The Top 10 Food and Drink Social Media Influencers?

14th February 2019

written by Lissie Archer

Food and Beverage (F&B) is big business on social media. This is reflected by F&B brands getting the most mentions on Twitter, with a 32% share of tweets. Coinciding with the food and drink social media boom is the growth of influencer marketing, which has an estimated worth of $15bn. 

Marry the two together, and you have an opportunity to exponentially grow your audience while improving the bottom line. It bodes well for food and drink social media influencers, but who are these influencers making waves in the world of F&B?  The Small Films team check out the top food and drink influencers to watch. 

1) @elavegan

With more than one million followers, Michaela Vais is one of the biggest food bloggers around. She creates vegan recipes and shares them with fans. Since starting her food blogging, she has gone on to become an author, photographer and one of the most recognised influencers in F&B.

instagram picture of elavegan account

2) @memysmoothiesandlife

Sweden-based Anna Lindberg is the queen of the smoothies. Her Instagram page, memysmoothiesandlife, has amassed more than 84k followers as she creates eye-catching imagery based on delicious-looking smoothies. Anna covers everything from superfruits to easy-to-make smoothie recipes.

colourful smoothie bowls with fruit

3) @uglyproduceisbeautiful

As one of the first influencers to monetise social media, Sarah Phillips knows a thing or two about influencing. Her platform showcases food art, using items like watermelon to create fruit grids and oranges to display hanging citrus. It’s easy to imagine Sarah’s works in galleries and exhibitions.

4) @transatlanticfoodies

Sonia, from Switzerland, and Vishnu, from India, form TransAtlanticFoodies, an Instagram page that explores the best foods from around the world. So far, the duo has 30k followers, who log in to see the latest dishes that feature on the account.

5) @nobread

Nicole Cogan built her 200k-plus following by finding tasty gluten-free desserts from around the world. She uses social media to display her latest gluten-free findings, as well as travel around the world and her own recipes. Nicole has a large following on Instagram and TikTok.

Instagram picure of nobread account

6) @jancisrobinson

Being one of the Queen’s personal wine consultants clearly wasn’t enough for Jancis Robinson, who has gone on to build up quite the following on social media. Jancis is also a BBC producer when she’s not advising the queen or advising her 81k followers about the best wines around.

7) @themodernproper

If you’re looking for versatile recipe creators, then look no further than Natalie Mortimer and Holly Erikson. Their account features a wealth of recipes that use favourites like pasta, soups, gluten-free options, meat dishes and more.

burger, soup and noodles

8) @davidchang

When Vogue describes you as “America’s most relevant chef”, you know you’re onto something. David Chang, food experimenter and restaurateur, has captured the hearts and minds of many with his Asian dish tutorials that have seen him build a following of 1.7 million on Instagram. 

9) @joshuaweissman

The majority of F&B influencers have mastered Instagram, which isn’t much of a surprise considering its image-led appeal. Joshua Weissman, however, has achieved a following of three million people on TikTok, a social media platform still in its infancy when it comes to F&B. The chef uploads short and snappy recipe videos that don’t take themselves too seriously.

10) @mondomulia

Guili Mule records her travels, where she partakes in fine dining and plenty of coffee tasting. When she’s not jet setting around the world, Guli creates her own recipes and shares them with her 57k fans on Instagram.

11) @gizzierskine

The super-talented chef Gizzi Erskine has an Instagram full of her own luscious recipes, her new haunt in Margate and delicious meals she’s tasted around London and beyond.  This is a page to visit if you want to see drool-worthy comfort-style food. 

12) @winingawaytheweekend

Named by The Telegraph as someone who is ‘shaking up the wine world’ Georgie Fenn is a wine influencer who educates her audience about anything from chablis to pinot noir. 

Cooking up a storm on social media

Influencers are continuously coming up with new and fun ways to depict recipes and grow their audience. It’s no surprise that many F&B brands desire to work with them, so they can tap into their audience and increase their social media outputs.

George Hughes is a former television Director and the Founder of video marketing agency Small Films. His company helps brands to communicate with a wider audience using strategic video content.

