TikTok interviews: FitWaffle on how food brands can effectively work with creators
FitWaffle is one the world’s most popular and fastest growing food influencers. Eloise Head’s channel was started back in 2017 as a ‘cheat day’ eating Instagram page, showcasing the best burgers and dirty foods from restaurants around in the UK. Things have grown and evolved massively since then.
As well as having a whopping 473,000 followers on Instagram, FitWaffle is also a massive hit on TikTok, with over 327,000 followers and 7.5 million likes. And as an example of their growth rate, while putting this article together I saw their TikTok audience jump up by over 50k in just three weeks.
I’ve followed FitWaffle since the early days, so I was really pleased when Dean Edwards (our last TiKTok interviewee) picked them to talk to next in this ongoing TikTok pass-it-on series. There’s plenty I want to talk to Eloise about myself, but before we get on with Fourth Floor’s questions, let’s address with Dean’s comments and queries:
“I really love FitWaffle’s content, especially during lockdown, the bakes being created are literally giving me life. What’s really clever is that they balance a fine line between being informative and at the same time being mind-blowing. Proper food porn.
My question would be to Fit Waffle “when are we going to collab?”
And as for Eloise’s answer?
“Thank you so much Dean. That’s exactly what I’m going for with the content. The best thing about posting the recipes during lockdown has been all the amazing feedback. The simple recipes have been able to give people joy in a ‘not so ideal’ situation.
We totally need to collab! Watch this space 😉”
Result! So with that nicely cleared up, on with the rest of this interview…
@fitwaffle FRENCH TOAST ROLL UPS RECIPE! Measurements on Fitwaffle I G ##breakfast ##foryou ##fitwaffle ##desifood
♬ original sound - fitwaffle
How long have you been using TikTok and what made you start using it?
We first posted on TikTok back when it was called Musical.ly in April 2018. We stopped using it for about a year and restarted posting to it more regularly in May 2019.
The first time I ever posted to Musical.ly/TikTok, I just wanted to put some background music to a video of a chocolate coated banana. Not realising when I downloaded it from the app it would have a watermark on it. I didn’t visit the app again for about a month, but when I did, the video I had posted had been viewed over 5 million times (now 7.7m), and we had gained 20k followers on our account with no bio and no profile picture! We stopped using it for about a year because we were pushed for time and it wasn’t a ‘priority’ back then, but now I wished we hadn’t! [Laughs]
@fitwaffle Super simple rainbow Oreo Cake! Recipe on Fitwaffle! Let me know if you want recipe on here! ##cake ##fyp ##dessert ##tiktokfoodie
♬ Laxed (Siren Beat) - Jawsh 685
Your dessert recipe videos have been getting millions of views and making press across the world. Did you always intend to turn FitWaffle TikTok account into a recipe account?
No, not at all. It was always the intention just to showcase food from the UK and around the world. Desserts tend to perform well on Tiktok, but it wasn’t until we went into lockdown that we started to create recipes, because we couldn’t go out to shoot content.
@fitwaffle MALTESERS TIFFIN RECIPE! Measurements are on fitwafflekitchen I G ##recipe ##fitwaffle ##foryou ##learnontiktok
♬ original sound - fitwaffle
Was the strategy for both TikTok and Instagram to publish the same content? Or has that also been a result of lockdown and not being able to visit restaurants to create content?
Before lockdown, we generally posted all of our dessert videos from Instagram onto TikTok, because desserts seemed to be more popular. Sometimes we’d just show a short clip on TikTok and the full version on Instagram.
It would be very time consuming for us to produce completely separate content for Instagram and TikTok, so we need to be strategic about it.
Food content has exploded on TikTok over the last six months, with lots of really quick recipe content flooding the ‘For You’ page. How do you see that evolving?
I think especially during lockdown, people are at home more and baking to keep themselves occupied, so I think the demand for recipe videos has increased. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after lockdown, when everyone returns back to work. I think the demand will still be there, but not as high.
Are you more able to understand which videos will go viral on TikTok now?
Kind of... We can generally predict what videos we think will do well, and try to create videos in hope of them going viral. But sometimes it’s completely unexpected, or something you think should have performed well is a complete flop.
@fitwaffle BISCOFF CUPS RECIPE! 4 INGREDIENTS! ##fitwaffle ##foryou ##foryoupage ##recipe
♬ original sound - fitwaffle
Have you noticed an uplift in brands wanting to work with you since you started publishing your recipe videos?
Yes! It definitely opens us up to a wider audience and shows brands that we have the ability to be creative with food and create recipes to showcase different products.
I’m still amazed how much more active our audience is on both Instagram and TikTok since we’ve been posting recipe videos.
Are brands now contacting you solely for TikTok content?
We’ve had a few talent companies reach out solely to work with us on TikTok, but with most of our recent jobs and current clients, TikTok is still the secondary platform.
What tips would you give to foodie creators wanting to join TikTok?
Have a look at what others are doing in your niche and see what’s performing well. Base your content on that and aim to create viral videos. Also, make sure you use the platform as much as you can. Engage with others in your niche. Watch their videos, like and comment on them and show your interest.
@fitwaffle Who here loves KitKat? ##onmyown ##houseoftiktok ##kitkat ##3ingredients ##recipe ##xyzbca
♬ original sound - fitwaffle
What tips would you give to brands for working with TikTok content creators?
Let the creators be creative. If a brand wants the content to perform well, the creator needs to take the reins to create the best content they can. Also, TikTok has great crossover with other platforms, so if you’re trying to direct a potential customer to a particular Instagram feed, YouTube channel, or website, it’s a great platform to do it on.
What TikToker would you like us to interview next? And what, if any, question would you like us to ask them?
I would love for you to interview Sweet Portfolio. She’s awesome, and her content is always amazing. I would like you to ask her what she likes more about TikTok compared to Instagram.
We work with brands to create high-impact influencer marketing campaigns across all social platforms. We help you to get under the skin of your audiences, understand who and where they are, and collaborate with respected influencers to get your message to them. If you’d like to chat about working together, get in touch.
