The Complete Guide to a Picture-Perfect Thanksgiving Post
No matter what Thanksgiving means to you and your family, chances are, you’ll be indulging in decadent, Instagrammable food Thursday. Social media feeds will be filled with different perspectives and traditions revolving around the classic American holiday, and chances are, you’ll want to share your own.
The age-old question of standing out in your newsfeed becomes even more difficult when everyone is spending their days doing variations on the same activity. We have three ways for you to make your artsy carved turkey flatlay stand out: How best to take your photo, what caption will give it the best context, and which hashtags will put your image in front of engaged Instagrammers.
Taking a photo
First of all, don’t make it an artsy turkey flatlay if that isn’t what your Thanksgiving says to you. Let’s Talk makes a point of translating authenticity and transparency into social media for our clients. Social media is about giving people a glimpse into your life. If an arrangement of the five burnt rolls next to your cousins’ turkey construction paper project that turned out a little scary is more on-brand for you, go with that.
Beyond subject matter, whenever I’m crafting a shot, I think about a few major questions.
Is the shot well-lit? If not, figure out how to get light that illuminates but doesn’t overpower. Use natural light, or get all your relatives to surround you with their phone flashlights.
How’s the framing? If you have people in your shot, are their bodies cut off in odd places? If you have a shot of your mother giving a toast, but the image is cut off at her shins, you might want to crop it so she’s cut off at the waist instead, or consider retaking the shot. For every perfect photo on your Instagram feed, there are at least ten not-so-grammable pictures the person has to delete from their phone’s library.
Where’s the focus? If your caption is about the pie your aunt made, but your shot blurs it out in favor of the tablecloth, you’re out of luck. If you need help checking on this, ask someone else to look at the image. Where are their eyes led?
Remember it isn’t necessary to stage a grand display that takes away from your time with family and friends. Make sure social media enhances the quality time you spend on Thanksgiving, and doesn’t get in the way.
Caption Writing
Captions are the bread to your photo’s butter. They’re straightforward, and a place to showcase your voice, which will help develop your personal brand.
Make sure it’s relevant to the post. A shot of your entire family with the caption “Welcome to Six Flags” will only confuse people, resulting in less engagement.
The recommended length for an Instagram caption is 125 characters, because after that, it will put the rest of your caption under a “read more” prompt. Some Instagrammers have adopted the microblogging approach, where they take advantage of the unlimited characters to add an entire story illuminating their photo. There’s no perfect length, so go with what feels right.
Use relevant emoji.
Don’t put hashtags in the post. Add them in the first comment after your caption to create a cleaner look.
Captions can make or break comment engagement on your post, but the only hard and fast rule is that you need one. And sometimes, even that’s negotiable.
Hashtags
You know the phrase “If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s there to hear it, did it really fall?” The Instagram equivalent is “If the perfect photo happens without the relevant hashtags, will anyone like it?” Unless you’re Beyonce, the answer is no.
The finishing touch after you’ve crafted your perfect Instagram post is curating the best hashtags so people can find your content. Food hashtags on Instagram are some of the most-used out there. From the high-traffic #feedfeed to the more niche #brunchbabe, the perfect mix can be hard to collect. Using a mix of highly-used hashtags and low-volume ones, you can strike a balance that will help the Instagram algorithm favor your well-lit, perfectly framed, and in-focus shot of your favorite Thanksgiving moments.
One of my favorite tactics for figuring out the most appropriate hashtags to use on an Instagram post are the basic journalism questions: Who? What? When? Where?
Who?
If your Thanksgiving involves friends, the hashtag #friendsgiving might be applicable. If it’s family (chosen or blood-related), #familyfirst or #lovemyfamily would be good starting points.
What?
Well obviously, it’s Thanksgiving. And most likely, it involves food. Here are a few of my favorite food hashtags, with their post numbers. If you’re a smaller account, you want to stick with hashtags that are less busy so you have more of a chance to stick out with your content!
#thefoodiehub 90,000
#noleftovers 406,000
#tastespotting 491,000
#eatingfortheinsta 1,500,000
#eattherainbow 1,500,000
#beautifulcuisines 2,100,000
#foodisfuel 3,300,000
#f52grams 5,600,000
#eeeeeats 9,400,000
#homemade 44,000,000
When?
Since it’s Thanksgiving, there are a few obvious choices, like #thanksgiving and #turkeyday. Add to that with some of these turkey day hashtags.
#passthegravy 4,000
#holidaytable 11,000
#sharethecheer 27,000
#turkeycoma 35,000
#thankful 22,000,000
Where?
Is the backdrop of your table photo an old family home, or a new restaurant? Make sure you tag the location, and if there’s a specific style involved, I bet there’s a hashtag for it. Some of my favorites from visiting my grandmother’s house are #thisoldhouse and #oldhouselove.
So get out there and share some shots from your delicious Thanksgiving! Can’t wait to see all the variations on Thanksgiving meals on my timeline!
