If you're on Instagram, you know food photos get all of the likes. But simply posting ice cream cones and donuts all the time isn't enough to make your account "insta-famous." We sat down with Michele Mansoor of HUNGRYBETCHES to find out what it really takes to reach over 300K followers on an Instagram account dedicated to food pictures.
1. You have to be obsessed with food.
"I've always been obsessed with food, ever since I was a kid. All I think about is food. I'm never hungry because I'm always eating. Who better to have a food Instagram than someone who hangs out in supermarkets for fun?"
Well, we can't argue with that.
2. But you don't have to eat everything you 'gram.
"I love food, but that doesn't mean I gorge myself.
Food is a great source of pleasure for me, but anyone who is just as obsessed as I am has had their struggles and needs to find a way to be obsessed with food that isn't being unhealthy to the point where you can't move, or you make yourself sick. For me, that's taking really beautiful pictures of food. When I get something to photograph, I treat it professionally; I have to photograph it—it's my job. Most of the things I photograph I give away, to a friend or someone who is hungry. I want to give homeless people Magnolia cupcakes, not girls who get them for their birthdays all the time. It's just cool to feed people."
3. You get by with a little help from your "friends."
Michele started HUNGRYBETCHES about a year ago when she was a junior in college. At first growth was slow, but once she hit 10K followers, things took a dramatic turn. She also got major boosts when other famous food Instagram accounts regrammed her:
"I started getting reposted by bigger accounts, like the
Infatuation reposted me, and New Fork City—both of which being bigger accounts than mine at the time—I
would get reposted and they would give me credit."
4. It's not about where you get food, it's about what you get.
Rest assured, you don't have to live in a huge city and hit all the trendy spots to have an amazing food Instagram. At least not according to Mansoor:
"I post all New York Food, it's just not so much what everyone is talking about. I'm really late to the party when it comes to that stuff. Like if everyone's talking about a cronut, it'll take me forever to get one.
I do seek out new food but I'm really into having a tradition, like having a staple thing. 'Oh you always do fro-yo—for every holiday you'll
do a fro-yo.' Or, 'You always do bagels,' so it's just a matter of time before
there's another bagel from Space Market.
And if that doesn't convince you, hearing that Mansoor's most-liked post to date is just something she picked up at Whole Foods will.
5. Your nail polish matters.
"It actually does add something to the photo. It's another
point of color for your eye to go to. From an artistic perspective, if I had my nails painted clear, they would look just as clean but it wouldn't be as cute."
6. When it comes to quality vs. quantity, it's a tie.
Mansoor learned very quickly that quality of photo really does matter.
"I would notice that the better pictures would get more buzz.
So the more comments I would get, the more followers I would get. That is kind of how I started taking really good pictures, because I noticed that had a lot to do with how many followers I got."
But she also found out that quality only gets you so far.
"I have to post something everyday. The more I post, the more
followers I get. If I post a breakfast picture, a lunch picture and a dinner picture that's like a great day."
7. You need to establish your style.
If you want to start an Instagram account that has hundreds of thousands of followers, Mansoor has some advice:
"Come up with your thing. Consistency is something that all humans are interested in. If you know that every single day you're following this Instagram and it's gonna have a good photo, you won't be disappointed.
I'm good at styling food, and I know how I would want to see food. Most of my food I've styled—most of it I've constructed. All of the fro-yos no one made that for me; I made that. I put all the stuff on it, so I'm styling every single photo even if it's just a bagel.
I just do what I like and I just do what I'm good at. So figure out what you're good at. And if that's like having an Instagram dedicated to bagels, or having an Instagram dedicated to homemade crazy things, do it."
Follow Delish on Instagram (@hungrybetches is taking over right now!)