If you’re looking for a London video production company and want a professional hand in creating compelling, authoritative video content as part of your marketing strategy? Get in touch today.

 

7 Vital Stats That Show Why Video is the Medium of Our Time:

 

Video killed the radio star, and then obliterated everything else in its path to become the de facto method of engagement for consumers, businesses and marketing outreach. 

The evolution of video has seen it become a prominent player in every industry, from the entertainment business to pharmaceutical companies and everything in between. It’s now the most effective way for businesses to share content. 

81% of brands now use video as a marketing tool, which is up from 63% from previous years. The digitisation of, well, pretty much everything, has only increased video’s influence. Simply using the word “video” in an email subject lines boosts open rates by 19%, while 83% of businesses say it brings them a high return on investment (ROI).

But just in case you’re not sold yet, here are seven more vital stats that show why video is the medium of our time. 

1) 10x the engagement levels

Video is essentially immersive marketing, as it has the power to increase engagement levels beyond other methods. Audiences are 10 times more likely to engage with video content than they are any other medium. Whether you’re turning video into snippets for social media or filming customer testimonials, it offers an array of methods for telling stories. It’s a versatile tool that captures a range of imaginations, which helps to increase engagement levels.  

2) 92% believe sharing is caring

A whopping 92% of people share a video after watching it. Going viral is all the rage, but getting people to share content is one of the hardest things to do online. Fortunately, video increases your chances of creating popular content that gets routinely shared online and off. 

3) 65% watch video on your website

The power of words have their place in the realm of content, but when it comes to keeping people engaged with your website, video is the primary driver. 65% of web users watch more than half of a video on a website. If you’ve got a story to tell, you’re better off doing it with moving image. 

4) 49% of business grow faster with video

Brands that use video are growing faster than those that aren’t, with 49% of businesses seeing an uptick in fortunes when they implement video marketing into their strategies. Deciding against using video marketing can be a costly error, leaving brands to play catch up in a [digital] world where everyone is already competing to put their brands in the spotlight. 

5) More than 50% of consumers want to see branded video content

The age-old saying “the customer is always right” will always ring true, and video allows you to give the people what they want. More than half of all customers wish to see branded video content, which they demand more than any other content type.

6) Conversions increase by 71%

Put simply: video is easier to monetise. Conveying your message through video converts more customers, with conversions increasing by an impressive 71%. People like to see things in action, whether you’re showcasing an event demo, providing educational “how-to” guides, or creating personalised messages. The easily digestible nature of video makes storing information that much easier.

7) 95% information retention rate

Getting your message across is one thing, but convincing people to store that information is another. We retain around 10% of all text (unless you’re reading this post, of course), but remembering video information increases to a staggering 95% retention rate. With such staggering numbers, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see brands using it as a primary method for relaying messages. 

Long live video 

Video has become part of the cultural lexicon across so many different platforms. The options to express yourself through video are vast, and brands are embracing it in their marketing strategies. By the end of 2020, 84% of all internet traffic will be video-based. The business of video is booming, and there’s no doubt that it’s the medium of our time. 

Follow us on Linkedin for tips and tricks on creating the best branded video content. Or get in touch at info@smallfilms.com

 

 

Summer is a really important time for many FMCG brands – it’s a happy time filled with a lot of fun and excitement, good weather, holidays and late night sunsets, and is therefore a massive selling point for both businesses and consumers. Some brands depend solely on their summer campaigns and will spend the whole year working towards the months of July, August and September, where they release new products, run promotions and do big advertising online and out of home. For food and drink brands especially summer is a massive highlight of the year, it’s when all of the big food shows roll around like Taste and Lunch, and when consumers are more eager to be out and about, which unsurprisingly means they eat on-the-go a lot more. In fact, consumers are prepared to spend more on things like food in the summer because they spend more time outside and last year we saw a 5% rise in consumer spending during the summer holidays (Barclays). Because of that, the months of “summer”  are some of the best times to be making video content and getting your brand as much attention and exposure as you possibly can, so that when your customers are out and about, they will spend their extra cash on your products. 

