An instant Instagram recipe for marketing to foodies

This summer, Zee Khana Khazana had us salivating with their latest social media innovation #InstaCookBook - a digital cookery magazine that showcased trendy summer recipes in 10 second videos on their Instagram account.

#InstaCookBook was a way of reaching out to the mobile savy, interactive, on the go audience who also form a large part of their target group online. Additionally, the food channel wanted to bring on board those fans, that had already built a relationship with them offline, via other mediums.

When it comes to food, visual imagery and recipes are major crowd pullers in terms of content, on social networks. Zee Khana Khazana observed, users couldn’t get enough of exquisite clean food pictures and innovative recipes, but the challenge was to create ‘insta yet useful’ content that required a short attention span and of course, Wifi connection.

Keeping all this in mind, creating 10 second videos seemed like a logical option, but why Instagram?

• There is already an audience that loves good looking pictures of food. The idea was lure them further, through a unique twist.
• Maximum users on Instagram are mobile and the idea was to tap into their mobile user base.
• For a food channel that is already a visual medium, Instagram worked like a second screen.

Short form of content

What really stands out,  is #nstaCookBook's extremely short form of content.

Listing down recipes via videos or content is a no brainer, but sharing them in the form of instant videos is what made all the difference. It captures your attention and creates a visual impact, before distraction casts a spell on you  Also, it helped build Zee Khana Khazana's presence in the Instagram space to a large extent.

Avocados are the talk of the town! Their mild taste makes them go well with EVERYTHING. Don’t believe us? Watch this! #avocados #SummerShowstopper #InstaCookBook Video credits: POPSUGAR Girls' Guide

A video posted by Zee Khana Khazana (@zeekhanakhazana) on May 29, 2015 at 8:52am PDT

Larger social footprint 

However, #InstacookBook could have seen much better success had other platforms been optimally utilised, considering its unique concept.

They could have probably asked their Twitter followers to tweet out recipes in 140 characters which would be then made into 10 second videos, on the spot on Instagram. This activity could've involved the further interaction of users, thus creating user engagement on a larger scale.

Zee Khana Khazana hopes to sustain #InstaCookBook as a property where they will try out different editions as per the current flavour and season. This would actually be a clever move on their part, to keep the campaign going on in instalments rather than exhausting off ideas,  in one go.

If that is the case, what we are actually looking forward to is, a festival special edition. Zee Khana Khazana, what say?