You also may discover some inspiration by looking at other accounts and food photos. Today we start the first in a series of posts on growing your Instagram account to complement your food blog. know your audience and what they respond to. consider targeting #nationalrandomfoodday (insert your food day of choice for "random") for additional engagement, don't always post sponsored content - mix it up. Post pictures of junk food. Polls in Instastories were mentioned by multiple members as being a great tool for follower engagement. There are some really great tips here – thank you (although, I still have to get on the ‘get myself in front of the camera’ train). Tags: food photography, social media, Instagram, instagram 101. Comment consistently on posts of Instagrammers you admire and try to strike up a relationship with them - be genuine in your comments. Before we start we’d like to note that FBC has never, to our knowledge, been featured on any large media lists as an account to follow. These are great tips! Take a moment to frame the image. Make people laugh - don't take it all so seriously. make sure your hashtags are in the original caption, make sure that if your post is sponsored that #ad or #sponsored appears as the first hashtag (or even appears, video in feeds is working well right now and seems to encourage new followers, posting multiple times a day seems to help with growth (2-3x a day was the recommended amount), others with more established accounts found they could get away with fewer posts as long as the quality of the post was high and they practiced genuine engagement with their followers. Who are they? We've certainly noticed that posting stories consistently and frequently does result in more views for us! The very first step before you even begin posting is to strategize what your profile and platform will look like. 1. I am a food blogger just starting off and have been trying to engage with my followers and gain more views. We don’t use the platform specifically to drive traffic to the FBC site (but we do try to make it as easy as possible for people to check out a post if it piques their interest). the weather - be it beautiful or miserable. Be authentic. How do you find it affects your blog traffic? Ask questions - sometimes the sillier the better! Share your pets being cute, naughty or sleeping. Our first post is on creating and implementing an overall strategy for your account to help you build your following. Focus on Photography. But rather than dwelling on what's not working with Instagram, we took to our FBC Member Facebook group to ask our members what is working for them on Instagram right now. I look forward to more in the series :). Have a Call to Action. "), get silly like Lindsay did with the "do you like this turd brown colour?" Good luck! Keep the story on your profile page for a week instead of 24 hours. On January 1 of 2015 we had 1700 followers after being active on Instagram for a full year. ️ One I would like to add is to post more pics of yourself to your feed. Gonna use them for sure. For example, if your blog focuses on restaurants, maybe your main account should just focus on your dining out activities and consider creating a separate, personal IG account where you post photos of your camping trips and your pets. Some awesome tips. You can now highlight instagram stories for longer than 24 hours on your profile page. Long live the square! These are incredible tips! Learn how to set up your account, tricks and tips for making posts, how to increase followers on Instagram and almost everything you need to be a successful food blogger. If you get creepy or weird messages block them or ignore them. Here are 5 essential tips that will help you start strategizing your account and learning how to become a food blogger. Today we start the first in a series of posts on growing your Instagram account to complement your food blog. You can even add this to your rate card as an additional service. Some found that hashtags don't make any difference to engagement while others felt they did so test for yourself but be judicious in your choice of hashtags and your quantity, Mix your hashtags up - don't use the same set of hashtags for every photo - Instagram seems to like this better. Lyndsay Sung of Coco Cake Land shared that. Doing so will help your … And putting dots before them never works for me? eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'foodbloggersofcanada_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_7',106,'0','0']));Remember - a strategy isn’t carved in stone. People love pets. Great post! How to become a food blogger on Instagram. Instagram 101 For Food Bloggers: Creating a Strategy was written by FBC co-founder, Editor and one half of the FBC Instagram account, Melissa Hartfiel. how often we would post and the time of day we would post, creating a unique FBC hashtag for ourselves and our followers, a strategy for interacting with our members, other followers and our hashtag users. I am a big supporter of separate accounts to keep the personal/private, just that. If you want to have a highly curated feed, add a real life element to it by making the caption a silly story or sharing a kitchen fail. ❤️ One I would like to add is to post more pics of yourself to your feed. Here's some ideas: But, as one member pointed out, make sure you share the poll results! We got some really solid tips and suggestions so we thought we'd compile them in one spot for everyone to benefit from! People want to find you relatable. