I’ve been a self-diagnosed “foodie” since what seems like forever, but it wasn’t until I was 19 years old when I combined my passion for food and PR.
My best friend at Temple texted me one day in the Spring of 2017 to tell me that she made a food Instagram account and wanted me to run it with her. We had always talked about making one because we wanted to receive free food (I mean c’mon, a college student dreams about free food), so I was thrilled to accept her proposal. Our first post was a picture of french toast from a popular brunch spot in Philly, and we received 105 likes, and four comments- not bad for our first go at this “food insta” thing!
The more likes and comments we got, the more followers. And the more followers we got, the more reposts we got from larger publications. All this finally led us to our goal in the first place: free food. Since May 2017, our account received complimentary meals and snacks from Honeygrow, Beiler’s Donuts, a brownie baking company, and a few others. Although the path to getting our first free offer wasn’t completely a breeze, it was attainable. And from the first french toast picture to now, I have grown a passion for spreading the news of yummy food to our many followers.
If you’re a fellow foodie and have a passion for sharing your favorite food joints, then I encourage you to take the step and create a food Instagram account. Here are a few easy tricks to get you started!
- Think of a fun and easy-to-remember Instagram handle. Simple and to the point!
- Go on a logo making site (I recommend Canva) and make a logo for your new account. Use this logo as your profile picture.
- Find a niche you want to focus on, such as what city or region you live in, and follow EVERY SINGLE account that is related to it. Following other food, accounts are super important in the first month or so because this will increase your follower rate.
- In each post, tag about 15 or so high profile food accounts, tag the location where you got the food, add the location to your post, and hashtag all things trending and relatable to your post. Doing so creates traffic to your post and account in general, thus making you more noticeable.
- Make sure your pictures are clear, all resemble a similar aesthetic/filter, and easy to look at.
- Have fun doing it! This shouldn’t feel like a job, but more like a hobby.
Running a food Instagram account has brought me more goodness in my life than I ever thought it would. I’ve tried new foods, stepped out of my comfort zone, formed relationships with Philly eateries, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself each time a post is made. It also is a great fun fact and even better interview talking point.
Make sure to follow my food account, @lifeofafoodie_phl, to stay up to date on all the good eats in Philly and beyond 🙂
-Shannon McQuaid
prowlpr.com 