Written for Influencer Intelligence
Whilst influencer marketing best practice as a process doesn’t differ hugely from one sector to another, there are varying considerations and KPIs when planning influencer strategy and outreach that will hold more relevance to certain brands. The following post will address some of the recommendations for restaurants and food brands when working with creators, providing tips on the most efficient ways to execute an effective campaign in this space. Whether a restaurant, pop-up, caterer, food product, brand or seller, this post is a blueprint for success.
Objectives
As with any influencer activity, it is essential that marketers in this space identify their audience, campaign objectives and KPIs before thinking about ambassadors. Once the deliverables of the campaign are known, marketers at food companies can explore creators who will be best equipped to deliver the right results. Overall, for a food brand selling products, typical objectives for content creation are sales (driving purchase), sentiment (building buzz) and awareness (building customers). For a restaurant, reviews (word of mouth recommendation) are essential to increase footfall.
Content Hooks
Restaurants and food brands should endeavour to stay on top of any relevant and appropriate events, awareness days or social media trends. Those within the field will be well aware of the #FoodTok and #Foodstagram phenomena that united a like-minded army of foodies. Other trends born on social include the art of #Muckbang and more granular or niche dietary tags such as #vegan or #glutenfree. There are hundreds of food related awareness days in the calendar, such as Pancake Day, National BBQ Week, World Chocolate Day or UK Coffee Week. These should underpin any creator content strategy for the year, alongside seasonal events such as Taste of London, BaconFest, Christmas and Thanksgiving and any festivals or exhibitions that a food brand could sponsor, or a food truck could cater.
Platforms
It is pivotal that marketers determine the most effective platforms for food-related content specifically. Take strategy off social media, researching key food blogs and bloggers and tap into the myriad of food podcasts, using creators and celebrity guests as a PR tools. That being said historically, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram have been top forums for food reviews, restaurant plugs and creator activity. Instagram has an inherent ability to foster communities and likeminded groups and is the perfect spot to showcase high-quality food photography. Brands in this space shouldn’t snooze on Pinterest either, which not only champions imagery, but allows for pinning of recipes and cooking ideas. YouTube and TikTok’s video preference allow for more in-depth discussion around a product or new restaurant, with influencers able to record live reactions and tastings.
Campaign Type
One of the best ways to solicit reviews and spread the word is to invite influencers to attend restaurants or visit pop-ups, so they can sample the cuisine first-hand. Marketing teams should also be hosting events and launch parties to invite key industry tastemakers to in order to generate plenty of engaging content. Restaurants can champion their head chef and other floor staff to add personality to their brand, leaning on experience and customer satisfaction to encourage visitors. Think about food bloggers and vloggers whose opinion is gospel and offer them a special dining experience. There are endless opportunities for cross-brand partnerships, as we’ve seen recently with fashion & beauty brands teaming up with food chains to reach new audiences and grow their respective reach.
Content Themes
The themes of an influencer campaign will differ dependent on the food type in question, but a good basic starting point would be bring the food to life with recipe and cooking content that inspires customers and adds value. Content they will save and reuse later is even better. Task creators with designing their own meals and dishes using your product or perhaps set a challenge to your followers to recreate their own version and share pictures – forming a UGC gallery. Consider grouping menus into specific types that could appeal to different influencers’ audiences. For example, restaurants could pitch placement in ‘the best burgers in New York’, or ‘5 best luxury Sunday roasts’ roundups. If the restaurant itself or its meals have a particularly Instagram-friendly aesthetic, content creators will be best equipped to showcase it on their channels, making it grid-approved, or ‘the place to be seen’.
Influencer Types
The obvious answer here is to partner with food influencers and enthusiasts, and budding chefs who are at core the most engaged, passionate and enthusiastic in the space. Influencer Intelligence has over 5,900 manually-vetted food influencers to choose from, with detailed and granular demographic and psychographic profile filters. Seek out influencers on a platform-by-platform basis, playing to their content creation strengths. For example, on Instagram, a creator with a strong visual aesthetic is key. Some campaigns will lend themselves to influencers from other verticals, dependent on USP. For example, low calorie food options could work with fitness influencers, and children’s cereal brands could tap parenting influencers. Engaging in third-party partnerships will open up more avenues in terms of creators from lateral sectors.
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