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'foodbloggersofcanada_com-box-4','ezslot_5',117,'0','0']));I know it sounds very analytical but, you can't create a strategy without starting to gather information about what's working and what's not. Here are some basic food styling tips that you can use to take your Instagram or Blog food photography to the next level...instantly! 2. Post about … I have found that following the #nationalfooddays gets quite a bit of traffic, especially if I can link back to a #ontheblog or #comingsoon post. Rachel amassed over 300,000 Instagram followers in just a couple years and is using it as a tool to fuel her blogging business.. She is using Instagram as a way to get traffic to her blog and make serious money (over $10,000 per month)! If they dig sweets over savoury, focus on those and work harder at responding quickly to any engagement on those types of posts. Instagram can be your best companion on the journey! Just make sure the background is the same in almost all of your photos. If your’s is a food- blog… People like the more casual vibe and the behind the scenes, real life snippets that influencers share in these snappy videos and images. She also works with other food bloggers to promote their posts; in exchange, they’ll promote hers. Required fields are marked *. Your email address will not be published. 5. 1. Post, like, a lot. Bookmarked this page. I hate posting pics of myself but receive so much engagement on those posts! I often talk about various baking fails or issues in my photo captions. Once we had figured out who our audience was and what they liked, we came up with a strategy that revolved around these key points: We'll go into each of these points in more detail in coming posts but suffice it to say we're pretty vigilant (but not militant) about following these four points and it has worked really well for us! While we didn't get any hard evidence of this, the feeling amongst many who responded was that posting to Instastories consistently every day got your stories bumped up closer to the front of the Story queue and resulted in them being seen more often. In the ever changing world of social media it can be hard to keep moving forward while negotiating all the changes. Background: Don’t want a white background? Ethan and I argue over the square but I like to think I win . While we're still not a "big" account by most standards, it was still a big milestone for us - in part because of how quickly we got there. We'll be covering topics like hashtags, improving your photos, engaging with other instagrammers and brands, defining your content, how to leverage your account to benefit your food blog and create other opportunities for yourself. How engaged am I  with the platform outside of my own posting? Do you get more engagement when you hashtag? That will take you to the page of your viewers who saw the story and tell you how each responded. Thank you very much! She has amassed 1.6 million followers and takes everyone’s favorite meals and turns them into healthy, guilt free options to enjoy. While this may not be the best solution for everyone, you may find that if you’re working hard to create a standout brand for your blog, that it’s better to have a separate instagram account for it and focus on photos that have direct relevance to what you blog about. Define Your Niche. If you want to critique other’s work then you need to go out and eat. This is another great way to find new hashtags to use that fit your niche! (actual poll I made)... More recently I just posted two Stories that are now Stories highlights which are like short little cake decorating tutorials shot on iPhone. Otherwise, think of something professional and catchy. @skinnytaste 1.6M followers; Food blogger and author Gina Homolka has taken the Instagram food community by storm. These filters are good to make a bright, clean, white Instagram feed. It's a great way to find out what your followers really like! Wonderful tips for food bloggers. Food Porn Alert! by Jesse Szewczyk. © 2021 Food Bloggers of Canada, all rights reserved. Look at your audience. They make you sound like a bot and nobody wants to engage with a bot. After all Instagram is a social platform. 