Weekly News Insight: Dealing with Foodstagram
Are you one of those culinary entrepreneurs, facing the unsolvable conundrum presented by food influencers?
With 92% of customers influenced by online reviews and influencer’s content providing 88% better brand recognition than traditional brand’s content, the purview of influencers is not to be questioned.
They are proven marketing tools able to bring hungry cuisine lovers to restaurants’ empty tables.
Yet, some of the influencers are known to ail food suppliers. With the amassed thousands of followers, they feel entitled to free gourmet and often threaten restaurants which failed to satiate their will.
Amidst the criticism, restaurants and food manufacturers should not cease to use their service. After all, the netizens look up to those influencers for recommendations. To eliminate them at all from marketing strategies is suicidal.
To ensure a mutually beneficial partnership, restaurants and influencers must communicate clearly with the influencers before every project. Here we list down several tips to help you to cooperate effectively with the food influencers.
- Defining Partnership
You might think of influencers marketing to be a single action where food influencers post something on their social media platforms on behalf of the restaurants. Instead, they are actually a wide range of cooperation possible.
In brand ambassador partnership, influencers would represent the eateries for a longer period of time.
Meanwhile, it is also possible to hire influencers for a freelance job with the contract agreement of the influencers posting just a photo or two on their platforms.
In addition, other restaurants do things more creatively by inviting the influencers to make signature dishes together with the chefs.
Defining the partnership and the job description clearly before starting to communicate with the influencers could be helpful to avoid any miscommunication in the future.
- Existing Fans
Having existing fans, who also happen to be food influencers, as marketing partners is very helpful. To start with, these people are already sympathetic to your restaurant. They would be more likely to be enthusiastic and cooperative working together with your restaurants.
Besides, these influencers are aspired by your restaurants already. They could create powerful social media content as inspired honestly by your eateries.
- Speak Upfront
There are many ways of getting in touch with the foodie KOLs. Sometimes, they directly send DM or e-mail to your mailbox. Other times, restaurants could intentionally certain people they are interested to work with.
Either way, if you start to communicate with the influencers, be sure to convey all the information clearly from the very first. Tell them about your restaurants, the kind of partnership you are expecting, how many posts they should upload, and the type and quantity of the compensation.
Having everything said in front would save restaurants from the pain in the neck of arguing in the later day.
- Mutual Impression and Voice Tone
The most basic mistake cuisine entrepreneurs could do is picking food influencers with different brands image from that of their eateries.
Imagine a sinful calory-heavy cheeseburger diner endorsed by a vehement vegan advocator. Even if the vegan agrees to do the job (which is highly unlikely), the message would be very weak. And would be meaningless since his followers would be very unlikely to eat carnivorously.
That being said, cooperating with the food influencers with the same impression and voice tone is essential.
- Artist’s Creativity
Last but not least, let the influencers do their job. Restaurants should refrain from controlling too much of how influencers upload their work. A guideline is a necessity. But from there, let the artists create their own stories. After all, there is a reason why they could amass a huge number of followers in the first place.
The trend of adblocker today shows that customers are antipathic to direct brand ads. They yearn for honest reviews from the food influencers. Let them have it.
Our Take
Food influencers are driving consumers’ cuisine behavior nowadays. Working with them might ail restaurant owners sometimes, yet to avoid them at all would be imprudent.
All being said, owners should communicate sensibly with the influencers and build a beneficial partnership for both the restaurants and the influencers.
=======================================
Viral Access is an AI and data-driven social communication company — we help you tell your story through social media. We pair your brand with relevant micro and nano influencers that help you increase awareness, engagement and conversion. We have the systems and team in place to support large scale communications throughout Asia.
For business inquiries, contact us at: info@viralaccess.asia.
