Food + Instagram = Foodstagram

I didn’t make that up. It is a valid expression that is largely used by food lovers all over the world. The good people I follow on Instagram have mastered the art of making food look really irresistible. Every single time I log in to my Instagram account, I feel hungry. It doesn’t matter if I have just had a full meal. Food entrepreneurs, food bloggers and foodies in general seem to be madly in love with the photo sharing platform.

Instant Gratification

Before food entrepreneurs took Instagram by storm, everyone swore by the good old Facebook page. Creating one was the simplest and fastest way to give your brand an online presence. Facebook undoubtedly has the largest user database but they may not be online at all times like Instagram users are. Secondly Facebook’s user base is spread out over all age groups while with Instagram, the users are young- mostly under 30- and eager to share pictures on the go.

While Facebook is more about people and their lives, Instagram’s mobile savvy users want to see things and see them now! What works best for foodpreneurs is the powerful focus on visuals that Instagram provides. A user logs in, looks at pictures, hits the like button and moves on.

#Hashtag it

Thanks to the ever booming food industry, the proliferation of hashtags like foodporn and foodgasm is unbelievable. There are more than a hundred million posts on Instagram with the hashtag #foodporn. Food brands leverage these common hashtags and their brand specific ones to make their posts viewable and searchable in the crowd. The magic of hashtags is that anyone who enters the phrase or keywords you have used will be able to find your content irrespective of whether they follow you or not. Which means that hashtags make you more prominent and discoverable. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags for a single post!

Gorging on pictures

Cooking or baking as a profession has been around since a long time but technology and access to social media seems to have given it the much needed push. Food brands and entrepreneurs see value in engaging with their patrons on a regular basis. The other way they find more clientele on Instagram is through a network of food bloggers. Food bloggers are invited by restaurant owners to write reviews of a special dish or during food festivals. Most food bloggers have a huge number of followers on Instagram and go the extra mile to take good quality pictures of the dishes they love.

Start now!

So if you are an aspiring or existing food startup founder and haven’t yet tapped the potential Instagram holds for your social media marketing, do it now! Here is how you can learn from these top Indian Instagram profiles that beautifully capture food and food moments:

1. Food blogger Aashna Jogani has 34K followers. She has found her place in the food blogging world by exclusively reviewing vegetarian joints. You’ll find no fuss, honest opinions on the veg only restaurants she visits in Mumbai.
2. The Big Bhookad lives to eat for you!  Every place you visit has a food story behind it. And Adarsh a.k.a. The Big Bhookad has a knack of combining places of travel with food. He does it so well that you want to leave everything you’re doing, go on a vacation and enjoy sumptuous meals there.
3. Snackible, a healthy snacks startup based out of Mumbai has managed to attract 13.5k followers since its launch just a little more than a year back. Their Instagram profile shows pictures of their products shot at different angles, with different props or backgrounds. What they are also doing right is posting repeatedly at regular intervals thus keeping their followers informed about their offerings.
4. Not a single picture on Ankiet’s Instagram has less than 500 likes. He not only cooks good food but also happens to click it beautifully. A self-made cook he creates stories around food and comes up with innovative recipes all the time.
5. A medical doctor and nutrition expert, Nandita uses her knowledge to make people aware of the benefits of healthy eating habits. She conducts cooking and nutrition workshops and her lovely pictures remind you healthy food is just as delicious.
6. Author of ‘India on my platter’, chef, TV host and now founder of Goila Butter Chicken – Saransh Goila’s Instagram captures not only the great food he cooks but also moments of his journey that got him where he is. This gives his account a personal touch- something very essential in connecting with followers.
7. Food, drinks and events. These are the three main things that capture the essence of Social, a café cum collaborative workspace. Their creatives are great and are in sync with the vibes of the place.