Goals

  • Highlight at least four Maine food-related businesses through the social media food campaign, showcasing a variety of iconic and nontraditional Maine food products and flavors  
  • Identify and vet at least four food influencers who align with the overall Maine brand  
  • Determine the best way to execute a successful campaign without an in-person/in-market element during a global pandemic  

Situation Analysis

On behalf of our client, the Maine Office of Tourism (MOT), we recognized the integral role food plays in the tourism landscape overall, and with a wealth of new restaurants, award-winning chefs, iconic brands and local, signature flavors, Maine has secured a position as a renowned food destination. 

While Maine’s food scene has been recognized and “on the map” for several years now, our goal for our client was to identify and promote food-focused Maine businesses through an influencer campaign and we chose The Feedfeed, a network and discovery platform connecting people who love cooking, as our partner. 

As the COVID-19 situation evolved and travel halted in the spring of 2020, we quickly had to cancel plans for an in-person influencer campaign to be held that summer. As we watched the impact of the pandemic unfold, we wanted a creative way to still promote the food and food businesses of Maine. Rather than traveling to Maine, we worked with The Feedfeed to have Maine food products delivered to specific influencers for in-home preparation through custom recipes and social media promotion that fall.  

Methods

  • Identified and partnered with Maine food businesses able to ship product to influencers to showcase on social media channels  
  • Required influencers to tag and hashtag all social media content using Maine business and MOT handles, enabling them to share all content and posts (@VisitMaine and #MaineThing) 
  • Followed and shared all social content from influencers and The Feedfeed via MOT’s social channels throughout campaign  
  • Highlighted a variety of Maine food products and businesses 
  • Created and shared The Feedfeed video “How to Prepare a Lobster Roll at Home,” featuring Luke’s Lobster 

Execution

  • The Feedfeed contracted four influencers who each highlighted a local Maine product and created a recipe featuring these products 
  • The original recipes came to life as still images and when applicable, the content was shared on influencer blogs 
  • The Feedfeed created a recipe video, and article and shared all campaign content across their social platforms 

Results/Impact  

  • Total engagements: 398.5K; Reach: 4.5M (audience and Story views); Direct clicks to consumer websites: More than 475 
  • Highlighted five Maine food brands offering delivery services: Atlantic Sea Farms, Wyman’s Blueberries, Crooked Face Creamery, Maine Grains and Luke’s Lobster 
  • The Feedfeed’s content and lobster roll video resulted in: 298.8K total engagements and a reach of 3.98M 
  • The Feedfeed’s Instagram Reels generated 142.8K total engagements and a reach of 1.8M 
  • The influencer content generated 99.6K total engagements and a reach of 548.6K 
  • Generated numerous positive comments and feedback related to Maine food and recipes