When Maameefua Koomson graduated from Louisiana State University, she had many plans for her future career. Being an influencer was not one she expected.
With over 18,000 followers on her TikTok, Koomson is one of the most notable food influencers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“Honestly, I don't know how to feel about [being an influencer],” Koomson said. “I think it’s something I'm still growing into.”
Despite the glamour of Koomson’s videos, the life of a food influencer goes far beyond the bright photos and enticing cinematography of their social media accounts. Behind the camera is a world that still has not been completely unearthed in Louisiana.
Food influencers grew in popularity around a decade ago. They used platforms like Instagram and Twitter to share photos of food and review popular restaurants.
Now, food influencing is considered one of the most “profitable Instagram niches,” according to Sellfy.
While this may be a reality for food influencers in popular states like California or New York, where influencers are common, things are much different in Louisiana.
“Every time I work with somebody, it's almost like an education session,” said Jordan Basham, owner of WheretoGeaux225, a food review Instagram account with over 18,500 followers.
Like Koomson, Basham has built a massive following in Louisiana from her Baton Rouge-based food reviews. Despite Basham and Koomson starting their accounts three years ago, many Louisiana business owners still struggle to understand how influencers work.
“Some people have this big misconception that influencers [are] some very pretty girl in California that’s posting about mascara or something,” Basham said. “In Louisiana, it's just so much harder to get people to grasp how influencer marketing can help them. Especially if they’ve never heard of it.”
Many businesses are beginning to notice the notoriety that can come from collaborating with influencers, though. Basham is often approached by small businesses with requests to be reviewed on WheretoGeaux225. However, before Basham reviews them, she has a thorough vetting process.
“For me, I really just try to see what the restaurant's goals are and how I can help them best,” Basham said.
While Basham does view WheretoGeaux225 as a business, profit is not a priority for her, she said. She doesn’t require payment in exchange for a review on her account when working with small businesses.
“They're like, ‘hey, tell me a number and I'll pay it’ and I'm like, ‘no, don't screw yourself out of that,’” Basham said. “A lot of these mom-and-pop shops can't afford to pay some of these influencers’ [charges of] $300 to $500 a post or whatever.”
If Basham enjoys the food offered to her, she does allow restaurants to give her free food in exchange for the review.
This is a common practice for many food influencers in Baton Rouge.
But Laura Ann Settoon, co-owner of Hi Foodies, a popular food Instagram account run by three friends, does not expect payment or free food in exchange for a review.
“We pay for everything,”Settoon said. “We don't do it for money. We just do it because we enjoy it.”
While it does lead to extra costs for the influencers, it helps them with making honest reviews and building trust among their followers, Settoon said.
Although all three influencers have had some less-than-positive experiences at restaurants they’ve reviewed, they all make a conscious effort to avoid posting negative reviews of local restaurants.
“I never want to tear down a business or see them fail,” Koomson said. “There's a way to go around saying, ‘Hey, this wasn't for me.’ I always try to make sure I watch how I say things to where it's the most objective.”
Ordinarily, it would not be challenging to post an honest review. However, when considering the size of these influencers’ followings a new issue arises.
With all three influencers gaining large amounts of engagement weekly on their posts, they are beginning to be more recognized in public than before.
“I've maybe posted like seven pictures of me ever,” Basham said. “And I get noticed all the time, and it's so freaky. [So], it is a weekly occurrence.”
Although it is flattering to be recognized, Koomson and Basham admit that they suspect that it can sometimes affect the service they receive at restaurants.
“I want to be real honest [in my reviews],” Koomson said. “Now it's getting a little harder because people are recognizing me. [I'm] like, is this really just great service, or is it because they might watch my videos and they decided to put in a little extra work.”
Basham, Koomson and Settoon’s followings on social media grow with each post. While the large followings benefits all influencers personally, it has an even larger effect on Baton Rouge.
To Lance Porter, director of the Social Media Analysis and Creation Lab at Louisiana State University, influencers’ work helps to build a ‘creative class,’ or population of people with art and entertainment-related careers, in Baton Rouge.
“I know that people in Baton Rouge and the state are trying to build some sort of creative class here,” Porter said. “If you have a creative class, you have a better culture, you have better content, you have more interesting food and more interesting events that are happening around the city. That tends to draw young people here who want to participate in those things and actually build a life here. So not only is it good, it's necessary.”
Koomson and Basham started their food review accounts to spotlight the exciting foods and cultures that can be found in Baton Rouge. Now, they’ve realized the greater purpose their accounts serve: it’s built a community.
When Koomson posts videos on her TikTok, she always uses the hashtag #BRTok to encourage other residents to post videos of local restaurants. Dozens of other local creatives now flood the hashtag with businesses and restaurants to try.
“[I] always want to emphasize [#BRTok],” Koomson said. “I probably will try to do that more this year. This is a community hashtag. I want other creators to get involved.”