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Chef looking to create a professional instagram page, looking for content tips/posting/(any and all help)
Hello, i am a Chef, been in the business 10+ years working my way up from dishwasher all the way to where i am now as a private chalet/villa chef.
Recently i have decided i wish to step up my game and make a professional instagram account, showcasing my dishes and skill in the hope of having a nice public portfolio and also maybe reach a wider range of possible clients.
I have lots of photos but I’m not sure what is the best way to post them, what order to do so in and what kind of format i want to follow
Does anyone have experience in this sort of thing and could give some advice to best practise? Thanks!!
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1 Reply
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I think you already know this, but the quality of your photos are far and away the most important thing. Just had a quick look through your post history and with the utmost respect, while your food looks amazing, the images aren’t “Insta-worthy” (maybe you’ve got a separate folder of these, in which case, I’ll shut up 🙂
*EDIT: just noticed these are from several years ago, so ignore this!*
If not, invest in someone to do food photography. Do a session where you prepare a wide selection of your offerings and shoot a ridiculous amount of content. I have a friend that does this as a living (for big restaurant clients) and it’s an art in itself (and in most cases, the food is not even edible because it’s sprayed, colored, glued etc.)
At the very least, get yourself the best phone camera you can afford and play with lighting, angles, close ups etc. I cannot overstate just how important having high quality assets will be for food & drink accounts.
When it comes to publishing, here are a few scattered thoughts/considerations:
– Are you region specific? For example, are you a private chef to ski villas in Colorado? Caribbean islands? Does your cuisine have a theme and match what your potential clients might like? Where I’m going with this is maybe don’t feature hot, rich, gamey meats if you’re aiming your offering at people who are wanting to bring you to the Maldives or Barbados.
– Make yourself and your personality part of the content offering. Your food is the most important thing, but as a private chef, your personality will also be super important to clients. Are you someone who they will get along with? Will you click with them? Is your food philosophy in line with what they want? Are you a funny and easy to manage person? So consider ways in which you can also film yourself, and give some insight to your career, as well as the gorgeous stuff you’re plating.
– Don’t go too hard on the sales pitch. It will be tempting to say “available for hire” in everything you post, but that can come across as needy and desperate if repeated too much. If you set your account up with a strong name and bio, your content should speak for itself.
– Don’t sleep on IG Stories. Use this to offer some “behind the scenes” content, audience interaction (polls, Q&As etc) and most ‘casual’ and ephemeral content, rather than the perfectly manicured stuff you’ll post to main feed.Finally, I just want to leave you with some example of restaurant social media I really like, after a recent vacation to South Africa.
[Tokara in Stellenbosch](https://www.instagram.com/eatokara/?hl=en) and [Chef’s Warehouse Tintswalo](https://www.instagram.com/chefswarehousetintswalo/) are two accounts I absolutely love and embody everything I’ve said above. Their content is visually PERFECT and they give a strong glimpse into the people and the philosophy behind their food/menu, not just the plates themselves.
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What’s your Instagram?!
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