Those who are looking to bring more attention to their brands should be paying attention to this viral food video phenomenon. It’s no question the fastest growing video trend on social media, and it does wonders for garnering widespread attention. Consider these three important lessons from food videos.
1. Cater to What People Love
If there’s one thing the authors of these videos understand, it’s people. They recognize that one thing the majority of people have in common is a love of food. Food creates an emotional connection that’s difficult to ignore, as evidenced by the billions of views and shares. It’s a way for consumers to connect with a brand, even though they may not have anything else in common.
“Food is an easy thing for people to bond over on social media no matter if they know each other really well or only know each other a little, if they’re constantly in touch or have been out of touch for a while. It’s a lighthearted topic, it’s not too serious or overtly political (most of the time),” says Emily Fleischaker. “Not everyone wears makeup or likes to workout or is getting married or is a parent — or even likes to cook. But everyone’s gotta eat.”
An emotional connection is the most obvious reason these videos work. They’ve catered to what people really love, and it’s paying off.
2. Roll with the Trends
BuzzFeed Food successfully made this trend huge, but others can follow, and they have. Entire companies have arisen out of this food trend. They saw an opportunity to take their health or nutrition business to the next level, and they rolled with it. Other businesses recognized just how popular the food videos had become, and they used that to kick start their social media campaigns.
Even though many companies have products or services that have nothing to do with food, they’ve still found the trend of food videos to be incredibly useful for boosting awareness of their brands. Cosmopolitan, for example, has learned to seek greater recognition simply through posting a few of these videos in conjunction with their latest news stories.
3. Captivate Audience Attention
These videos are the epitome of capturing audience attention. BuzzFeed Food recognized the incredible power of food for capturing people’s attention, and they learned from that trend to create a viral experience that still has people talking months later.
BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti, told Tech Insider in a December 2015 interview, “One of the things we realized about three years ago was that food and lifestyle content was something that people really loved and would share. It was also something we had the potential to have a bigger impact…on people’s lives.”
He goes on to discuss how his team saw how much attention these videos had on the audience. “[We] learned from that,” he continued. “And now BuzzFeed Food and Tasty are two of the largest media channels on Facebook, and they’re both food channels.
It’s clear that BuzzFeed Food, and their affiliated publisher Tasty, know how to cater to an audience and captivate attention for the long haul. Learning from their success is one of the best things companies can do to carry their social media efforts to the next level.
Image Credit: Katja Anton photography
Food Video Credit: Wild Bunch Media
Article: many thanks to freelance writer Larry Alton and Social Media Week
Sam Robinson, Director & Producer
Wild Bunch Media
Sam is a director and video strategy consultant specialising in video for social media trends, business, and the food industry.