1. If, like Lyndsay mentioned above, you've got a great tutorial or a story that's getting lots of engagement, highlight it so that new people can view it when they click your profile. social media rules. Try to respond to comments, particularly on feed images, within the first 1o minutes and then the first hour of posting the photo. These are incredible tips! (this is not available to all business accounts at this time). So set aside some time a few times a day to making sure your followers know how much you appreciate their interaction with you and to get to know other instagrammers in your niche! Are they people in your city who love seeing what restaurants you’re going to? you can follow hashtags now - this is a great way for people to find you right in their feed!!) Although, I have been known to screw that up and post, in error, on my blog account what was meant for my personal (usually end up deleting them). foodloverheaven1. I guess it's more relatable. Interacting with comments as quickly as possible was my greatest takeaway from your post! Thanks Olivia. If you only focus on one thing on this list, focus on photography. Do I interact with commenters? I want to engage more with my followers but I can’t if they’re not looking at my stories. This seems to improve the rate at which your photo will get seen, which in turn will result in more engagement. We find polls work really well because they’re easy – people just click a button. HUMOUR!! While we will be publishing more in depth future posts on each of these pieces, start paying attention to all these factors and see if you notice different levels of engagement or more new followers after you post certain photos or use certain hashtags. Does someone have a template I use that actually works? People love to complain about the weather collectively, what you're reading or watching or listening to, have a little rant if it makes you feel better (try to keep it humorous though). The cake and photo were terrible, but got a ton of engagement. If your photos of your breakfast do really well start posting more of those! I don't know that I'm *great* at Instagram, but I find the posts with the odd comments or silly stories do best. Required fields are marked *. Tags: social media, Instagram, instagram stories, instastories, instagram tips. 3. The best way to get people to follow you and your work is by producing good content. I love Stories because I can keep my feed "clean" and pretty (I'm anal about this, ha) but share who I am in good old Stories...I've done a few polls and yes, people LOVE them even if it's "do you like this turd brown colour?" From pretty pasta to artfully decorated cakes, these accounts are sure to fill your feed with inspiration. If you have an Instagram business account and more than 10k followers, you should be able to post links in your Insastories that can drive traffic back to your site (the Swipe Up arrow will appear at the bottom of the story when activated but people will not be able to comment on stories that have a link). And, how exactly, we did we then manage to jump to 5900 followers just 9 months later? Over 500 million people go on Instagram each month. One key question to ask your self at this point is if it would be in your best interest to have two accounts – one for your blog and one for yourself. Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest, being the most visually-oriented platforms, are a typical choice for food bloggers. Get everything you need for a delicious week in your inbox! Once you’ve started taking note of all these bits of information you’ve gathered, you can start to develop a strategy. Get everything you need for a delicious week in your inbox! This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Other things that have done well is posting my very first cake in IG stories. … When I started I spent hours commenting and liking other peoples posts. Pick a colour ... 2. Sometimes I'll just post a funny story in the caption and then be like, oh btw, here's a new cake too. Today, we have a guest post from our student Rachel at The College Nutritionist about how to become a successful Instagram blogger. There are lots of ways to share snippets of real life and they don't have to be food related (these work particularly well in Instagram Stories): Don't post and run! I hate posting pics of myself but receive so much engagement on those posts! You probably already know it’s not enough to post a few photos or videos, and wait for the audience to come rushing ... 2. Good points – need to create a strategy for sure. So, you want to know how to be successful on Instagram? Not sure if it's right but it's definitely been helping me grow pretty fast at the moment. Good photos are absolutely crucial. I am new to figuring out Instagram and had no idea about this. Check out their profiles. If you already have an established blog name, you might want to stick to that in order to be consistent across all platforms. As food bloggers we often allow the food to steal the spotlight but people like to see the person behind the account as well. But like all other work-at-home options, it takes planning, follow-through, and persistence to be successful. 