Your F&B business needs saving? We’ve got you. Don’t hold back when it comes to swooning your customers with mouth-watering visual content. Read on!

Hey there, hungry F&B business venturer! We’ve missed you, welcome back! We hope you’ve been keeping up with MelRish and reading our blogs diligently for the perfect ways to better your business through your best social media game.

Take time to hone your skills online and sharpen your wit to face your F&B business competition on social media. It’s not gonna be easy, but we’re sure that our tips & tricks will make it a smooth process for you!

Now, are you an F&B business, or do you know anyone who has an F&B business? Good Insta posts serve up a visual feast, tempt taste buds, and drive hunger for your F&B biz like crazy! To make your F&B business the talk of the town, you’ll need to up your content creation game on social media.

First, you’ll need high quality content! Trust us, it’s not just about making your F&B business’ Instagram feed look good. High-quality content can make your food look irresistible. I’m talking about those juicy burgers that make your mouth water, or those decadent desserts that make you want to lick your screen. When your food looks that good, customers are more likely to want to try it out. And let’s be real, who doesn’t want to attract more customers?

Think about it this way. If you were scrolling through social media and saw a picture of a bland, unappetizing dish, would you want to try it? Probably not. But if you saw a picture of a dish that looked like it was straight out of a Michelin-starred restaurant, you’d be curious to try it out, right? That’s the power of high-quality photos.

Plus, high-quality photos can also help you showcase your F&B business’ personality. Are you a fun, quirky restaurant that specializes in colorful dishes? Or maybe you’re a cozy café that serves up comforting classics. For example, if you run a food truck that serves up tacos. You could take a photo of your tacos in front of a colorful mural or graffiti wall to showcase your brand’s hip, urban vibe. Or, if you run a bakery that specializes in nostalgic treats like grandma’s pies, you could take a photo of a pie cooling on a windowsill to communicate that cozy, homemade feel.

Second, think of your signature dish. Does it have a consistent style? Do you think it has the power to attract new customers or even get your usuals to recognize your work? We know, We know, you’re thinking, “What does visual style have to do with my delicious dishes?” But trust us, it can make a big difference.

First of all, having a consistent visual style helps create a strong brand identity. You want customers to be able to easily recognize your brand whether they’re scrolling through social media or walking down the street. So when someone hears your restaurant’s name, they should immediately know what to expect.

Consistent visual style makes your F&B business’ social media presence stand out. When you have a cohesive look and feel to your photos and graphics, your social media profiles will look polished and professional. Plus, when your posts are instantly recognizable, your followers will be more likely to engage with your content and share it with their friends.

Let’s imagine a local coffee shop. By using consistent branding across their social media platforms, such as a specific color scheme or font, customers will be able to easily recognize their posts and identify their brand. If they see a post with a specific color scheme, they will know right away that it’s from that coffee shop, even without seeing the name!

Third and next up! Tell a story. Share the food and the feeling behind your F&B business! This is coming from one team of storytellers to another. Trust us! Now let’s just face it already. People do not only want to see pictures of your food! There’s more to your F&B business, more to your food, more to your chef, and more to you as the owner! Your customers want to know the story behind the dish, the ingredients, and the people who make it. By using storytelling, you can create a deeper connection with your customers and make your F&B business more relatable. You’re not just selling food, you’re selling an experience.

For example, let’s say you run a family-owned South Asian F&B business. Instead of just posting a photo of your delicious butter chicken, you could tell the story of how your grandmother used to make it for family dinners. You could talk about how you’ve carried on the family tradition by using the same recipe and techniques she used. In fact! If it were in our hands, we would choose to depict it through a visual carousel or of course, a special and emotional founding video!

Overall, storytelling can help create a sense of excitement and anticipation around your brand. By sharing sneak peeks of upcoming dishes or menu items, you can get customers excited about what’s to come. You could even share the story of how a particular dish was developed and give customers behind-the-scenes pictures or videos to look at your kitchen.

Fourthly, now, now, now – do visually appealing props make a difference for your F&B business through content creation! Not only do they add a certain special flair to your dishes, but they also make your food photos and videos look like they’re straight out of a professional food magazine.

Think about it: would you rather see a plain old burger on a plain old plate or a juicy burger on a rustic wooden board with some funky patterned napkins? We know which one we’d choose! And trust us, your customers and followers will too.

Let’s put it in an example for you. You’re running a coffee shop and you want to show off your new latte art. A simple, plain white mug won’t do. Instead, grab a brightly colored mug with a unique shape, add some frothy latte art with your unique touch, and place it on a rustic wooden tray with a cute little succulent, coffee beans or dried flowers next to it. Voila! Your latte looks like it’s straight out of a trendy coffee shop Instagram account.

Or check this out, maybe you’re a pastry chef and you want to showcase your new cupcakes? Rather than just plating them on a regular old cake stand, grab some cute vintage plates, add some fresh flowers or colorful candles, and suddenly your cupcakes are transformed into a work of art.

Not only will visually appealing props make your food look more enticing, but they’ll also add depth to your photos and your F&B business. Customers will remember the funky patterned napkins or the vintage plates, and it’ll make them more likely to return to your business!

Fifth, and the last for now (psst, there’s gonna be a part two soon), experiment with camera angles! Don’t limit yourself to the norm and create boring content – nobody wants to see that! Well, nobody wants to see a random dutch angle for your dutch chocolate cake either… But, here’s what we mean!

Camera angles are like secret ingredients that can make your food and beverages look even more delicious and mouth-watering. By experimenting with different angles, you can make your dishes look like they’re jumping right off the screen!

For example, if you’re showcasing a beautiful dessert, you might want to try shooting in a bird’s-eye view from above, to capture its intricate design. This angle will give your audience an overall look and make your dessert look even more tempting!

But if you’re shooting a big, juicy burger, you might want to get up close and personal with the camera. This angle will allow your viewers to see every delicious detail of the burger and make them want to take a big bite!

And let’s not forget about the fun and creative angles you can try. How about a shot from the side, showcasing a tall stack of pancakes with syrup dripping down the sides? Or maybe a close-up of a colorful cocktail with a flaming garnish on top?

Although, make sure your framing and composition is perfect. The possibilities are endless, and by playing around with camera angles and framing, you can create content that not only showcases your delicious food and drinks, but also entertains and engages your audience.

We’re not done, not yet! We do have a bunch of more tips & tricks, but for now we’ll let you rest up and focus on your F&B business. To keep up with our blog and any updates, feel free to pin this tab and look out for us in a week for part two!

We would love to hear your feedback and if you would like to book a shoot for content creation with us, feel free to drop us a message on our socials or on our website. See you next time!

*All images are sourced from The MelRish Studio and Canva.