When was the last time you watched a food video? With more than 250 million photos rocking the #food tag on Instagram, it’s a wildly popular online topic. Let’s take a look at why we’re so hungry for food porn.
Visual Hunger
Visual hunger is what happens when you watch a food video and it stimulates your appetite. Studies show that the proliferation of food videos could even be contributing to societal fattening! But why are these videos dominating Facebook views and driving us to drool over our phones and tablets?
First of all, we like to share videos of EVERYTHING, so it makes sense that such an important part of our lives would be part of the video mix. Second, everyone can relate to food. Plus, it’s a happy and shareable subject. And high production values are making the food look better than ever. After all, you eat with your eyes. Another theory maintains that popular food videos feature recipes you could make yourself. As opposed to high-end chef creations, successful videos are simple and user-friendly.
TASTY is Tops
In July 2015, Buzzfeed launched a Facebook video series on comfort food. Tasty featured P.O.V.-style instructional food recipes that were hugely successful and have since inspired many imitations. The portal has billions of online views and the entire business is built on the premise of shareable video. Their winning formula is short (typically 90 seconds or less) pieces that show the sped-up steps for simple recipes. And there’s always the money shot of a gooey cheese pull or melting chocolate. For those interested in slowing things down and making the recipe at home, Tasty has an app.
Winning Recipe
What does it take to make a great food video? The top-down format does a good job of connecting with the audience. This perspective makes the viewer feel like they’re cooking the dish themselves, involving them in what they’re watching. The short format also makes the videos easy to digest. Nobody is going to spend an hour watching bread rise, so the best bet is to skip to the next step or speed up footage. The videos provide quick inspiration, as opposed to leafing through a cookbook or watching a 30-minute program.
Visually, make sure your food video is colourful. You want someone scrolling through their phone to stop in their tracks. Make sure the set is well-lit, clean and uncluttered.
Tasty is always refining their videos. A new format found that showing the final shot at the start of the video was a great way to prep the viewer and draw them in. End with another shot of the finished product and something that suggests the dish is about to be consumed, like a forkful of the creamy mac and cheese.
Set the Table
If you have a food-based business or product and you’re looking to make a video, give us a call. We’ve shot for restaurants, food suppliers and manufacturers. Let us help you whet the appetite of your audience.