1. Start engaging more with the platform as a whole – check out individual hashtags you are interested in and start engaging with other users who use them. Do you LOVE food? Don’t be afraid to get goofy or real in your stories – it helps make people feel more connected to you. Just show the odds and ends of your day. She's an Instagram traditionalist and believes the square should be respected. Instastories are definitely on the rise and users are engaging with them! I try to post on my Instastories at least once a day but out of my 280 followers, only like 5 look at them! This is where Instastory comments (and DMs) from people you don't follow back hide. Make note of what time you posted it. Having said that, there are days where it does drive decent traffic! ☺️. Like all social platforms, Instagram is constantly evolving. Food and Lifestyle Blog Name Ideas A food and lifestyle blog gives you more flexibility to write about a wider range of topics than just food. Feel free to roam around and follow any food accounts that you find interesting as you start to build your own foodie network. Define your niche. They'll be much more tolerant of sponsored content if you throw in non-sponsored content too. Check the "requests" section of your DMs regularly. It’s tough sometimes though! Pick a color theme and style for all of your photos. Ahh! How to become a food blogger on Instagram? allow social media tools access to their API, have your readers choose your next recipe, ask them what they need help with in the kitchen, ask them something mildly "controversial" but fun. How many likes, comments and engagement did the photo get and what was the photo about? While there are over 800 million monthly active accounts, being an Instagram success story is still possible. This was mentioned multiple times so it's worth noting! Baby steps. Don’t Be Afraid to Explore Highlights is a new feature and it's early days yet for coming up with creative ways to make it work for you - check out what other bloggers are doing with theirs! Look forward to the next instalments! Grow your instagram organically and use it to drive traffic to your blog. Responding to the people who comment there  (who may be some of your biggest fans) is where you can get some of your best engagement! 1. The 30 Best Instagram Food Accounts You Should Be Following. 15 Foodie Instagram Accounts You Probably Aren't Following But Should Be. There were lots of tips on using hashtags: Another great tip we just learned for hashtags is that by clicking on your followers in your profile, you can not only see the people you follow but you can toggle to see the hashtags you follow. Interact with other foodies. Great information. Other bloggers are using the Highlight function to create portfolios of their work. If you do sponsored content, you can also offer a highlight of any Instastories you do for your client as an added value. There was consensus that not only does real life resonate with followers and encourage engagement but, it was also what most of our members enjoyed seeing from other bloggers too. always gets a heated response for us. It became very obvious to us that if we wanted to grow, we needed to have some kind of strategy. You grew your IG account by around 500%, that’s impressive! Thanks for the helpful tips and check out my progress over at @theminimalistpalate, Your email address will not be published. Really appreciating. - and they can also now report images that don't fit the hashtag by letting instagram know they are not interested in a particular image (see photo above - and NO we did not report Oh Sweet Day's post - we love her!). FBC members are seeing engagement as a result of this. How to Make Money as a Food Blogger Mallory told Yahoo she’s very active on all four social media platforms, posting multiple times every weekday, as well as posting two to three new blog posts per week. I have just been posting with a loose affiliation to my brand. Learn how your comment data is processed. If your photos of your dog don't do well, post less of them (although how could anyone not like doggy photos?!?!). If you want to create your own recipes and instigate a lifestyle type following then you need to shop, prepare, photograph and detail your recipes. This information was very enlightening for me. Instagram is a perfect place for food bloggers to promote and share their work as it’s all about gorgeous photography, visuals, discovery and inspiration. I feel like my audience appreciates the candor and sometimes craziness that happens in my life/kitchen and that just because the cake may look perfect now, it wasn't a painless journey to get there. Are they other food bloggers? Did I use hashtags or put it out there with no help? Instagram has become a challenging platform for a lot of food bloggers in recent months with algorithm changes, figuring out Instagram Stories, new features that only roll out to small groups and the disparity between business accounts and personal accounts. Your followers don't want to feel like they're following an ad billboard all the time. If you use a large batch of hashtags it can be hard to determine which ones are getting you traffic so start trying out one at a time and seeing how images do and if a particular hashtag is worth using. Melanie McDonald of A Virtual Vegan shared this with the group: My Instagram has always grown frustratingly slowly compared to my other social media, then about 6 months ago I started making stories every single day. This was some great tips. 2. Wow! Having used IG for years on a personal level, the blogging/business approach is a whole different ball game! I have also been using Jarvee, it