The New Social Marketing: Food Pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words. I tried to find out who penned that phrase, but Google failed me. Regardless, this cliché is a truism in the writing and publishing world. Interestingly enough, it might soon become one in the food world as well, if the Nation’s Restaurant News is correct. For part of its NRN Social 200, a live look at the social media footprints of the nation’s largest restaurant chains, the association monitored quick serve restaurant social media traffic for early September. First and foremost being active in social media led to consumers engaging with their restaurant of choice more often. Secondly, and more surprisingly, so did pictures of food.

Putting it in a vending perspective

What does this mean for vending? Well, for starters, when was the last time you took a good shot of your food? Vendors can get glamour shots of most prepacked items, maybe even all. Manufacturers spend lots of money on these. But what about those selling commissary food, prepared in house or by a third party commissary? How about posting your new items via your social media page, after taking the best looking picture of it you possibly can.

And don’t worry if it doesn’t look exactly that way when the consumer eats it. When you unwrap a burger from McDonald’s, does it always look like the version on the billboard?

The best part is this will also be free advertising and mostly to people who already appreciate your contributions enough to like you on social media anyway. (BTW – this would be a great time to run or start a social media campaign if you haven’t done so already).

I challenge you, this week, with the fall holidays approaching, to consider your upcoming new sellers. Get the glamour shot from the manufacturer or take one yourself of the new coffee or Thanksgiving-inspired salad. Post it to Facebook and Twitter. Monitor sales afterward. If the trends from fast food hold true, you too will see a spike.