 

Digital marketing during the summer can be very loud, fun and exciting, and your content can be as colourful and summery as you like. Using a season to help promote your brand is an easy and effective way at engaging customers and reaching new audiences And making video is an even better strategy as it can be cheaper, more versatile and a lot more engaging. Consumers already prefer watching video to static imagery and text and during seasons of fun like the summer holidays they are even more receptive to adverts that reflect the positive and happy vibes they are trying to achieve during the summer months. Here are some examples of videos your food or drink brand can make this summer…

 

Social Media Videos

You can go really basic with Instagram video ads like this one from Costa Coffee – Iced Coffee Range. 

Really simple but yet very engaging; they’ve made the coffee and the foam look like the ocean and placed it in front of a blue “sky” background. It’s eye catching because it looks like the beach and reminds you of summer holidays, vacations and calming times spent looking at blue skies  It instantly gives you a positive feeling.

These Instagram videos from Holland and Barrett work well at promoting products using a happy and summery vibe.

 

Summer Campaign Video

The great thing about a summer campaign is that they can be as extravagant or as simple as you like. They can range from a massive stunt in Waterloo Station, to a pop up shop on Oxford Street, to a simple out of home billboard or online advertisement. Either way if your food or drink brand has anything planned this summer you’d be a fool not to film it. If you’re attending an event then you should film it, if you’re handing out samples then you should film it. Even if you’re going on a work outing to the Zoo, you should film it! We did a summer campaign video last month for UpBeat Drinks for the launch of their new juicy protein water products and to promote their new re-brand. The video was a 22 second social media advert and a 6 second cut down version for YouTube pre-roll as well as a 15 second version for out of home digital display.

 

 

Filming your street sampling is one of the quickest, easiest and most effective ways at getting great customer feedback, market research and providing audiences with a first hand, genuine account of what people think of your product! We created this video for Emily Crisps last year to promote their Whole Foods front window display on Kensington High Street! 

 

 

Promotional videos

Promotional videos are a really effective way at targeting and engaging consumers and work really well across all forms of social media and online advertising. These can be as short as 6 seconds and can advertise your products online to target audiences that you really want to market to. They can be short and snappy and therefore really eye catching, like this promotional advert by McDonalds which is promoting their iced coffee range.

 

 

It’s striking and definitely takes you into a summer hypnotism. Really cheaply, you could film your cold drink bottles close up with water slipping down the side – its eye catching and reminds you of summer – great for an instagram video.

 

Video adverts

So, Boot’s isn’t exactly a food and drink brand but they do stock and promote a lot of food and drink products. This advert they’ve recently released called “Summer” created by marketing agency Ogilvy is a great example of the types of promotional video adverts you could make online. Whilst this had significant budget behind it, you can still take aspects of this video advert and utilise in your own video marketing on a much smaller budget. This is a montage of a child’s summer experience, from the school summer dresses to watering the plants in the garden. A food and drink brand could make short video content for online advertising that shows a child in the garden playing with water and mum calls them in for a snack. Or, people in a park playing frisbee and reaching for your product.

 

 

Event videos

If you are exhibiting at an event this summer then 100% make sure to film it and make sure to create some promotional content around it. Exhibitions are the perfect place to get video content for your social media pages, online advertising and even for your brand film, because you have first hand footage of consumers sampling and trying your products. Event videos make great case studies and customer testimonials. Don’t be afraid to ask the visitors what they think of your product and film their reactions. It’s great to show your audience that you are out there, attending events, making the most of your summer and keeping them in the loop. Event videos work well at developing your brand identity and personality. You can live stream these events, take videos for your instagram and facebook story or you can get a professional to film it and get interviews.

 

Be creative this summer with video and get your brand out there, show off your fun personality and engage with as many audiences and customers as you can. Summer is a huge promotional attraction to any brand, influencer and consumer, so regardless of the budget just make sure you’ve got a lot of summer related posts and videos going up onto socials, through your stories and feeds. This way you can effectively stay at the front of people’s minds and slot into their news feeds with relevant content.

 

 

With Christmas now a distant memory and January finally over, food and drink brands need to focus on their subsequent marketing campaigns, and there are many events and public holidays coming up this spring that food and drink brands can take advantage of.

