It’s no secret that social media has changed a lot over the last few years, and that means social media in the food space has changed a lot too. Light and bright feeds with aesthetically pleasing photos of food don’t cut it anymore. People (and the algorithms) want pictures of ingredients bathed in warm natural light, videos edited with jump cuts so fast they give you whiplash, ASMR of sizzling/chopping/whisking sounds, and of course, everything has to be set to an ultra trendy pop song. But most importantly, people are more interested in getting to know the face behind the feed now more than ever. Content might be king, but personality is queen.
Remember when the internet used to be a place where you didn’t share any personal information, you always used a screen name, and you definitely didn’t show your face? You can forget all that in 2022. Posting your life online isn’t taboo anymore. In fact, it’s highly encouraged if you want a successful career in social media. Let’s be real, the food influencer scene is heavily saturated these days. The one thing that’s going to set you apart is YOU.
Putting a face to your social channels not only builds brand recognition, but it also builds trust and authority with your audience (not to mention your own self-confidence!). Showing your face, along with sharing personal stories, makes you relatable. The more relatable you are, the more people are going to engage with your content and keep coming back for more. As Entrepreneur says, “Consumers prefer engaging with another person instead of a completely abstract entity. They will be loyal to someone that’s accessible, relatable and inspirational.”
The majority of credit goes to TikTok for catapulting the shift from picture-perfect feeds to raw, candid content. Neoreach puts it simply: “Instagram sells a dream, while TikTok breeds authenticity. People are super open about both their triumphs and their struggles, which helps breed trust between creators and audiences, thus helping brands that decide to partner with these influencers.”
If you’ve been relying on your content to prove your brand’s value, consider talking about yourself as the authority and your content as evidence of your skills and experience. For example, it requires training, testing, and testing again to get to a recipe you know will work for your followers and taste delicious. Instead of prioritizing the recipe in your content, talk about all that went into its development — talk about your process and why you know this will be the best version of the dish they’ve ever tried.
Being an influencer is hard, but being an influencer who’s pretending to be someone else is even harder. Just be yourself! Did you cook something that didn’t turn out as planned? Post about it! Did you just land your first big brand deal? Let your audience celebrate with you! Cook things you actually want to eat! Be strategic with your content, don’t partner with brands that don’t align with your content pillars, and don’t be afraid to let your brand grow with you.
Getting to know your audience, working to understand their problems (and offering them solutions), and inspiring them to achieve their goals is the secret to creating a loyal community of highly engaged followers. Take them with you as you plan out your content (ask them what they’d like to see). Take them into your kitchen and cook with them in real time, answering their questions as you go. Encourage them to “ask you anything” on your stories. Be there for them, and they’ll be there for you!
You know how people complain about that often personal, 5-paragraph essay that sometimes precedes a recipe post on a food blog? Well, it turns out people do actually want that story, they just want it presented in a more digestible way — otherwise known as video! Tell that story in a video, while you’re cooking, and watch the likes rise. Use that story to bring your caption to life and spark conversation, and watch your comments grow. Story connects us to each other and personalizes your brand.
Help cultivate your personal brand by showing up and putting your best face forward. Literally. Allowing your community to fall in love with your authentic self is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for success.
Help cultivate your personal brand by showing up and putting your best face forward. Literally. Allowing your community to fall in love with your authentic self is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for success.
We’re incredibly honored to be nominated for Top Boutique Agency in @withjulyhq’s 2025 Creator Agency Awards! 🎉
CookIt turned 10 last year, a milestone that gave us the opportunity to reflect not only on how far we’ve come, but on where the creator economy is headed next.
With that perspective, we’ve become increasingly clear about one thing: the future of this industry belongs to creators who are built for longevity, not just momentary reach. That belief has shaped how we operate and why we’ve continued to evolve the traditional agency model — placing creators and their growth at the center of everything we do.
If you think like we do, please vote for us via the link in our bio. It only takes a minute. And thank you for supporting what we’re building!
Starting off the year strong! @imashleybreannn on the CookIt roster reached 100K followers on Instagram yesterday! 🎉 Swipe through memory lane to revisit some favorite partnerships along the way, including @getgraza, @labreabakery, and @amoretti. 💛
And just like that, 2025 came to a close the best way we know how. ✨ With great people. With good food. With a holiday party that turned into a hands-on cooking class with @thefooddragon, learning how to make @thefooddragon’s homemade gnocchi sardi with pistachio pesto. Grateful for this team, our talent, our brand partners, and everything we accomplished this year! 🥂
This past weekend, our Founder & CEO @lauriebuck attended @cherrybombe’s Jubilee in Los Angeles, a celebration devoted to women in food. From restaurants to cookbooks, bakers to winemakers, every conversation and every bite reflected the creativity and drive of this community.
Icons were everywhere, including @nancysilverton, who kicked off the weekend with a backyard gathering at her home, @mollybaz, @chefmelissaking, @suzannegoin, and @kerrybombe, women whose talent and vision have helped shape today’s food culture.
What stood out most was the spirit of the Jubilee itself: inspiring, generous, and truly “the Bombe.”
When you work with talent as driven and creative as the ones on our roster, showing up for them isn’t a question, it’s a priority! Yesterday, @lauriebuck and @molls.benton from Team CookIt joined Meg of @ainttooproudtomeg at the @saltworthstudio, where Meg is deep in the middle of a new, can’t-say-too-much-yet kind of project. (Spoiler: it’s big, and it’s going to be SO good.) 👀
It’s not unusual for us to hop on a plane, walk a trade show floor, or spend a day behind the scenes - whatever it takes to support the talent we work with. Because when you’re a talent building something new, having a team that believes in your vision, has the resources to support it, and is willing to show up for it makes all the difference. 🧡
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