Introduction
If you own a home-based food business, you are probably aware of how competitive the food industry is. With large restaurants and delivery chains to compete with, you as a home-based entrepreneur may feel unequipped in terms of your bargaining power.
You may feel that marketing tools can be expensive, overly-technical, and generally unaffordable for many operating from home. But the truth is that you have the ultimate source of persuasion and marketing right at your fingertips, in the form of Instagram.
Over time, Instagram has become a hub for effective social media marketing. With its range of filters, editing options, content posting opportunities and visual nature, Instagram is known for the way it can make any product come alive. Whether you’re putting up aesthetically pleasing photographs of your home-cooked food, or creating some vibrant menu templates to catch your customers’ attention, Instagram allows you to reach your audience in a matter of minutes.
While Instagram seems easy to navigate, reaching your customers in the right way can be a challenge. So how do you ensure that your Instagram content is engaging enough to turn views into sales? We’ve shortlisted some of the most helpful tips for you to promote your home-based food business through Instagram:
Curate your images to stay on brand
If you want to promote your food products on Instagram, the first step is to make sure you’re putting a significant amount of effort into product photography. A good curated image is one that is carefully selected and edited to align directly with the persona of your brand. Make sure each photograph you take gives off a uniform vibe on your feed with the right background, lighting, and presentation.
When setting up a backdrop for your curated images, make sure that nothing distracts from the actual product. Choose a background with subtle colors in each photograph so that the main focus remains on the food. Use a consistent filter across your feed so that each individual photograph gives off the same overall impression and is directly identifiable with your brand.
If you take a look at the Instagram profile for Matt Adlard, a well-known self-taught baker, you will note that he uses a simple, grey set-up for his food photography. All of his posts are primarily close ups that show the detail in his product, without any other distracting elements in the frame. With a minimalistic backdrop, similar plating techniques, and vibrant colors in his dishes, Matt has curated his feed to ensure that it remains consistent with his identity as a chef.
You can also upgrade your food photography by ensuring that the set-up for your photos is on-brand and brings attention to the food itself.
Showcase the process
Customers love to see mouthwatering images of professionally prepared food on their instagram feed. But what they love even more is the relatability that comes with seeing the process behind the creation.
Engage your customers by posting videos of yourself preparing some of your best-selling food items. Show them the intricate icing process for your cakes, the rising of your home-baked bread as it sits in the oven, and the detailed garnishing on your most popular pasta dish.
Giving your followers a view of the preparation process shows that you are building a trust-based connection with your customers, and that you have nothing to hide. A glimpse into the kitchen will show your audience exactly what you are offering.
Suguruhomedining, a home-based kitchen in Singapore providing high quality Japanese food, posts videos showcasing the detailed plating and garnishing techniques they use for their food. Such content excites the customer for the final product and has them looking forward to more.
All home-based chefs have a set menu that they offer their customers. But is that menu interesting enough to be posted on social media? Does it go with the theme of your feed and the image of your brand?
If you’re unsure of the answer to the above questions, you need to upgrade your menu to match your social media presence. On Instagram, the more content you have, the better. You don’t need to stick to a single old menu. Take this chance to create personalized versions of your menu for all occasions. Have your traditional menu up on your feed for customers to refer to. Change it up with some celebratory dishes for the Christmas season or the 4th of July. Create your own “Specials of the day” menu and have it put up separately on your story everyday.
Where traditional menus were costly and difficult to change, a digital menu on social media has no such problems. With online design tools like PosterMyWall, you can use a custom menu maker to help you design multiple versions of your menu in a matter of minutes.
With tools like this, you can now design and make easy changes to your menu without any added costs. You can choose whether to turn your menu into a post or a story highlight that stays on top of your feed. So make sure to stay on brand with custom designed menus and keep your Instagram feed on point.
Marketing can be tough to navigate when you’re a home-based business in a competitive environment. These tips will help you add a modern flair to your promotion techniques and help you entice your customers the way you want.
