Nearly 70% of millennials take photographs or videos of their food before eating, according to studies — evidently, we like to show what we’re consuming! Looking at photos and videos is the focus of Instagram, and with 800 million monthly active users, it’s irrefutable that this platform is one of the biggest contributing factors to the rise in food photography around the world.
Although, is it true that food photography can help your eatery succeed? Here, we explore the benefits of social exposure for the businesses within the food industry and how food photography is key for commercial success.
What your eatery looks like
Have you considered the quality of the images you use on your menu and what artwork you have hanging on the walls at your establishment?
To boost sales and enjoyment, encourage people who dine at your place to order many dishes of food ‘just to taste’ by making your menu photos as desirable as possible. If customers try more things and widen their palates, they’re likely to have a more memorable and better experience and will be more likely to return — which means better retention rates.
Present your customers with a visual choice, so that they can make more informed decisions on what they want to order, which could mean less sending back to the kitchen! As part of this, you could implement an Instagram feed widget on your website that will show pictures based on hashtags.
Why not photograph your chef while they’re creating then hang these live food photography shots on the walls of your establishment?
The power of social media and food
Social media joins users in the UK with eateries, bakers and chefs from all over the world. By 2019, it is expected that there will be around 2.77 billion social media users, indicating that we’ve never been so connected. It’d be mad not to capitalise on its authority!
Food photography is all about sharing innovative dishes and techniques with the world. Whether you’re sat in a restaurant, café or pub — it’s become the norm to see people taking pictures of their dishes and share them online using geotags, hashtags and more to achieve greater reach and visibility.
Excellent for foodies, but also ideal for catering firms that want to make the most of the free advertising platform. People love seeing pictures of food on their newsfeeds. If more people are interacting with your brand across social media platforms, more people become aware of your business which could see an increase in custom.
To do this effectively, you need to firstly inspire your customers to get snapping and uploading when dining at your venue. Doing this will show off your business to the masses and give your establishment as a current, accessible brand. One of the biggest benefits of user-generated content is that it will allow you to analyse the demographics of your audience and gain a greater insight to what type of people they are — this will enable you to tailor not only the type of food you serve to them, but music that you play, specials that you serve and events that you host — giving people a reason to return.
It’s also key to keep up momentum and not to let people forget you exist on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. For example, introduce a “Picture of the Month” competition. This will invite people to take the nicest picture of food at your place and then upload it. The best looking is chosen by you and gets a free meal. This means plenty of free advertising and it will encourage people to come back month after month!
In 2018, it seems that many Instagram users are desperate to take the ‘perfect snap’. If you want to make the most of social media, you must understand that it’s all about aesthetics and presentation; from unique serving boards to the interior décor of your building.
This article was created by Clifton Cameras — leading retailers of Canon lenses.