Influencers in gastronomy: Food influencers and their great success
written by Elena Funk
Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash
#foodporn, #foodie or #foodblogger - these terms have become common everyday words for most restaurateurs and non-restaurateurs alike. Hashtags like these have developed mainly through Instagram users who have photographed their food in restaurants, or even home-cooked dishes, and then posted the pictures. For some of them, this has led to a successful influencer career in the food sector. But is influencer marketing worthwhile in the gastronomy industry?
In this article, we would like to show what influencer marketing means in the food industry, as well as highlight the advantages and disadvantages.
These topics await you:
1. Influencer marketing in gastronomy - what does this model look like?
Influencer marketing in gastronomy - what does this model look like?
In 2022, we probably don't need to explain influencer marketing any further. For most companies today, influencers are an integral part of their marketing strategy and form an essential pillar for presence and reach on the internet, and even offline. However, this topic is not only exciting for already-established companies or fashion brands, but it can also be worthwhile for restaurants and restaurateurs to address this modern advertising and marketing topic.
Influencers in the food industry are in fact hardly any different from their colleagues in the fashion, beauty or sports industries. Here, too, there are different ways to utilise food influencers:
Influencers can be booked or invited to dine at the restaurant
In this form of cooperation, advertisers can typically eat and drink in the restaurant for free. In return, a direct link to the location of the restaurant and the social media account is generally shared by the influencer. In this way, influencers guarantee that customers take notice of the restaurant and spread their message or reviews about the food or service to the world. First and foremost, though, their priority is to ensure attention and reach for the restaurant’s physical location.
Restaurateurs act as influencers themselves
Some restaurateurs take the step of being a figurehead for their restaurant and build up a high reach as a gastro influencer in order to simultaneously promote it. In this way, they can present news and promotions to their target group in a timely manner and interact with them quickly. Not only is it uncomplicated, but it often leads to a large following.
Basically, influencer marketing is particularly well suited to promote restaurants and hotels, as well as associated services or in-house products.
Nowadays, it's normal to find out about a restaurant before you go there by using apps, social media or, best of all, hearing about it from your favourite influencers.
The latter are often seen as an extension of the circle of friends, so their opinions can be incredibly influential. Recommendations or reviews are taken seriously, so a positive visit to a restaurant can be worthwhile for restaurateurs. Referral marketing is still by far the best marketing in today’s world.
Restaurateurs as influencers
These three restaurateurs are not only successful restaurant owners, but they’re also sought-after social media food influencers:
Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam is an Israeli-British chef, cookbook author and food influencer. In 2002, he started his career in a small shop in Notting Hill. With his then partner Sami Tamimi, they created a grocery shop, deli, restaurant and bakery all in one. It became a place for which there was no clear description, but which reflected their passionate relationship with food.
From this combination, Yotam Ottolenghi has developed a style of food rooted in both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean traditions, though it also incorporates diverse influences and ingredients from around the world.Today, Yotam owns seven delis and restaurants in London and is the cookbook author of four published cookbooks to date (Simple, Jerusalem, The Cookbook and Plenty). These successes place him in the upper echelons of master chefs today.
Burak Özdemir
Burak Özdemir
Burak is a restaurateur and chef from Turkey. The chef became famous when his video, in which he prepared an oversized kebab, was reposted by the platform 9GAG.
Since then, he has been admired above all for his enormous portions of Turkish and Middle Eastern food, but also for other dishes like burgers and hot dogs. However, Burak does not limit his gigantic portions to food alone; he also has utensils, such as knives and spoons, in unusually large dimensions. His wide grin while cooking has become his trademark today. Famous people such as football player Mesut Özil, King Tamim of Qatar and Turkish President Erdogan have already visited Burak's restaurant and got a taste of his cooking skills.
Nusret Gökçe, alias Salt Bae
Nusret Gökçe
Salt Bae is the nickname of the Turkish restaurateur Nusret Gökçe. He is the owner of a famous luxury steakhouse near Boston, where the occasional celebrity will sometimes make an appearance. His unusual technique for seasoning meat has made him particularly famous; he lets a pinch of salt crystals slide over his elbow, or so it seems, before they land on the delicious meat. His salty gesture has since been used for numerous memes on the internet and is so special that the viral hit has made Nusret and his restaurant world famous. On Instagram, he shows the technique regularly, but he also lets his followers see into his personal life. Having more than 47 million followers speaks for itself.
Conclusion
Over the years, Instagram has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses - it can increase both brand visibility and reach. The same is invariably true for the gastronomy industry and its many restaurants; working with food influencers and bloggers can also be extremely rewarding. Not only is it helpful when the chef acts as an influencer, but it’s also a great opportunity when influencers are invited to dine in the restaurant and link the menu and the location accordingly. As with all marketing, though, the ROI must be appropriate to achieve your marketing goals. Once you have built up a good network of influencers, you can benefit from it in the long term and achieve an enormous reach beyond the social media channels.
With IROIN® Discovery, you can find relevant key opinion leaders in the gastronomy industry and discover new faces in order to build an influencer campaign and maximise success.