Over the last few years, TikTok has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms around. Charli D’Amelio, TikTok’s most-followed user, became the first to surpass 100 million followers, gaining over 50 million new fans in the space of 7 months. There’s no doubt that it’s a huge channel, home to countless food-related content, and one that anyone can quickly become viral on, provided you understand the formula.
Youtube, on the other hand, has been the home of cooking videos for the last decade, with thousands of creators showcasing their talents on the platform. SortedFood, for example, aims to encourage students and younger people to get into the kitchen by making their content fun and engaging to watch. Epic Meal Time create extremely high-calorie meals that 99% of people will never make in their lifetime, but most people watch them because of how unbelievable and exciting the content is. There are countless more creators to mention who have made the platform their own, but recently, there has been a massive shift of chefs moving from Youtube to TikTok. Most aren’t entirely swapping platforms, but the ease of posting a 1-minute recipe video onto TikTok may encourage creators to ditch Youtube altogether.
For a while, ‘FoodTok’ has been taking the platform by storm. The hashtag #foodtiktok has garnered over 33 billion views worldwide, providing so many users with the opportunity to become viral overnight. TikTok food content brings millions of people onto the app, with such videos ranging from takeaway reveals to a 10-course banquet cook-along, all of which give users countless hours worth of content to engage with.
Short and Snappy
One thing users love about TikTok is that the videos don’t drag on forever. One creator, @samseats, has used this to form his whole channel. His videos feature countless 1-second long clips, all edited together, as he documents his meal, creating every aspect of it from scratch. His quick-style videos are incredibly satisfying to follow and make people want to keep watching. One of the dangers of TikTok is falling into a rabbit hole and spending hours scrolling through videos, so having food-related videos as fast-paced ones will almost guarantee that people will stop to watch.
Additionally, by simply using trending sounds and songs on TikTok, creators can jump onto everyone’s ‘for you’ pages. Trending songs keep the app up-to-date and give users a reason to engage with and find new ways to enjoy the content being shown. Nonetheless, having background music or sounds on your videos isn’t always guaranteed to bring in views, but it helps viewers remember videos by making them more inviting and entertaining.
Do You Even Like Cooking?
Something that makes cooking videos so watchable is that you don’t even need to be interested in them to enjoy watching. Viewers stay and watch videos because, even though they may never make the dish being showcased, they enjoy the content and get hooked on it. @wrapgodofficial is another example of someone who has gained hundreds of thousands of followers thanks to his content being enjoyable to watch. Whilst a giant wrap filled with a burger, chicken nuggets, chips & curry sauce looks delicious, it’s not something that most people will make for themselves, so being able to watch someone else do it is the next best thing.
However, if you are interested in cooking but find that there isn’t a market for the recipes and cuisines that you love most, then you could become that influencer. @iamtabithabrown started her vegan lifestyle in 2017 and began posting on TikTok after her daughter encouraged her to. She is, potentially, the most famous ‘vegan chef’ on the platform and inspires millions of people to experiment with vegan cooking. Her video about ‘carrot bacon’ has over 3.5 million likes and shot her to TikTok stardom when she first posted it.
Professional Chef, or Just Starting Out?
Because of how widely-used and inclusive TikTok is, some of the most famous food-related content producers don’t even have any previous kitchen experience, but they’ve found their niche and now create videos that capture the viewer’s attention. That being said, there are some very well-known chefs on TikTok, all of who showcase their excellent cooking skills. Gordon Ramsey tends to ‘duet’ people’s videos and scrutinise their every action, something he has always done well even before he joined the app. Gino D’Acampo and Jamie Oliver are two other famous chefs who aim to impart their cheffing knowledge onto the app, attracting millions of views on the way. @poppycooks had worked in restaurants for years but lost her job once the Covid pandemic hit. She took to TikTok and has since gained over a million followers, enabling her to bring out her own cookbook.
It’s no doubt that TikTok has become the new home for food-related content, with millions of people engaging with videos and uploading their own recipes and versions of popular dishes. The influx of YouTube creators moving to TikTok and the large number of professional chefs joining the app has brought countless new viewers to the platform, allowing for a lot more engaging content to become available for users.
Engaging with the latest social media trends is an excellent way to increase audience engagement with your brand. If you’re in search of more information on Paid Social, get in touch with DMT. We’d be more than happy to tell you about our services, as well as what we can offer in terms of PPC, Email Marketing, and more.