Week VIII: Visual Platforms for Cookies

Visual media is arguably the most powerful tool businesses can use in today's day and age.

When it comes to which platforms are best for promoting something as tangible as a cookie, Instagram and YouTube take the cake. Pun intended.

By taking a look at other successful businesses in the healthy treat industry, a better idea of timing and branding can be developed. Let's take a look at the following five companies' Instagram & YouTube presence.

1. Clif Bar

With 158k Instagram followers and 2,018 weekly posts to date, CLIF Bar must be doing something right. They take a user-heavy approach in addition to their highly subsidized branding to make for a wholesome appeal on this platform. Photo credits are given out on every image, which is supplemented by a surplus of hashtags and "@"'s to help their network expand. When new products are released, so are their masterfully created graphics. In the meantime, athletes and aesthetics related to lifestyle & environmental causes fill in the gaps. Their YouTube hosts a more thorough and well-organized content base, including multiple series and playlists that enjoy hundreds of thousands of views a piece.

Mama Sai's Cookies can learn from this page by getting involved in the lifestyle of the outdoorsy consumer as well as their philanthropic desires.

2. Tate's Bake Shop

Second on the list is Southampton based bakery and cookie mogul Tate's. When it comes to visual appeal, Tate's 27k Instagram followers know very well that a follow means an endless stream of delicious content. With unforgettable packaging, logos, and crispy crunchy products, Tate's capitalizes on the hunger-inducing saliency of each and every one of their products. Simple, one-line captions adorn their gallery of cookies, bakery photos, and ice cream sandwiches, with a consistent follow-up comment that lists a wealth of hashtags to spread the image.

3. Jenny Cookies

Capitalizing on YouTube's ability to promote a face behind a business, Jenny Cookies finds her successful niche as a young baker on the platform. With gorgeous video thumbnails and a professional, but homey appeal, it's no wonder Jenny's monthly videos have amassed her 24k subscribers over the years. While CLIF Bar has a massive pre-existing retail-fueled following that gathers millions of views per video, Jenny gives hope to the more local business, boasting hundreds of consistent, loyal views per video.

So during the early days of Mama Sai's Cookies, it is important to start developing video content. Over time, as a consumer base is built, a regular YouTube presence is important. As for immediate impact, Tate's demonstrates that a simple Instagram showing off the savory product is more than enough to garner a loyal following.

When it comes to visual content between the two platforms, #4 and #5 simply do it better than anyone else.

These two food giants rake up an incredible 10M+ views on a regular basis, and are able to churn out content on a weekly, if not daily basis.

4 & 5: Food Insider & Tasty

With 1.62M and 16.2M followers on YouTube respectively, Food Insider and Tasty are the new Food Network, drawing in viewers from around the globe on a daily basis. If that doesn't cut it, each of their eye-popping Instagram accounts enjoy 2.2M and 34.2M followers respectively. Featuring their own lines of products, recipes, brand ambassadors, and of course delicious foods, these social media mammoths have it down to an absolute tee. Their content is bright, bubbly, casual, and easy to, well, digest. This type of content appeals to all ages, languages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and eaters.

By learning from their example, Mama Sai's Pies can incorporate an everyday tone to complement video and image content, which garners the most follower engagement, to capitalize on these highly profitable platforms.