Nano-influencers are Instagram users who have between 1,000 – 5,000 followers.
In 2018, Palouseeats was launched. Tara Roberts and I are both former social media managers of different higher education accounts and have moved to more advisor type roles. We both teach students in array of communication classes. She is also the staff advisor for student media. With this move, we were both a little concerned that if we were only using social media personally that we would lose our skills and not keep up with the changes to the platforms. We both like to eat and the food scene on the Palouse was lightly covered. An Instagram account focusing on food in our community was a natural fit. Our goal is to highlight the food culture in our community.
1. Embrace your niche
Food influencers are one of the most popular influencer categories. To stand out, we had to understand what makes us different. That ended up being our community, we focus on local food in our area. We highlight new restaurants; local farmers markets and our favorites eats. Our audience is a mixture of locals and college students who want to know where and what to eat. We try to be that resource. We also make sure to tag the restaurants and use hashtags to make our content more discoverable.
2. Recruit the people you need
In early 2020, we realized that we weren’t eating out enough (new job responsibilities, other side gigs, and being working mothers). We recruited a third contributor, Kristy Mayer, to the account. Our small team can keep up with the content. Kristy brought new ideas and knowledge that helped us grow our account. She was exactly who we needed. We also have a great group of creative friends that we consult if needed.
3. Be authentic
We aren’t food photographers, and we don’t style our food. We just try to take the best photo of the food we can with our phones. We give our honest opinion about what we eat and our copy reflects this attitude We don’t leverage our account for freebies. We present the food as it is delivered to us. Since we are part of our community, we can make in-community jokes and references.
4. Make it a relationship
The creation of social media platforms moved the communications field from a mostly one-way model to a two-way model. With our account, we ask our audience for suggestions and periodically host contests. We also view our account as a way to lift up our community. With Covid, we updated the community on protocols, delivery options, and what local businesses were doing to pivot. We share local fundraisers, special offers, and events. If we highlight the community, it will strengthen our relationship with it.
5. Know your limits but don’t be afraid to experiment
We know highlighting restaurants on our Instagram account is what we do best. We have not started a blog or Facebook page but focus our energy on the account. We do test out new features that roll out on the platform and take calculated risks.
Being a nano-influencer doesn’t require paying for followers or being highly skilled. Knowing your niche, your audience, and your community can help you grow your channel.