Tasty is a popular app and website that provides recipes, cooking tips, and food videos to millions of users. Though the app itself is free to download and use, Tasty has implemented several smart monetization strategies to earn revenue. In this article, we’ll explore the main ways Tasty monetizes its huge audience.
Advertising
The primary way Tasty generates income is through advertising. Being owned by BuzzFeed, Tasty has access to BuzzFeed’s large sales team that sells various types of advertisements. Some examples of ads seen on Tasty include:
- Native ads – These are sponsored posts that match the natural content around them. For example, a sponsored recipe post by a food brand.
- Pre-roll ads on videos – Short video ads that play before Tasty’s cooking videos.
- Banner ads – Standard image/text ads that appear on Tasty site pages and in its apps.
- Sponsored content – Tasty creates custom branded content and social posts for advertisers.
The large readership of Tasty allows it to charge advertisers premium rates for its high reach across various demographics. Advertising likely makes up the bulk of revenue for Tasty.
Affiliate Marketing
Tasty also generates affiliate commission through links and product recommendations:
- Ingredient affiliate links – Tasty provides affiliate links to ingredients and tools mentioned in recipes. If users click and make a purchase, Tasty gets a small commission.
- Kitchen appliance recommendations – Tasty suggests kitchen tools and appliances needed to make certain recipes. The recommendations contain affiliate links.
- Grocery delivery partnerships – Tasty partners with grocery delivery services like Instacart and shares affiliate links to them.
Affiliate programs provide an easy source of revenue for Tasty without much extra work. The site naturally lends itself well to recommendations of cooking products.
Licensing Content
Tasty licenses its cooking videos, recipes and articles to other publishers and platforms. This provides another revenue stream with minimal extra work:
- Cable networks like Tastemade and Cooking Channel pay to license and air Tasty videos.
- Food and recipe sites license Tasty content to publish on their own properties.
- Amazon Alexa skills use Tasty recipes via paid licensing agreements.
Tasty also has content-sharing partnerships with platforms like Facebook Watch, Instagram, Snapchat Discover and Pinterest. These platforms likely pay to license Tasty content.
In-Person Events
Tasty uses its brand power to organize paid live events centered around cooking:
- Tasty Con – A one or two day event with cooking classes by Tasty creators and special guests.
- Tasty Movie Night – Outdoor movie screenings where Tasty chefs provide food tutorials before the movie.
- Tasty Meetups – Smaller meetups in cities around the U.S. for fans to connect.
These events provide an additional revenue stream via ticket sales, sponsorships, and food and beverage sales.
Tasty Merchandise
The Tasty brand has a passionate fan following. Tasty taps into this by selling branded merchandise:
- Apparel – T-shirts, hoodies, aprons with the Tasty logo and designs.
- Kitchenware – Wooden spoons, oven mitts, pots with Tasty branding.
- Online cookbooks – Digital cookbooks with top Tasty recipes.
The strong connection people feel with Tasty makes the merchandise a popular item. Even if margins are low, merchandise provides added revenue.
Subscription Options
Recently, Tasty has started experimenting with subscription monetization models:
- Tasty+ – A $2.99 USD/month subscription that offers early access to new recipes and ad-free viewing.
- Tasty Kits – Meal kit subscription that provides recipes and pre-portioned ingredients to make Tasty meals at home.
These subscription options provide more predictable, recurring revenue streams. Tasty can leverage its engaged following to get users to pay monthly fees for added benefits.
Data and Analytics
With a registered user base in the millions, Tasty can collect valuable first-party data on its users’ preferences and behaviors. Some ways Tasty monetizes this data:
- Sell anonymized data and insights to food brands and restaurants looking to better understand Tasty’s audience.
- Use data internally to improve ad targeting and drive more ad revenue.
- Share data with BuzzFeed’s other properties to improve user experiences and targeting.
While not a direct revenue source, Tasty’s wealth of user data holds significant value and can drive higher monetization through ads, content licensing and other streams.
Strategic Partnerships
Tasty partners with other brands and platforms in ways that go beyond simple advertising or content-licensing. Some examples:
- Walmart – In 2018, Tasty and Walmart partnered to open two Tasty-themed kitchens inside Walmart stores to produce original recipes and content.
- GrubHub – GrubHub customers can watch Tasty videos and order ingredients for meals directly through the app.
- Amazon Alexa – Tasty recipes are integrated into Alexa voice commands, allowing users to cook hands-free.
These types of synergistic partnerships benefit both Tasty and the brand partner. They provide additional visibility for Tasty and open potential new revenue streams.
Cookbooks
Capitalizing on its extremely popular recipes and videos, Tasty occasionally releases physical cookbooks:
- The first Tasty cookbook debuted in 2017 and became a huge bestseller.
- Tasty has since released several more successful cookbooks focused on different themes.
- Physical book sales produce a lucrative revenue stream, despite declining industry book sales.
Cookbooks likely have high profit margins and let Tasty cash in on its recipe and brand success. It provides an additional physical product to fans.
Summary
Here are the key ways Tasty monetizes its audience to drive revenue:
| Revenue Stream | Overview |
|---|---|
| Advertising | Video ads, native ads, banner ads generate bulk of revenue |
| Affiliate Marketing | Get commissions promoting ingredients, appliances and grocery delivery |
| Content Licensing | License Tasty video and articles to other platforms |
| In-Person Events | Ticket sales, sponsorships and food sales from live events |
| Merchandise | Branded apparel, kitchenware and cookbooks |
| Subscriptions | Early access and ad-free options for monthly fee |
| Data/Analytics | Monetize first-party user data for ad targeting and insights |
| Strategic Partnerships | Revenue share from integrated platform partnerships |
| Physical Cookbooks | Profitable print cookbook releases |
Tasty has skillfully turned its huge audience into a thriving business using a diversified range of monetization strategies. It has multiple streams from its content, data, brand and engaged user base. Moving forward, Tasty will likely continue experimenting with innovative revenue models like subscriptions, events and strategic partnerships.
Conclusion
Tasty has leveraged its viral app and website into a multi-million dollar media property by implementing several smart monetization strategies. While its owned by BuzzFeed, it has proven skill in generating significant revenues directly from its audience across advertising, affiliate, licensing, events, merchandise, subscriptions and partnerships. With over 1 billion monthly content views and 85 million social followers, the Tasty brand and platform offers tremendous monetization potential that they are tapping into quite successfully.