When social media first started, not many people saw the marketing potential of this new platform, or it’s relevance to business growth. However, in today’s business world, there isn’t any business or( so we hope) that would still doubt the power of social media marketing. It’s more than a place where friends hang out to share moments of life or watch videos online. The restaurant industry in due course has also come to embrace the powerful tool. Restaurant social media marketing is working wonders for some in the industry.
However, for the most out there, there is a world of opportunities if only you know how to adopt a restaurant social media strategy that gets you more customers. This article covers the tried and tested tips that most successful entrepreneurs are using to fuel their restaurant social media marketing growth. So you’ve done your hiring, cooking, restaurant accounting, and staffing right. Now let’s look at the best ways to market your restaurant on social media.
To give you some perspective, here are a few important stats.
Gain Perspective
It’s’ not enough to know the impact of social media on offline and online businesses. You need to know the facts behind this belief.
- As of Dec 2019, the total population of the world was 7.8 billion.
- Currently, there are 4,8 billion internet users in the world.
- Of the total web users, 3.725 of them have active social media accounts.
- On average, internet users have 7.6 social media accounts.
- The average social media user spends about 142 minutes each day on social platforms
- Whatsapp and Facebook handle about 60 billion messages each day
- In a survey, 81% of teenagers believed social media impacts their life positively.
You can verify all these stats at the source. But what you should really be doing is finding out how these figures impact your business and how you can take advantage of this trend. It concerns everyone. Hence, those in the retail, real estate, apparel, health sector, etc. They have all taken to social media.
You can liken it to the California gold rush, where over 300,000 prospectors rushed out to California. All with the dreams of hitting it big! But how many hit gold? Fortunately, this isn’t the gold rush, and the aim isn’t to hit get rich quick.
The goal of restaurant social media marketing is to gain social proof!
Instead, the goal here is to tell the world why you exist. And if everyone brings you a pot of gold for what you do (they usually do if your strategy is effective), that’s just fine.
Tips for better Restaurant Social Media Marketing
Create a Professional Looking Account
You begin your restaurant social media marketing with a pretty simple task. This is the creation of your social media platforms on the various platforms you choose. We recommend starting with Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Usually, Facebook and Instagram are the main channels. However, Twitter is also a great option for when you choose to listen to your audiences. Often, your profile will contain a short description of your restaurant and how the services you provide. Also, you want to add a link to your website and a physical address.
The most important tip for your restaurant social media marketing, your account must display the unique branding of your establishment. It should be the first promotion feature of your entire restaurant social media strategy. Because do judge the by its cover, not only offline - Think your logo, professionally designed covert pictures, etc.
After you do this right, you can focus on restaurant management tips that prepare the establishment for the customers on their way.
Use Monitoring Tool
Your restaurant social media marketing will never be the same once you choose to use some monitoring to keep a tab on how things are going.
Simply put, you can know where to focus your efforts through real-time monitoring of all online mentions of either your account handles or other predetermined words. Usually, you want to monitor your restaurant hashtag and restaurant name. Though this tool may appear simple, it’s incredibly useful for measuring your efforts for your online presence. Some of the vital areas social media monitoring covers include:
- Customer service
- Influencer marketing
- Reputation monitoring
- Finding customers
This is by no means all there is to social media monitoring. However, these four areas, when covered well, will help you enter the market and make real progress. Most of these monitoring tools’ pricing is very affordable.
Take, Create and Post Remarkable Photos/Illustrations
Remarkable photos make one of the most remarkable impacts on your restaurant social media marketing. In terms of content marketing, this makes a lot of sense. Because if a photo is worth a thousand words, how much do you think a remarkable photo is worth to your restaurant?
It’s, therefore, no surprise that great pictures sell products online. It has to look original, professional, and genuinely appealing to your target audience. You are at an advantage because it shouldn’t take rocket science to make the pictures of delicious food look appealing. Do it right, and you can rest assured that your audience will be salivating long before they walk in through your doors.
Then you can convert them to loyal customers through excellent customer service, exciting restaurant entertainment, and of course, exceptional cuisine. Yes, it’s that promising because visual content is the most content online - Food is visual. As such, your posts will be easier to absorb and remember.
The next time your followers feel hunger, your restaurant will be the first thing on their minds.
Share & Engage with Audiences
It’s not just about advertising and promoting yourself. The whole point of your restaurant social media marketing is your audience and the community you serve. Hence you need to support and take part in online social events. When people see you giving back to the community, they quickly realize you’re one of them. At this point, they are more likely to work with you.
For instance, your area is hosting a bike race. You can contact the organizers, put up your stand, and provide runners with free coffee. Or you could sell at this event the choice is yours. However, no matter what you do, you need to realize your options become endless when you choose to carry the interaction beyond the internet and engage with people in real life.
Locate Customers
It’s not enough to create your social media accounts and wait for your customers to troop in. You need to be proactive and actively invite new customers in. Tourists and other travelers use social media to find restaurant recommendations. Hence, you can leverage social media monitoring to identify sine these individuals through their social media posts.
As such, you can quickly reach out to them, and as The Godfather said, “make them an offer they can’t refuse.”
This and many more are possible through effective restaurant social media marketing. To make a perfect restaurant, there are other things you have to do apart from worrying about table management. Marketing is one of those things.
Conclusion
Got any tips you know about that work for your restaurant social media marketing efforts? You can always add them in the comments section below. The food service industry isn’t the easiest, and competition is fierce. As such, you need all the help you can get with employee scheduling, reporting, inventory, etc. The right restaurant POS system takes the edge off and helps your establishment remain competitive. So that you get the time to focus on aspects of the business like marketing.
