Brokedinner’s 3 Simple Growth Strategies for Chefs On Instagram
I am always on Instagram. By always, I mean that I dedicate enough of my spare time to not only be unhealthy but likely concerning. What can I say, I love the gram. As a Chef that used to spend COUNTLESS hours of his time browsing through cookbooks that only a very niche audience can appreciate I have troubles seeing this as totally dissimilar. I would scour waterstones relentlessly in same way I skillfully navigate relevant hashtags. As far as pictures go Instagram is every bookstore right at your fingers, and we all have the chance to be contributing authors.
If you have an Instagram account and you are active, or at least semi active you are a content creator. Yep, it’s that simple. You might not be a very good one, but you might not be trying to be and I totally respect that. I try to be a good content creator and as a result I know I have to put the effort into not only creating good content but putting my content in front of people it can add value to. People misunderstand what growth on social media should really be about. It is not about having the most followers (a term I hate, and personally I use supporters where possible) but having actual engagement with a supportive audience.
If you are still reading at this point then you might be one of the people who actually want to grow on Instagram. I am assuming you are a cook or a chef and really admire the posts you see by your favourite accounts and wish you could do the same. Or maybe you are a restaurant manager with something invested and you want you increase your exposure. Heck you could be a guy on the side of the street trying to sell strawberries out of a brown paper bag. Growing your account on Instagram is very possible provided you develop a system and I just wanna help you with...
3 Tips to Help YOU Grow as a Chef on INSTAGRAM
1. USE the App as it was intended
Instagram is a search engine designed to keep its users not only engaged but ON the app. Logically it rewards people who use the app the way it was designed to encourage them to spend more time on the app. One of the things that Instagram will do is that it will roll out new features quite regularly so that the users do not get bored with the features it offers. When it rolls out something new, USE it. The instagram algorithm is a perplexing thing that I do not pretend to understand. I do know that the more of the gram’s features that you use the more the algorithm will favour you when it comes time to increasing your exposure. So, like, comment, tag, dm, add to stories(and use features in stories), use hashtags, and anything else that you can when possible and AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. Consistency rewards itself on the gram.
2. Create better content for YOUR audience
Understanding your audience something that is seldomly thought about by casual users but if you are a chef that wants to tighten up your instagame then pay close attention to this point. As chefs we have a unique perspective when it comes to our audience because we are almost quarantined from civilians. Bearing this in mind, do you want to appeal to chefs as your primary audience? If so, ask yourself what chefs like. In my experience on social media chefs like 3 things. One, Banter. Two, CLEAN food/food-prep pictures. Three, wild garlic. Chefs do not care about pictures of your pooch, or what you ate for breakfast, or your Iron Maiden or Wu-Tang t-shirt collection. If I follow your account for something and then I notice that you are giving me something else far too often then you can better believe you are getting unfollowed swiftly. If you are going to have a banter account then that is AWESOME, just make sure that you stick to that theme. If you want to share your pitbull pictures or pint-shop selfies then do that on your own side account. The thing about creating themed accounts is that you eventually amass a clearly defined audienced that like your account for ONE reason. This is very important if you ever want to leverage your account in the distant future.
3. Engage with your audience/community
This is the deal breaker and most important aspect with regards to organic growth. I see alot of chefs out there with tens to hundreds of thousands of followers. Their images get thousands of likes and are shared on numerous platforms, yet they only average about 10 comments on their images. The worst part is that THEY DON’T EVEN RESPOND TO THE COMMENTS. That is a huge red flag when it comes to an account that has a pulse. Its piss easy to get a shit load of likes on instagram. Just create or repost viral content. That simple. It is much more difficult to create a true identity on the gram. You have to get involved and get to know people. Giving people the chance to get to know you catalyses the best type of growth, social feedback aka word of mouth. You have to be accessible and dynamic. Responding to comments and dm’s should not be looked at a chore, it should be a privilege. People do not have to take their time to comment or reach out to you, the humane thing is to not only acknowledge their support but APPRECIATE it. If someone comments on your post, give that love back. Comment on theirs or give them some likes. If you take one thing away from this post please let it be this.
Let me emphasise here, I do not claim to be a social media or IG guru. There are people who are far more qualified to advise you professionally and they are very easy to find if you look for them. Will they charge you? Possibly. Do they really care about your growth? Perhaps not. Are they chefs or do they understand our industry? Not at all. We have to support each other and the way I see it is that networking on social media is fulfilling on many levels both professionally and personally. I mean shit...Salt bae is a frikking millionaire just off the strength of meat and showmanship. If you are reading this then there is a 90% chance that you can cook better than him, he just strategised his growth and capitalised on his popularity. Impossible to be mad at that. Best of luck out there on the gram guys, and if you ever need any advice then feel free to DM me on IG. I got time for you :)
Be sure to follow @brokedinner on Instagram at instagram.com/brokedinner
~brokedinner
*cycles into nineveh and opposes the tribunal of canibal leaders with irrefutable truths*
