How Photography Can Help You Stand Out on Food Delivery Apps
With the amount of competition on takeaway apps such as Deliveroo, UberEats and JustEat, it can be difficult to stand out in the crowd of other restaurants. In the age of digital marketing, appealing visuals are essential, and food delivery is no exception. Not only can quality photos whet customers’ appetites, they’re also the visual representation of your brand and culinary creations, and can influence customers’ perception of the quality of the food and of your restaurant. With delivery becoming more and more important to many businesses in the food service industry, succeeding on these online platforms can be essential in current times. Fortunately, a specialist photographer can help you catch the eye of hungry customers and bring your restaurant new business.
What’s Special About Food Photography?
Food photography is an art in and of itself, and requires someone who is passionate about both photography and gastronomy in order to bring out the best in your dishes. Culinary photography is also a specialised field of photography, requiring training and expertise to be able to execute correctly. While food photography involves many of the same considerations as with all other types of photography, such as lighting and composition, there are specific techniques to capturing mouth-watering food photos.
Presentation is a key factor; a food photographer will lend their artistic eye to create the perfect arrangement including the dishes to be used, plating, garnishes, and condiments, incorporating different textures and to catch the eye and let your creation take centre stage. When taking pictures of culinary creations, the photographer must also find the ideal lighting conditions, often using soft natural light to make your dish looks as appetising as possible. Food photographers additionally know how to edit the chosen shot to make the food look as appealing as possible, adjusting the saturation or white balance for example for a striking result, without making the food look fake. In addition to their artistic skills, naturally the more the potential photographer is passionate about food, the more they will be able to make the dishes shine off the menu to potential customers.
The Benefits of Visuals for Your Menu
Featuring professionally-taken photos of the dishes on your menu on a delivery app makes your restaurant significantly more appealing to customers. According to Grubhub, a popular delivery app, restaurants on their platform featuring fully-illustrated menus can expect an increase in sales of at least 30%. Customers are naturally more inclined to choose a restaurant that gives them a concrete idea of what to expect when their food arrives. This is corroborated by data from Deliveroo, which states that menu items featuring a photo of the dish have 6.5% more sales than those which do not.
Featuring photos on your menu also gives you the opportunity to improve your brand identity. The human brain retains 10% of information that it reads, but 65% of information that it sees. This means that if your food is displayed attractively on your online menu, prominently featuring your branded packaging and a range of different dishes, your restaurant is more likely to stick in the mind of potential customers, leading to sales further down the line. An experienced and professional culinary photographer will be able to accomplish this for you exquisitely: they will follow the latest trends in their area of expertise and know what customers will be looking for while browsing a menu. A professional food photographer will also know how to use their skill and experience to arrange the food in an enticing way to attract potential customers and lead to them to order the dish.
Using Photos to Boost Your Restaurant’s Online Presence
You can also use these professionally-taken photos in your advertising materials on other platforms, such as Instagram or your restaurant’s website. By posting photos on a platform that allows customers to comment on them, like them and most importantly share them, you’ll be able to both reach a new client base for your restaurant, as well as promote your establishment’s values and brand through your culinary photos. You can further achieve this by adding descriptions to your photos on these platforms that communicate a certain tone and atmosphere appropriate to your restaurant, whether it’s an elegant fine-dining establishment or the casual neighbourhood gathering spot. It is also important to add your own personal touch to the culinary photos (something you can discuss with the photographer), for example by adding a drink which you feel goes well with the dish, or by shooting it on a background that matches the feel your restaurant aims to create.
Ready to take your restaurant’s online presence to the next level? Find the best food photographer to showcase your business and culinary creations on find-my-photographer.com to start boosting your sales on online delivery platforms to help your business thrive.