Recent years have seen tremendous growth in the participation of Veganuary and Dry January. So it’s no surprise that it was a hugely popular time for marketing teams of food and drink brands across the UK. So with spring upon us, what special days are coming up that scream for food and drink video content?

There are a lot of great dates coming up, like St Patrick’s Day,  Easter, and the period building up to Easter like Pancake day and Mother’s Eay. But, it doesn’t just have to be national holidays that inform your video marketing choices; it can also be the changing seasons and the weather.

Spring

Walkers did a mini video on YouTube called “Walkers does Spring” with the slogan “Our crisps are hard to bleat this spring.” This type of video is easy to make and easy to market across all online platforms.

 

Arla created this GIF on Facebook titled “It may not feel like it, but today is the first official day of spring! Who’s looking forward to fresh spring flowers and warmer days?”

It may not feel like it, but today is the first official day of spring! Who’s looking forward to fresh spring flowers and warmer days? #Arla

Posted by Arla on Tuesday, 20 March 2018

 

Creating video content focused on a specific day of the calendar year can be a great way to gain positive exposure for your brand, especially if you run them as video advertisements on social media and target audiences engaging with similar content.

>> Check out our food videography services 

Pancake Day

Hellman’s did a short and simple recipe video for Pancake Day last year, which they marketed via Facebook. The mayonnaise is barely used or referenced, but it is branded, and you can tell that it’s a Hellman’s video.

 

Towering Japanese Fluffy Pancakes; served with crème fraîche, crispy bacon and lashings of maple syrup.

Posted by Hellmann's on Thursday, 8 February 2018

 

Waitrose created a recipe video on Facebook that shows pancakes being made three ways. It’s a really simple video that has no reference to Waitrose products or services, but it’s engaging, relevant and entertaining, so their audience can take something positive away from it, which overall adds value to Waitrose.

 

Enjoy these delicious topping ideas for Pancake Day! Which one is your favourite; mango mojito, maple butter and crispy pancetta or chocolate, banana and hazelnut?Read the recipe: http://bit.ly/2EyGZB1

Posted by Waitrose & Partners on Monday, 12 February 2018

Mother’s Day

Marks and Spencer held a flower arrangement event last year for Mother’s Day, which they filmed and uploaded onto their YouTube channel.

 

Easter

Easter is perhaps the best spring holiday for food or drink brands to take advantage of because it spreads a positive message, is widely celebrated and, is typically a happy, warm and colourful time of the year. Similar to the Waitrose recipe video, you can create Easter-related recipe videos like this one by Lurpak.

Roasted until golden and crispy, Whole Roasted Sea Bream is not your ordinary lunch. Recipe: http://bit.ly/2GjX24j #SeizeTheLongWeekend

Posted by Lurpak on Friday, 16 March 2018

Or, like Marks & Spencers, you could hold an Easter-related event with either your company or customers like an exclusive Easter snack hunt. Film the event and share it with your customers and audiences online to spread a positive and fun message about your brand.

Your videos don’t have to have such a strong reference to holidays or events; it can be as simple as adding the colour yellow or having some daffodils and tulips in the video. Typically, the audience will build their own connection to the event as long as you give them a nudge in the right direction.

>> See films we have created for Aldi, Charlie Bigham’s and Co-op

Asda created this video advert last year for Easter as part of their “Meal Under £2.50 a Head” (which is a series of videos they run on YouTube). There is no actual reference or connection to Easter during the video except for the dancing daffodil in the middle of the table. Yet the video is effective at capturing people’s attention when thinking about Easter.

There are a lot of great videos food and drink brands can be making this Spring season. Using an event like Pancake Day, Easter or Mother’s Day to aid your monthly marketing campaigns is simple, effective and hugely rewarding. It’s one of the fastest ways to drive organic engagement to your brand, get a great return on investments and reach wider audiences during an exciting and busy period. Think about the types of videos you could make and what your audience would like to see from your brand this spring.

Small Films is a London video production company based in Hackney. We support our clients with various videos, from food videography to explainer videos