Take a Bite Out of Social Media
YES! Heck yes, social media is DELICIOUS! And yes I am talking all kinds, B2B, B2C, personal, small biz and especially foodie social media marketing. It is delicious because it WORKS, oh and also because social promos of food make us drool uncontrollably ... am I right?!
I am an expert with B2B social media marketing success but I wanted to know the strategy and success behind some of my favorite foodie accounts, so I sat down with Jessie Iacullo, Founder & Creator of Hungry Grl, Big City.
*Pro Tip: read this blog first, then visit her accounts, because once you get there, you'll never come back!!*
Let’s start with a quick background. What is your role with Hungry Grl, Big City? How did this get started?
I am the founder and creator. I spontaneously made the
Instagram page one day in March of 2015 when I was trying to procrastinate for finals and I realized I had an overwhelming amount of food pictures on my camera roll. Now, two years later, it has grown to over 23.5K followers and has experienced an endless
amount of food adventures.
What was the first social platform you promoted your content on for HGBC? Why did you choose that particular one?
Instagram was the birth place for HGBC and that’s where it stayed for about a little over a year. Then I created the blog in the summer of 2016 and expanded the brand to an email address, which has been my main outlet of communicating with brands and companies. I picked
Instagram because I had known previously of other similar accounts thriving on Instagram, so I wanted to join as well.
How many social platforms do you promote across now?
I use three: Instagram, Blog, Facebook. Instagram is the biggest and receives the most traffic.
Do you have a favorite? If so, why?
Definitely Instagram because that has the biggest readership and reach to people. I also love capturing pictures of my food and creating fun, relevant captions. People also send me pictures to post, which is so fun because they get so excited and into it when I post them!
Tell me how you measure success on social media. Would you say you have been successful?
I think there are a lot of different ways to measure “success.” This was honestly never something I started thinking it would “go” somewhere. I never imagined I would create such a large following and engagement level, to the point where people I do not know message me and engage with my content. I also will never get over the “Oh my god, are you hungrygrl?!” question. I also get texts and am told that people talk about my brand in their classes and to me that’s just unreal.
I really do think I have been successful for all of the above reasons and just the opportunities I have been presented with. I’ve worked with so many amazing companies and businesses, including cosmopolitan.com and Kraft Heinz. To me, the opening of those doors is something that I am lucky enough to say I have been able to do through the creation of my own brand. I also think being able to say “my brand” is success in itself… how many people can say they’re “branded?”
Why is social media important to your brand that you have established with HGBC?
Without social media, HGBC would not exist! Simple as that.
You have recently become a brand ambassador for Eff.Y.Bee – is this your first experience with this type of marketing (i.e. brand ambassadors, influencer marketing, etc.)?
I mean, technically I am referred to as a “social media influencer” through HGBC, so the time spent with HGBC is notable experience prior to my latest with Eff.Y.Bee. I was also a social media marketing manager for a Her Campus + Boohoo (a UK based clothing company) student program where I created social media for the clothing brand specifically to Pitt’s campus. This experience has 100% helped me develop my strategies for hugnrygrl, which has led me to working out successful ways to market Eff.Y.Bee, which is a jewelry company.
What do you look forward to most about being a brand ambassador?
Creating noteworthy content! I love working with products and coming up with runways to post about them. Whether it’s jewelry or a food product, I love creating concepts for photos to promote whatever I am promoting. With HGBC, I have a content manager, Melissa, helping me plan my picture content as well as actually taking the photos for me!
Do you have influencers for HGBC? If not, do you plan to bring some on board?
Currently, it’s me, the HG herself, however as I mentioned, I have a content manager that assists me with my pictures and is also usually my +1 on food adventures. I also have such a large support in general who spread my name, which is AMAZING! I think it’s so important to be able to connect with and identify to other millennials my age, especially females. I hope to promote that food should never be an enemy, and life should always be about balance.
One final question. Being a foodie – if you were stranded on a desert island, what meal would you wish to have?
Oh god, this is so tough! Some people call me the “Bagel Queen,” so I think it would have to be a egg, bacon, cheese, avocado, tomato, and ketchup sandwich on an everything whole wheat bagel!
Jessie is truly a social media maven. She proves that social media is successful when you connect with your audience and give them what they want to see. Those struggling with social media marketing can learn a lesson or two from this Hungry Grl!
Follow Hungry Grl, Big City! https://www.instagram.com/hungrygrl_bigcity/
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