Publishers of information and news need to make sure that it reaches and meets the needs and wants of readers. Publishing online enables the precise measurement of information and news sent out: who it reaches, how it is reached, and how it is received by the reader.
Social media has added many new dimensions to how information is produced, distributed and received. The key dimension being engagement: you can publish as many Facebook posts as you like and Tweet about them 24/7, but if they are not engaging they stop there – only through engaging with readers does content disperse.
Most engaging in 2013
So we are delighted to announce what content published to our Facebook page has proved to be the most engaging in 2013, and just how engaging it has been.
We wanted to ensure that the results were arrived at independently so we invited leading social media consultant Karen Fewell aka Digital Blonde to do the audit. Quite some discussions were had before, during and after the audit discussing the various metrics applied, and we thank Karen for her diligence.
The range of subjects that we covered on Facebook during 2013 was diverse to say the least. We do not replicate other channels such as our website and often share content from others that we find engaging – more on this later.
Central to all hospitality and catering businesses is food, and food is prepared and cooked by chefs: this is a common interest to most if not all of our readers, and has therefore been our focus on Facebook. We are therefore delighted that all 20 Top posts of 2013 are recipes.
Here’s what readers made our Top 20 Facebook posts of 2013 through engaging with them – thank you!
Congratulations!
Huge congratulations to Simon Hulstone and all the other winners from us; our content partner Great British Chefs; from Villeroy & Boch, our sponsor of Chefs Recipe of the Week; and from our social media auditor Digital Blonde, Karen Fewell. Who all wanted to say a few words themselves:
“We’re delighted to see so much enthusiasm for Chef’s Recipe of the Week on Hospitality & Catering News. We’ve worked with the H&C News team for over two years now and really welcome the opportunity to share our chefs’ recipes and wonderful creations to the hospitality industry. We’d like to thank all the chefs for their support and comments and special congratulations to Simon Hulstone who made it the number one spot with his beautiful dish”.
Mecca Ibrahim, Head of Social Media, Great British Chefs
“We are delighted to be sponsor of the H&C News Chef’s Recipe of the Week feature as content marketing is a key element of our marketing strategy. The amazing creations of some of the country’s most respected chefs are presented to readers in a way that complements our ‘Partners in Presentation’ message to chefs. We would like to congratulate all winners in the Top 20 and especially Simon Hulstone on making this year’s Number 1, well done Simon!”
Nick Green, National Sales Manager, Villeroy & Boch
“Massive congratulations to Simon Hulstone for being the winning post. These days it isn’t just about how the food tastes and looks on the plate. Increasingly, restaurant visitors, chefs and aspiring cooks document the food they eat by taking photos and sharing images of them online. Every 30 days you can expect to see around 200k images with the hashtag #FoodPorn. #FoodPorn posts can and do drive business, but you also need to think about what happens when the photo doesn’t do your food justice. Your food needs to look tempting, not just in a professionally shot image but also a quick snap on a camera phone with poor lighting conditions.
“This image of Simon’s dish will be one of the reasons the post generated the highest number of Likes. The Likes were not just on the Hospitality and Catering News Facebook page. As a result of the 70 shares of the H&C News post, more Likes were generated by new audiences. I’m really pleased to see a dish that isn’t chocolate and berries win this competition which generally yields a higher engagement rate on social channels. Think about how the majority of us view Facebook – on a mobile phone, quickly scrolling through the newsfeed. The simplicity and colour of this post, make it a natural winning image and something very worthy of the title “#FoodPorn”.”
Karen Fewell @DigitalBlonde
Digital Blonde is a digital consultancy specialising in hospitality, foodservice and food. Karen Fewell, managing director, started learning about the industry at the age of two when both parents were hoteliers. Today, her company advises businesses on digital marketing, social media and social business strategy. Karen is a regular speaker and columnist on food and digital and is currently working on her first book, #FoodPorn due to be published in 2014.
Special Commendation
The engagement of a post on Facebook is measured by how many likes, comments and shares enable the post to travel and be read by an ever wider audience.
We may have made a mistake in this post, however, by getting people to think too hard and as such focus exclusively on their own comments. But this post would have won hands down if we were awarding a comments engagement category (maybe next year).
We found the post on Unilever’s Facebook page: it asks who diners would most like to share a roast dinner with. So we thought we’d ask the same question…Who would you choose as your celebrity roast dinner date?
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