With millions of daily users logging on to social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram it’s simple to see why good food videos frequently go viral. Even if you’re not skilful in the kitchen, it’s hard not to resist watching the scrumptious food videos produced online. The quick and easy nature of these videos fit into place perfectly on these fast-moving platforms.
If you take a look at food-focused pages on Facebook, you will see that the engagement rates are astonishing. This kind of popularity makes food videos a powerful tool for anyone in the food industry. Whether you are a hotel, food manufacturer, food retailer or restaurant owner, your business could dramatically benefit from producing food videos.
Let us look at the statistics. Food account BuzzFeed’s ‘Tasty’ generates a whopping 2 billion plus views per month on their videos and remains one of the biggest and most popular publishers on Facebook.
Continuing to grow and change with their audience, they have started posting on other platforms such as Instagram, which is highly beneficial as it is a channel well known for good engagement. Being a visually rich platform, food videos are seen and liked by even more people on Instagram.
Tasty has also made sub-pages, where each focuses on different recipes, still maintaining sky-high engagement rates on individual pages alongside the main page.
They Create a Community
Food is known all around the world for encouraging communal activity. From families sitting down to eat at the table and friends meeting up to have a chat over lunch, food is a social activity (as well as a means to live, of course!) and we are all searching for something that will tantalise our taste buds – and impress our dinner guests.
Food publishers have a natural advantage in creating a community, as it is easy to get people involved and talking. Asking questions and introducing a new way to make something is always a great way to get people commenting with their opinions or tagging friends. Food tends to be a great conversation starter, encouraging people to discuss ideas and giving tips about how they do something differently is one reason why engagement rates are so high. People even share funny fails, which is also a great way to attract traffic!
They’re Direct
Another reason well-made food videos gain such high views is the simplicity and highly focused nature. Usually, there is no long introduction or narration, just upbeat music and a photogenic pair of hands doing all the work, chopping, mixing and slicing the food.
Instead of someone talking through the instructions throughout the video, it is accompanied by short witty captions that are cleverly loaded with descriptive and appetising words to draw the viewer in.
It has been proven that most people drop out of videos in the first few seconds of watching it, but food videos allow people to gain a sense of potency by watching the video from start to finish and seeing the final outcome.
Some food pages also add the recipe into the description bar leading into the comment section which helps to get people involved. They may even add links to articles or similar videos that will entice the viewer to read more.
Alongside all this, the best food videos are high quality and made in an artistic way to keep it exciting. People love to see the food up close and want to think that it is quick and easy. Usually, the video is sped up to create this illusion, so making sure the video is produced well is an essential part in creating a viral food video. Using a video production team such as The Marketing Café will ensure your videos beautifully made so you have the best chance of creating a food video that goes viral and helps to market your business in the best way possible.
Be Experimental
If you decide to make videos – or hire someone to make them for you – then remember that you need to stand out from the crowd. Don’t be fooled by the high engagement rates of other users, you will still need to bring something new to the table to be able to stand out. Posting something out of the ordinary to catch the attention of people will pay off. Not everything will work every time but being consistent with the number and frequency of videos you post will often lead to success. Using analytics tools to help you see what works and what doesn’t is the only sure-fire way to confirm what you should post more of.
You may also want to consider other ideas for videos that aren’t just about how to make something. For example, comparing the differences between similar food items from around the world. These videos are equally as thought provoking and engaging and will draw in members from across the globe to talk about the traditions in their country or encourage them to speak about their experience travelling to a certain country where they were able to try a food item mentioned in the video. This can be a great way to make a video without filming anything moving. Usually, the use of great photos and informative captions will be enough to make the video a success, whilst being educational about different cultures too.
The value of these viral food videos can be astounding for your business, especially if you decide to disperse over all the available platforms. If you do decide to create your own videos you have the freedom to use them for a variety of reasons; showcasing food products, tools or even dishes that you serve or sell. Imagine these videos as a mini advert. They could help your online presence explode and by gaining a devoted fan base you are able to encourage customer loyalty, therefore, making it one of the most powerful marketing agents you could adopt. By picking the right production team, and following in the footsteps of giants such as BuzzFeed’s Tasty, you could soon be on your way to creating a community full of warm leads for your business.