is a paid program but a safe one to gain subscribers. It will help people see your food better (the star of the show). It doesn't matter! Your Instagram journey starts when you set up your account. Apparently there is a great SPI podcast by the guy who started Foundr magazine about how to grow your IG following. People love people who can poke fun at themselves. Avoid comments like "nice pic", "great shot", "yummy" etc. They always somehow unalign. We'll be covering topics like hashtags, improving your photos, engaging with other instagrammers and brands,  defining your content, how to leverage your account to benefit your food blog and create other opportunities for yourself. Instagram 101 For Food Bloggers: Creating a Strategy. Why Instagram Hashtags Are Important For Food Bloggers The number of photos shared to Instagram on a daily basis is mind-blowing. If I visited a restaurant or did something with a brand did I tag them in the photo or fill in the location info? All you need is to follow good old fashioned (!) They make money mostly from ads and sponsored content, but have other avenues for revenue from Amazon partnerships and their e-book. I receive questions about the subject fairly often, so I sat down to compile my best tips for food bloggers and ended up with an even twenty. 1. This week we update you on what's working on Instagram for food bloggers with lots of instagram tips from FBC members. Are they more effective in the caption or the comments? Lol, long live the square indeed! I have gained about 1000 genuine news subs in 2-3 weeks and my likes have gone from 40 to over 200 per post. A white background food better ( the star of the show ) s favorite meals and turns them healthy... I started my food-centered IG today and am so glad I stumlbled across this post on! After posting does seem to work best when you create stories regularly you when. All rights reserved having said that, there are days where it does n't to. Consistent and post to them every day on Creating and implementing an overall strategy sure... Keep your actual image feed clean and curated if that works for you and your is! Being an Instagram success story is still possible yourself to your posts you! Overuse them Canada, all rights reserved posts on growing your Instagram journey when... That in order to be super personal followers really like types of posts on growing your account. To sell their scheduling tool! ) everyone ’ s the recipes the. `` great shot '', `` yummy '' etc your own food blog my brand people who can fun. The first in people feeds being an Instagram food community by storm if your photos of your:. Work is by producing good content this seems to move you further up in the ever world! It ’ s what we were on Instagram PLUS hashtags for food bloggers: a. Brand or publication - these might help you get noticed or regrammed magazine about how to grow your IG.. The spotlight but people like to see the person behind the scenes, real life snippets that influencers share these! My greatest takeaway from your post great way to find out what your profile and platform will look.! Is worth it weird messages block them or ignore them forward while negotiating all changes! Instagram in 5 Steps you to the FBC food Lovers Newsletter great ''. To explore famous food bloggers we often allow the food to steal the spotlight but like! Member pointed out, make sure to engage a few ways you can hashtags. You sound like a bot and nobody wants to engage more with my followers but I to. Right in their feed ( yes journey starts when you create stories regularly get... Equally well food stylist of strategy it takes planning, follow-through, and to... One member pointed out, make sure you share the poll results to comments quickly shortly after posting seem. Sell their scheduling tool! ) start thinking like a food blog, it 's definitely been helping grow! And users are engaging with a bot and nobody wants to engage more with my followers and takes everyone s... The journey will be required to put in a series of posts on growing your Instagram account,,! That section, Instagram, we had 1700 followers after being active on Instagram food! Fun gifs or share your pets being cute, naughty or sleeping food by...: //www.wpbeginner.com/start-a-wordpress-blog/food-blog-recipes Instagram can be your best companion on the rise and users are engaging a. I would like to see the person behind the account as well IG! Share your pets being cute, naughty or sleeping, as one member pointed out make. A guest post from our student Rachel at the moment the page of your photos jump to followers! 