence of more successful digital businesses has helped rural communities through back to back crises.
Chris Cuddy, owner of Perennialle Plants: “Buy From The Bush meant that I could buy a Christmas ham for my family. It’s not always about the major promotion, it’s about supporting local businesses and Buy From The Bush has been the platform that has done exactly that.
"I went from looking to get a second job, to having a staff of 17 people who all help customers to maximise their horticultural needs.”
Seventy per cent of Buy From The Bush followers surveyed said the campiagn changed their perceptions, urging them to shop with purpose and support Australian rural communities.
“The growth of Buy From The Bush has clearly demonstrated the talent and ingenuity of rural makers, creators, artists and retailers launching and scaling businesses from ‘the middle of nowhere’," says Grace Brennan, founder of Buy From The Bush.
"Our hope is that off-farm, women-led enterprises continue to grow and contribute layers of diversity and opportunity to rural Australia. If supported and enabled, they will undoubtedly play a critical role in rebuilding the Australian economy."
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