To make sure your brand does the best that it can on social media, you not only need to know your audience – you can read more about how to do this efficiently here – but you must know your platform as well…
Let’s talk Instagram! Foodies are on Instagram an average of 18 times a day and since the hashtag #food is used on 250 million posts each month, your chances of reaching your target audience of food and drink lovers on Instagram are very high.
According to the stats, 80% of Instagram users follow at least one business on Instagram, and more than 200 million people visit at least one business profile every day. That’s a lot of people who could be visiting your page!
But how do we guarantee that your food page will be visited and followed by all these foodies lurking on Instagram? Your first step would be to read about our top tips to make your followers fall in love with you on social media which will give you an insight into how you can grip the attention of people who visit your page and leave them wanting more of your amazing content.
Among other features, you can use to spread the word of your brand on Instagram – such as stories, reels, and grid posts – the explore page is one of the most attractive features on Instagram, especially for food and drink brands. Everyone’s explore page is so different and unique to their interests! You’ll see everything from food and drink posts to nails and tattoo reels on the explore page – the variety of content is amazing.
The posts and content you see on the Explore Page are automatically selected based on the following factors – to mention a few: Instagram accounts you follow, photos and videos you like on Instagram and who you’re connected to on Instagram… so it’s all customised to each specific user. To get your post or reel on the explore page you should use relevant hashtags such as #food #drink and most importantly #explorepage.
You should also include keywords in your captions… if someone searches for “lunch inspo” they’ll likely come across your post if you include these keywords, which will push your posts towards many different food-lovers every single day. Now, take a shot for every time you read “explore page”!
As a whole, Instagram is a great platform to use for your food and drinks brand, particularly in the UK where food is the most popular interest on Instagram with 39% of people spending time browsing food and drink on the platform.
You can spread the word through grid posts, reels and stories and utilise the explore page to get your name out there and increase engagement to your page. But the real question is, is it better than TikTok?
TikTok
TikTok has been flooded with food videos recently and the platform has helped to change the food industry through its fun trends – you can read about our 5 fav ones here.
The trends on the app actually lead to a higher demand for certain products and help increase the popularity of some dishes. One popular example is birria tacos – a Mexican speciality – which started to appear on American menus after featuring in many viral TikToks!
TikTok is so great for restaurants, fast food joints, bakeries and soft drinks brands because of how easy it is for a video to go viral; TikTok provides a super diverse platform for food and drinks brands to showcase existing menu items, new menu items and specials!
Especially if you introduce them in a visually memorable way, your TikTok has the potential to go viral and bring a wave of new followers to your page. A new survey found that 36% of the 1 billion TikTok users have visited or ordered food from a restaurant after seeing that restaurant on TikTok… that is a LOT of people visiting and investing in brands just because a popular video grazed their For You Page!
The main outlet for brands to really get out there through TikTok is the For You Page, which is very similar to the explore page – the For You Page is customised to every user’s searches, interests, accounts they follow and more – and makes it possible for your video to go viral in a short amount of time.
One thing to consider is if you’re an alcohol or spirits brand, you will not be able to pubish on the platform as a business account – so consider if this will be an issue for launching your account.
Here at Monty, we like to keep in the loop with recent trends and what’s HOT right now, and we can tell you with full certainty that well-executed food videos on TikTok land and land well. Top tips to remember when making a food TikTok is to keep it simple, film from different angles, keep it short and creative and make sure the lighting is perfect!
Based on how much TikTok has changed the food scene and how it continues to help food and drink businesses gain exposure, we’d say that TikTok would be the best way to go with your brand… This doesn’t mean that Instagram should be totally disregarded, it’s always beneficial to spread content across multiple platforms to gain a more diverse audience.
However, with the right execution TikTok will take your brand to the next level of brilliance; remember to stay on top of relevant trends and take part in them. With TikTok, you never know which video will go viral, so take every shot you can because the trend you miss out on could be the one that makes your brand the best food and drinks page on TikTok!