Social Media Campaign for Food Network

The Food Network has taken off since its launch back in November 1993. At this point only a few chefs have broadcasted cooking sessions, including the world famous French Chef Julia Child. It was time to bring the kitchen to America and it was welcomed with open arms. The Food Networks reaches out to over 98 million U.S. households and the ratings are on the rise. Cooking is no longer limited to grandmothers and stay at home mothers. Cooking is made easy (5 Ingredient Fix), affordable (Sandra's Money Saving Meals), and perfect to fit even the tightest schedules (30 Minute Meals).

It is amazing to think how far this network has come in the 17 years it has broadcasted. I believe a great portion to their success comes from their social media campaign. The Food Network realized that an important and effective way to reach the public is through social media outlets. The internet is a gateway of communication to people all over the world and it is important to have a strong presence.

Foodnetwork.com
One of the first steps to creating an online presence is their website Foodnetwork.com. Many viewers wish to obtain recipes from the shows they watch or even find a recipe for dinner that evening. Foodnetwork.com has become one of the most popular recipes sites on the web with more than seven million website users monthly. This site was designed to provide recipes and cooking tips, not to revolve around the Food Network station which was a great idea. The landing page is recipes and at the top you can find information on the shows and chefs if you are interested. The designer’s knew what the audience wanted and this set up has allowed the website to be more than just a tv stations website to find information, but can stand on its own as a popular online recipe catalogue.

Facebook and Twitter
As the internet started to change, more social media websites became available for businesses to use to promote themselves, products, and ideas. The Food Network has jumped on the bandwagon and has both a Facebook and a Twitter account.

The Food Network’s Facebook page is a huge success with almost 700 thousand fans. People of all ages write on the wall with their thoughts and praises on the network. A discussion board has been set up to allow its followers to talking about their favorite shows and to get their opinion for future ideas. Having a discussion board is great for a company to get to know their audience. For example, What chef or show would you like to see upgraded or deleted? This allows the network to communicate directly with its viewers and find out what the audience likes and doesn’t like. It is important to keep close relations with your audience because they are what keeps the business thriving.

Twitter has been on the rise within the past decade. The Food Network has a strong presence on twitter with over 18 hundred tweets and almost 200 thousand followers. The page is updated every day with tweets about the up and coming shows and great recipes to recommend to its followers. This is a great way to publicize the network and provide its fans with the recipes and cooking tips they are looking for.

Blog
Food Network maintains a blog on their website, Behind the Scenes in the Kitchen and on the Road. Here is an inside look at the staff and stories that you don’t get to see on TV. The blog was not able to be found easily but it’s a good sign they have one.

Another popular blog is Food Network Addict. This is a popular blog that comes up on the first page of results when searching Food Network. This blog gives you all the gossip and information on the stars you see on the network. This site is great for fans to follow in order to keep updated with their favorite chefs and shows.

Mobile
Having a social media presence on the internet is not enough anymore. Today people are accessing their favorite websites from their phones and other mobile devices. Food Network has established a mobile friendly website allowing people to sign on to foodnetwork.com from their cell phones and view a mobile friendly site that loads faster then the original page and is easier to navigate through on a small screen.

The latest craze is the iPhone and iTouch providing applications the user can download to be a click away from their favorite website, games, and news. The Food Network quickly joined this craze and has now created an application for the iPhone and iTouch called Food Network Nighttime. This application provides video clips from your favorite nighttime shows, a photo gallery, tv schedule, and recipes. Applications on a mobile device is becoming huge and it was a great tactic to get involved so quickly.


Food Network has done a great job with utilizing all of their social media outlets. They have an
amazing website, strong Facebook and Twitter accounts, a blog to give you behind the scenes information, and have gone mobile. They are very involved with their audience over the internet and have a huge online presence. Food Network utilizes Twitter and Facebook to be the core of their campaign. As a writer attempting to break into this niche I will follow this lead and concentrate on increasing my presence on these social media websites. This is an example of a strong, well organized social media campaign that I will use as a guideline to help define my presence on the internet.