Did you know 90% of customers research a restaurant online before dining? Many of them look at your social media profiles for information and to make sure you’re a legitimate business. In order to build trust as a service provider, attract more foot traffic to your restaurant, and build an audience online, you need an active social media presence. This is more than creating a Facebook or Instagram page; you need to leverage the right marketing strategies to engage the right prospects, grow your following, and create long-term relationships. In this post, we’ll talk about some proven ways to market a restaurant business on social media in an easy-to-understand way. Let’s dive in.
Why is Social Media Marketing Important for Restaurants?
72% of people make restaurant decisions after visiting Facebook and looking at the comments and pictures shared by other users. What other people think about your business matters to your potential customers. But, how do you get people to engage with your posts? What type of content should you create on social media so that your audience interacts with your brand and eventually becomes your customers? Below, you’ll learn the strategies to convert your restaurant business into a brand through social media marketing.
Pick Your Platforms
Start by picking one or two of the right platforms for your restaurant. Facebook and Instagram are two of the most popular ones, especially among food lovers, so we’d suggest focusing on them. Instagram is primarily a visual platform, which makes it perfect for showing your mouth-watering foods.
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Create a Consistent Brand Voice
Let’s say you’ve picked Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest as your platforms of choice. Next, create your brand assets, which include your colors, logo, banners, and any other elements that can help you get recognized by people online. Keeping these elements consistent on all online platforms is crucial to building a memorable brand.
Post Food Pictures
You can’t market a restaurant business without showcasing your amazing food. The good thing is you don’t need a professional food photographer to make this strategy work. You want to be authentic when sharing pictures online; it’ll help you build credibility as a business. Just make sure you’re taking your food pictures with a high-quality camera and sharing them at the right times for your target audience. For instance, a sneak peek into your kitchen just before dinner time in your area.
Create a Content Plan
A content plan eliminates the guesswork for a marketer and helps you stay consistent with posting. You can use Google Sheets to create a list of topics to cover for weeks and months to come. An effective, free, and easy way to find these topics is by asking a chatbot like ChatGPT or Claude. Create a detailed prompt, providing all the details about your business, including your goals and target audience to get relevant topic ideas.
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Respond to Online Reviews
An overwhelming 98% of people read online reviews before deciding to dine. Getting more reviews on platforms like Facebook means your restaurant is getting popular. But, that’s just part of the goal. You want to make sure no review is left unaddressed, especially the negative ones. Keep track of your online reviews and make it a habit to respond to every review irrespective of its sentiment. This shows that you care about what your restaurant customers think.
Use Social Media to Build Your Email List
Social media platforms are powerful, but they don’t offer a lot of control over your audience. If you make one mistake, your page can get banned without any warning. Email marketing gives you more control over your audience and traffic. Here’s what we suggest: Build an email list with social media marketing.
Leverage User-Generated Content
As mentioned earlier, people look at other people’s experiences before investing in a business. You can use reviews and testimonials from your customers to build your credibility and trust online. Simply ask your happy customers to share a video or written testimonial and share it on your social media profiles.
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Run Facebook Ads
Organic social media marketing is powerful, but it’s more of a long-term strategy. If you want quick results, Facebook ads might be the best way to go. They aren’t generally expensive and can help you build an audience without having to create a lot of content.
Do Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a perfect way to get your brand noticed by a bunch of people without having to invest in paid ads or do content marketing. All you need to do is find the right influencer in your niche and get them to share your content on their page. You’ll have to offer something in return, which is most often paid compensation, but it’s a reliable way of reaching a wide audience.
Social Media Marketing for Restaurants: FAQs
Let’s address some frequently asked questions about social media marketing for restaurants.
How Do I Advertise My Restaurant on Social Media?
Use mouth-watering photos of your foods, collaborate with influencers, and use social media ads. Stay consistent with content marketing to build trust and visibility.
Which Social Media Platform is Best for Restaurant Marketing?
Instagram and Facebook are ideal for restaurant or food businesses as they’re visual in nature. TikTok can also work great if your goal is going viral.
What are the 5 Pillars of Social Media Marketing?
The 5 pillars of social media marketing include content creation, engagement, analytics, paid advertising, and strategy.
Conclusion
Around 66% of restaurant businesses invest in social media marketing, indicating the positive impact this marketing channel can have on your food business. Start by picking a couple of social media platforms and creating a content strategy for them. Use different types of content, such as UGC and food images to engage your audience. Leverage paid ads and influencer marketing if you want quick results. Manage your online reputation by tracking and addressing reviews about your restaurant.
Sources:
- https://www.webfx.com/industries/food-beverage/restaurants/statistics/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://www.lightspeedhq.com/blog/restaurant-social-media-marketing/
- https://pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/examples-of-awesome-restaurant-social-media-marketing?srsltid=AfmBOorBHWm0cHvKvLxnGAbVDbHQuF3Ihpytf7-UK5u1kOe_nBfh51uh
- https://popcorngtm.com/blog/for-restaurants-the-future-is-now-and-its-written-in-online-reviews?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://profiletree.com/restaurants-social-media-statistics/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://www.reviewtrackers.com/blog/restaurant-social-media-statistics/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
