Social Media Best Practices for Chefs

Best practices on any social media platform:

1. Think first about what people want to see, not what do you want to show. If they follow you, they like pastry, bonbons, and chocolates. This is what they want to see. Pay attention to which of your posts get the most positive response. You can also ask your audience questions to find out more about what content they’d like to see from you.
2. People like to learn. Share step-by-step techniques. Show them the behind-the-scenes looks at how your pastries are made. Videos are often even better than pictures. Practice makes perfect when creating video content.
3. Humanize your brand by talking about your team.

Best practices on Instagram:

1. Give your Instagram bio the attention it deserves. The bio must be 150 characters or less, and your photo or logo should capture the essence of your brand – who you are, what you offer, and why you’re different.
2. Instagram is a visual-first social network. It’s all about great visuals. Good lighting and a clean background are essential.
3. Make sure to clean your phone or camera lens before taking a picture so it’s not foggy!
4. Photos of food should be “gourmand.” Closeup photos are usually more visually appealing.
5. Instagram is the perfect place to show off how your brand stands out with a unique visual identity. Think about what differentiates your brand from others.
6. Hold contests and giveaways on your page, both on your own and with partner brands. Contests drive engagement, help you gain new followers, and keep people coming back.
7. Increase your engagement by asking questions in your captions and stories. Not only will more interaction help you connect with your customers, but higher engagement also means your content will be seen by more people. Try asking people for their opinions (should we make this dessert with white or milk chocolate?) or inviting them to play a guessing game (can you guess the secret ingredient that gives our pink macarons their color?).
8. Respond to comments and messages quickly! Build a reputation with your followers as a business that cares and takes the time to engage with its customers.
9. If you have a business profile, use Insights to track engagement and conversions, and finetune your content ad strategy. You may consider using third-party platforms, like Iconosquare to determine your most successful times to post, engagement rates, and how users are connecting to you.
10. Share user-generated content. Acknowledging your customers incentivizes more people to post about your business.
11. Use hashtags strategically to get discovered and be exposed to a lot of potential new followers to your brand and products. Make sure to use hashtags that are relevant to the content you’re sharing, and be careful not to overuse the same hashtags as the Instagram algorithm favors accounts that use a variety of hashtags.
12. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business trying to reach users in your area, using geotags can help you make local connections.
13. Tag accounts that could reshare your posts. Make sure to tag them in the photo, rather than in the caption, to maximize your chances of being seen by the accounts your tagging.
14. Make it easy to do business with shoppable content. Tag products in your post whenever possible.
15. Make the most of your IG Stories. Ask questions, drive traffic to your website, create polls, etc.