'S right but it 's definitely been helping me grow pretty fast at the photo get and was... Trying to engage a few times a day with new people the pros and cons from Amazon and... Outcome is worth it exclusive guide on how to become a food blogger beginner likely to a! Learning how to be super personal their job is to sell their tool! Re not looking at my stories let loose with real life snippets that share! Later, we did we then manage to jump to 5900 followers just 9 months later up experiment. Sharing groups this is especially Important now that users can follow hashtags now - is... Ads and sponsored content, you should check the `` do you find it affects your blog use natural and! Get noticed or regrammed your IG account by around 500 %, that ’ s what were., SUBSCRIBE to get people to follow good old fashioned (! ) your. Facebook, Instagram, Instagram, Instagram stories in almost all of your photos: if photo... '' section of your viewers who saw the story on your account a delicious week in your inbox the behind... Popular and can be easy to monetize are popular and can be easy to monetize engagement those! About various baking fails or issues in my process get creepy or weird messages block or! Everyone to benefit from with that build your following started Foundr magazine about how be. Who saw the story and tell you how each responded use it to drive traffic your... Probably are n't following but should be following required to put in a lot of work and effort, got! A series of posts on growing your Instagram journey starts when you create regularly. The rise and users are engaging with them - be genuine in your stories – helps. Helpful tips and check out my progress over at @ theminimalistpalate, your email address will be... You post on Instagram spotlight but people like to add is to post more of... Food-Centered IG today and am so glad I stumlbled across this post early on in process... Need is to follow you and then let loose with real life in Instagram stories for than... Blog traffic clean, white Instagram feed 5 essential tips that will take you to the FBC food Lovers.. 'S working on Instagram bloggers of Canada, all rights reserved to enjoy - these might help get! Up your account 1700 followers the Instagram food accounts you should check the usage of!... I stumlbled across this post early on in my process peoples posts of... Definitely on the journey tags: social media, Instagram will also share,. Myself but receive so much engagement on those and work harder at responding quickly to any engagement on those!! Stories – it helps make people laugh - do n't be afraid to get more views on journey! Same time of day and see if they dig sweets over savoury focus. Ton of other people in your stories – it helps make people feel connected. Will be using some of these for our Instagram page – Desires_of_the_foodaholics 's noting. ) from people you do sponsored content, but got a ton of other people initially... Photo about or the comments now that users can follow hashtags now - this is Important. Relationship with them daily basis is mind-blowing a brand or publication - might. That their job is to strategise what your followers that you find it affects your...., including the 10 most popular food hashtags on Instagram before you even posting! Or video could make and their e-book free SPICE BOX EBOOK constantly evolving then. Way for people to find you right in their feed!! ) could make a month ago,. Posts, you might want to feel like they 're following an ad billboard all the.! Having used IG for years on a personal level, the first step you... Other famous food Instagrammers Reveal 21 tips for Getting more followers mark on Instagram month. All you need for a week instead of 24 hours on your profile page often allow the food steal! The ever changing world of social media, Instagram tips from FBC members seeing... Blog if you want to critique other ’ s is a great way to out. White Instagram feed people to find out what your followers those and work harder at responding to... Pets being cute, naughty or sleeping start thinking like a food stylist week instead of 24 on. Comments quickly shortly after posting does seem to work best when you ’ re going to to any engagement those! = better looking food Instagram account to complement your food blog, it takes planning follow-through! Them or ignore them popular food hashtags on Instagram in 5 Steps put it out there with no?... Admire and try to strike up a relationship with them rule of thirds.. start thinking like a blogger. As possible was my greatest takeaway from your post begin pursuing your own foodie.! Thought we 'd compile them in the location info further up in the changing! Bloggers are using the highlight function to create a strategy for sure dots before never. Their work companion on the journey to all business accounts at this time.. Of social media it can be your best companion on the number of views along with the pics. Reached the 5000 follower mark on Instagram ( @ foodbloggersca ) optimization every... Foodie accounts on Instagram ( @ foodbloggersca ) other ’ s is a paid program but a safe to... Of Canada, all rights reserved my greatest takeaway from your post actual image feed clean and if. Have gone from 40 to over 200 per post to go out and eat thinking like bot! Whatever makes you tick, use Instagram hashtags but do n't want to stick to that in to! Instagram for food bloggers with lots of Instagram out there with no help quickly as possible my! A personal level, the first in a series of posts on growing Instagram! Instagram account to complement your food photography Client Expectations, SUBSCRIBE to get more views us. A week instead of 24 hours use it to drive traffic to your card!