If the message wasn’t clear before, the Coronavirus outbreak made it obvious: your business must have a strong Social Media presence.

With millions of chocolate consumers all around the world stuck at home, the Internet has become the new retail store. No more walk-in customers, nice displays and in-person communication. Now it’s all about smart eCommerce strategies, catchy posts and online interactions.

Betting it all online is a novelty for many craft chocolate businesses. When the majority of your income comes from factory tours, workshops and in-store sales, it’s hard to adapt to the new rules of the game. But there are chocolate brands that have always cultivated their online presence, and are now reaping the benefits of all their efforts.

These craft chocolate makers have the same characteristics in common: beautiful pictures, frequent posting, meaningful captions, high engagement with their audience, and more than 10.000 followers (which is a lot for any small business whose most provocative nude is a naked arm in the chocolate).

Let’s check them out and see what we can learn.

Map Chocolate

Mackenzie, the chocolate maker behind Map Chocolate, goes from professional, to personal, to even emotional in her captions. As a solopreneur, she doesn't hide any of the struggles she faces every day, together with the successful bean-to-bar workshops and the mouth-watering creations. She shows to the Instagram audience how every single chocolate bar in her Oregon factory comes to life, from flavor inspirations to packaging ideas. Her posts include reflections on the current craft chocolate industry, support to other women in chocolate and practical tips for chocolate making on a small scale.

Map's winning cards: getting personal and vulnerable with her audience, mouth-watering behind the scenes, stunning professional photos.

Manoa Chocolate

In Hawaii, this craft chocolate company has reached Instagram fame thanks to videos. Not only do they show the entire bean-to-bar process through tempting visuals, but their Instagram account has become an educational and inspirational channel for all things cacao, from "Developing Cacao Roasting Profiles" to "Keeping Your Business Alive". Among the very few chocolate companies using Instagram TV, they take full advantage of this long-form video opportunity and share all their knowledge. Chocolate in motion is also mixed with pictures of cacao in nature (pods, flowers, trees) and the faces behind the bar. In addition to videos, the members of the Manoa team often show themselves in funny behind-the-scenes moments, making them extremely friendly and relatable.

Manoa's winning cards: high-quality videos in short and long formats, show their expertise from seed to bar, don't take themselves too seriously.

Luisa Abram

Luisa brings us with her on an exciting cacao journey: between piles of cocoa pods, in sweaty fermentation facilities, on tiny canoes, at chocolate festivals around the world, and then back in her bean-to-bar factory in São Paulo, Brazil. She shows us her hands-on approach at every stage of the chocolate making process and beyond, and her authenticity makes us feel like we are part of the fun. Her determination and courage shines through in every single picture. The direct trade with cocoa farmers is one of her biggest strengths, together with a brand new packaging. In all this, she doesn't forget to show us her products, from the intense 81% Rio Purus bar to the internationally acclaimed Chocolate Branco Caramelizado bar. By showing herself often, she makes sure consumers have a face they can associate to the chocolate.

Luisa's winning cards: mixed content, eye-catching moments at origin, great product pictures, authenticity, shows herself often.

Mirzam

With a physical cafe and store in Dubai, Mirzam Chocolate has the chance to capture a lot of mouth-watering moments. Big plates of chocolate-covered dates, rich chocolate desserts and stylish mugs of hot chocolate, but also bean-to-bar machines, trips to cacao farms and beautiful wrappers. Mirzam’s feed is a melting pot of products, behind the scenes and events in store that make it for an entertaining content that never bores its audience. New releases are announced regularly, accompanied by professional photos and curated captions. The catchy packaging of Mirzam’s chocolate bars has been crucial to give the brand its online fame. Mirzam also does a great job in targeting both their local audience, sharing in-store events and workshops, and their international fans, explaining in depth every single product in their online store.

Mirzam's winning cards: professional photographer, Instagrammable packaging, informative captions, frequent posting.

Omnom Chocolate

With some of the most stylish, modern and recognizable wrappers on the chocolate market, the colorful Omnom bars can’t possibly pass unnoticed on Instagram. Proud of a catchy design, bright colors and custom molds, Omnom Chocolate made them the absolute protagonists of the feed. This is how fans are reminded of the entire assortment available, are often directed to the online store in the bio and are updated on every release. Omnom loudly announces new seasonal creations, not afraid to post about it several times, with different pictures and more details in every caption. The Social Media success of the company also lies in mixing pictures of their chocolate bars with fascinating Nordic scenarios, sharing glimpses of the daily life in Iceland and the Icelandic food culture. Lastly, they often ask for feedback and opinions on their products, taking advantage of Instagram as a free tool for market research.

Omnom's winning cards: beautiful packaging, show their products often, genuine interactions with followers, enchanting Nordic vibes.

What we can learn from these craft chocolate brands to stand out on Instagram:

• it's imperative to take beautiful pictures, close to professional photos.

• longer captions are great to explain a product’s features, tell the story behind the photo and share genuine moments.

• followers are also interested in what happens “around the chocolate” (city where the factory is located, events in store and cacao trips).

• showing pictures of the products often, together with descriptive captions, helps immensely with branding and sales.