I would offer a change of search phrase from Mill Cove Baking Co. to Mill Cove Crackers. When business adds information that could potentially be searched on Instagram, it will be shown among cracker makers due to Instagram algorithms.
Your account could be enhanced with videos of processes, time lapses of you getting ready for the day, making delicious crackers from scratch, showing collaborations with cheese & charcuterie board makers, giving recommendations on perfect pairings, brainstorming new flavors, questioning your audience about their preferences.
Currently your profile doesn’t have any highlights. They usually act like a table of content for Instagram pages. Here are some attractive options for your page:
- @ home/ DIY/ recipes/ Tips & Tricks/ Cooking tips/ kitchen tips – tips and tricks on how to choose honey, sauces that will enhance flavors of crackers and also go well with veggies, cheese, sliced deli meats, cured meats (charcuterie). If you feel like there are recipes or hacks you can share with your followers, share them and give an incentive to tag you and boost your word-of-mouth. Photo, video will be great.
- __ love / Fan grams / REPOSTS
- About/ our story – you have a great episode on Femidish podcast. Your entrepreneurial path is very exciting and interesting!
- At scale – showing line up of your boxes to prove the demand of your crackers and remind people that your product can be found in a variety of neighborhoods.
- BTS (behind the scenes) / Process/ How we make it/ Time-lapsed / Our videos – make it fun, make it visual!
- Cracker facts – let people know about little details that normally go unknown or unnoticed (could be secrtes of processes, creation, choosing the label, etc).
- Foodie finds/ Our faves/ Approved – businesses with whom you collaborate, your favorite establishments, businesses that you personally order from.
- PERFECT BITE – your perfect bite, sweet or savory – show your favorite flavor combinations or try making combinations that you see from food blogers
- Questions / Q&A/ Pairings – answer questions from your curious customers, for instance, about pairings. Explain, which crackers would go well with drinks, cheeses, charcuterie, veggies, fruit, berries, jams, spreads, sauces
- Retailers / Wholesale / where to find/ where to 👁️ – short videos of walking through the stores and stopping at the aisles with your crackers will not only show scale but also be informative.
- Tag us / Fan grams / Friends / Fans
As a side note, if your Instagram settings allow you to archive Stories, you can arrange those Stories into great Highlights that will make your profile more informing and complete.
These are some factors that make your Instagram page exciting to your followers:
- You are bringing a very personable approach to your business – instead of adding just the food-focused pictures, you and other great people are the stars of this Instagram page. Everyone loves seeing a person behind the brand and loves storytelling, keep on shining!
- You are sharing milestones and steps in your business journey & you are talking about your achievements (scaling up your business and moving to a bigger space), growth factors (like increasing production capacity, improving efficiency, expanding into new markets), ability to hire more people. You are being grateful for those people who help you along the way (like Salsa friends) and who order from you.
I love how you summarize it here “A little over three years ago, I launched Mill Cove Baking Co. out of Fork Food Lab. I was hand rolling and baking maybe 12 bags of crackers at a time, printing and hand cutting labels at home, delivering small orders in paper handle bags, and generally having no idea what I was doing. I was warmly welcomed to the kitchen by Fork staff and members who immediately jumped in and recommended new accounts I should reach out to, suggested better packaging and labeling options, gave me feedback on my product, encouraged me to keep moving forward and generally just made me feel connected, supported, and included in a wide web of food producers who have each other’s backs.
Taking a moment to reflect on where Mill Cove is now, I feel genuinely lucky to have had the chance to nurture and grow my business in this environment. We now have our own production space (thank you @pluckedfreshsalsa !!!) work with 4 distributors, have 3 incredible cracker makers working with us, and are in nearly 200 stores throughout New England. We have so much more growing and learning to do, but I am feeling grateful to be at this place now. I am so thankful to my wonderful friends at @forkfoodlab for providing the resources to allow me to grow this business little by little. Miss you guys and miss that epic snack table! ❤️❤️❤️”
- You are creating anticipation for a new upcoming product and creating limited edition batches. Not only it brings the awareness about those shops that carry your products, but also introduce your fans to your website and all it’s offerings.
- You are showing your ingredients in a visual and fun way, being transparent about the inner world of your crackers.
- You are cross-promoting other local business and that creates goodwill for you and them! By mentioning your suppliers, partners, distributors and tagging them in your posts you are allowing your audience to check those businesses for themselves.
- You are responding to almost every message making sure that your customers get maximum from your brand. That is equally true for cracker flavors and for awesome merchandise.
- You are showing your product at scale, proving that almost everyone’s cracker needs can and will be fulfilled regardless of location. With your pictures you are giving an insight to the amount of love, care and time that go into each order.
- You are showing your creativity in so many ways that people are always staying curious about what is next.
Instagram Basics file has a step-by-step checklist of major mistakes and growth points for any business that is on Instagram, check it out below ⬇️