Restaurants dish on Instagram as hefty business tool
Logan Wiley poured a purple mixture into a bowl.
She meticulously topped the puree with fresh fruit slices, almonds, granola and a drizzle of honey, stepped back, and gave it a critical eye. There was just one more thing to do: upload a photo to Instagram.
Wiley, owner of Real Raw Organics, a local, all-natural health food company in Ocean City, opened shop last December. In addition to smoothie bowls, she offers salads, sandwiches, vegan tacos, homemade kombucha, and healthy snacks and ingredients from local and national brands.
The 25 year old business owner has a website and Facebook page, but the bedrock of her marketing campaign has been Instagram.
"It has been a wonderful tool," she said.
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Instagram is a mobile, social networking service that allows its users to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Tumblr.
It is the fastest growing social media outlet out there, according to eMarketer’s latest internet usage forecast.
The app is expected to grow 15.1% this year, compared to just 3.1% growth for the social network sector as a whole.
One report from Forrester Research, found that Instagram generates 58 times more engagement per follower than Facebook and 120 times more than Twitter.
With such high engagement, Instagram is the ideal platform for business owners to link up with customers, listen to feedback and build meaningful relationships. Owners who chose to forgo sharing their story on Instagram, could be missing out on a significant opportunity with nearly 90 million users.
Hari Cameron, owner and executive chef of a(MUSE.) and grandpa (MAC), both located in Rehoboth Beach, has used Instagram to connect with like-minded chefs and individuals from around the world, as well as launch several projects that would have never come to light without the app.
"It has been a great way to expand and stay relevant," he said.
Cameron has two accounts; one dedicated to grandpa (MAC), a gourmet pasta eatery which he co-owns with his brother Orion, and one dedicated to more personal things.
"I think it's important for people to see 'the real me,' " he said.
His personal account, haricam, has posts ranging from elevated dishes at a(MUSE.) to goofy family photos, and more than 3,500 followers.
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Other restaurateurs, like Wiley, chose to keep accounts dedicated to the business, allowing personality to shine through in other ways.
During the summer, she encouraged patrons to post pictures of their purchases and picked a winning photo each month.
The winning picture was reposted on Real Raw Organic's account, and the photographer was gifted a free kombucha.
With Instagram, much like Facebook, people can share a photo and let their followers know where they are enjoying the meal by tagging its location. When photos are tagged with a restaurant's location, their friends will see it, giving customers the chance to market a business on its behalf.
"People posting pictures of their food is the ultimate compliment a chef can receive," Wiley said. "And it’s fantastic free advertising."
In less than a year, her account has grown to more than 2,000 followers and more than 500 photos have been tagged under Real Raw Organics' name.
Some restaurant owners feel Instagram is unnecessary to succeed, despite its benefits.
Jim Hughes, owner of Restaurant 213 in Salisbury said his food, "speaks for itself."
His restaurant, located on Fruitland Boulevard in Salisbury, was named one of the best in America by OpenTable, an online real-time restaurant reservation service.
Restaurant 213 has also been featured in numerous publications, such as Wine Spectator, Coastal Style and Metropolitan Magazine, and has been recognized by the Distinguished Restaurants of North America, something fewer than 800 restaurants in existence can boast.
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Others have chosen to skip out because they feel the app targets the wrong clientele.
Nancy Crass, owner of Kool Beans Bistro in Bethany Beach, said the majority of her customers are on Facebook, not Instagram.
"Besides, I would need a basic how-to course on using it," she said.
Becoming an expert on a mobile app dominated mostly by younger generations can seem daunting.
According to eMarketer, there will be 48.2 million millennial Instagram users this year in the United States. By 2019, nearly two-thirds of all millennial smartphone users will use the app.
But Meghan Lee, owner of Heirloom in Lewes, assures it is an easy concept to master.
To capitalize on the app's full potential, it is to be authentic.
"For me, Instagram is all about telling a story,” she said. "People want to read your story, but they can tell if you’re lying about it."
Lee has learned that sharing personal, yet professional posts resonate well with her nearly 1,500 followers. She has used the app like a blog, detailing the restaurant’s transformation from a run-down mansion to Heirloom, recently voted Delaware’s best new restaurant by Delaware Today.
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Her Instagram account spotlights the restaurant's best features; the interior, the drinks and the food. Each post is organic, but strategically planned ahead of time, much like launching a menu change or a weekly theme for the restaurant.
"What you post and when you post matters," she said, adding that photos should be always be high quality and relevant to the account. "I can’t tell you how many people have told me, 'I am here because of the pork chop you posted online and had to have it for dinner.' "
Best of all, Instagram is completely free to use.
It does, however, offer its users the opportunity to "boost" or pay for sponsored posts so more eyes will see them.
The photo-sharing app originally served up images in chronological order. But last spring, it began using an algorithm to predict which photos its users were most likely to like. Those pictures now appear higher in their news feeds.
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In an effort to make the app more user-friendly while catering to the needs of businesses, sponsored stories on Instagram now blend right in; they are seen in the home feed and look and feel the same as organic posts.
In a recent article published by Forbes Magazine, experts compared the benefits of video advertising on Instagram versus Facebook.
"Dollar for dollar, the number of impressions seems to be about the same on the two platforms, but getting someone to absorb and engage with a post seems to be easier on Instagram," the article said.
On an average day, clients could expect a total reach on Facebook of approximately 1,500. That same video on Instagram would generate more than 11,000 impressions for a reach of 10,900 per day, and the client would likely gain about 20 new followers per day.
Today, most social interactions are infused with visuals – snapping a quick photo to text to a friend, posing for a selfie, or killing a few minutes scanning through newsfeeds filled with photos and videos.
As a result, Instagram's rise has been astronomical — and understandably so.
"We’re visual creatures," said Wiley. "Instagram is a social network that connects people solely through visual elements, and it has found a way to capture, and keep, our attention."
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