“People Eat And Experience With Their Eyes First”
By the above statement, we mean that when hunger pang strikes, or when people look for comfy sofas to sink in with mouth-drooling drinks, they go through restaurants' operations, services, etc., on Instagram and Facebook. After that, customers decide to avail themselves of the services.
Yes, if you are a restaurant owner, you must know this!
Your customers validate their decision through social media profiles. Around
75% people made a purchase because they saw it on social media.
However, just having a social media profile of a restaurant may not be enough, you would also need a comprehensive platform to manage different social media profiles efficiently.
So, without further ado, let's dive into the guide about social media for restaurant marketing.
Here's an overview of the contents of the blog.
- Quick Stats About Restaurant Social Media Marketing
- Reasons Restaurants Must Use Social Media For Marketing
- 12 Restaurant Social Media Marketing Tips For 2023
- Statusbrew: The Best Tool For Restaurant Social Media Marketing
- Key Takeaway!
- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
You can directly jump to a section of your choice or keep scrolling.
Quick Stats About Restaurant Social Media Marketing
-
As of 2022, people spend about 147 minutes daily on social media. The time spent by users on social media platforms shows immense potential for businesses to attract maximum eyeballs through effective, robust, and result-oriented restaurant social media marketing strategies.
-
Another study states that 45% of US diners tried a restaurant for the first time after seeing social media posts.
-
Another research by Social Media Today says that about 30% of millennial diners prefer not to visit a restaurant that has a less attractive or inactive Instagram presence.
Reasons Restaurants Must Use Social Media For Marketing
Social media marketing for restaurants demands spontaneousness, staying digitally oriented, and establishing a strong and inviting social media presence.
Through restaurant social media marketing, businesses can do more, and that is:
- Instant Boost in Sales
- Build An Online Presence
- Stay Transparent And Relevant With Services
- Provide Updated Information
- Conduct Open Communication With Customers
- Add Professionalism And Legitimacy To The Restaurant
- Enhance Customer Engagement And Experience
Instant Boost In Sales
When the needs of customers are met on a timely basis, and when the restaurant owners are able to be proactive in their approach, the sales automatically tend to rise. And all this is possible, when they use a smart social media management tool like Statusbrew.
Social media management tools allow you to monitor the behavior of your customers online. Therefore, they are able to focus more on priority tasks than on other activities that may require less attention. So, when the tasks are streamlined as per their importance, the businesses see a rise in their sales.
Build An Online Presence
You might have a website or Google Maps Location as a restaurant business owner, but does it suffice? The answer is NO! You would need more, which is an eye-catchy Instagram and Facebook profile. Not having a solid online presence gives your competitors a chance to win over your customers.
If someone struggles to find your restaurant on social media handles, the potential customer returns with utmost disappointment, and this is what you wouldn’t wish for. To avoid such a situation, it becomes pertinent for you to create a business profile and update it timely with new services, food items, etc.
Bonus Content: The Best Times To Post On Social Media In 2022
Stay Transparent And Relevant With Services
Using social media for restaurant marketing requires building trust. When viewers visit a restaurant’s social media, they come up with the expectations of seeing the types of food your restaurant offers, the services, the ambiance, the interiors, any special offers, and the pricing.
If any of the features on social media fails to match reality, the customer might show a red signal. So, restaurants must stay relevant and transparent in their approach toward customers.
Provide Updated Information
If your restaurant is coming up with some new offers, say, ladies’ night, free flow of drinks, or any discount on the food items, keep updating these on social media platforms. Missing a single chance of not communicating anything exciting with social media users may put you at a loss.
Information should not just be confined to offers and discounts but you should also update other essential things about the restaurant, like, address, location, menu, and special events.
When you keep your customers updated with the information that relates to your restaurant, it shows that you care for your customers.
If you are running a restaurant business, you are in the right place as Statusbrew can help you with your restaurant social media marketing. Book a quick free demo now and see the results for yourself!
Conduct Open Communication With Customers
Two-way communication is fruitful because it gives customers the freedom to place their interests, ask questions in case of doubts, and provide feedback. By conducting open communication, customers can show their loyalty to the services, and in return, restaurants can build long-lasting relationships with them.
All this can be done through the comment section and direct messages. Carrying out open communication builds trustable relationships resulting in attracting more customers. When the comments on social media profiles are spot on, it brings in more diners who find out about the food and other services that excite them the most.
Add Authenticity To The Restaurant
What makes a restaurant’s business profile legitimate and professional is its content quality. Professionalism is reflected through clear branding, engaging copy, and relevant hashtags. Even though a perfect social media post does not exist, there are some factors that one can keep in mind while doing restaurant social media marketing.
You need to know that professionalism does not mean being serious. Post anything that is quirky, funny, or exciting because such posts can potentially lure maximum eyeballs.
Enhance Customer Engagement And Experience
Social media for restaurant marketing is not just about posting images, GIFs, or videos; there are many things to look into while handling the social media profile of the restaurant.
Social media experts have to work towards enhancing the engagement and experience of the customers because if platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are only used for posting, it will hardly serve the purpose of increasing engagement and experience.
So, this is not enough, but there’s more to what you can do on social media for restaurant marketing in 2023.
Since more people are using Instagram extensively, it will help customers
decide where to eat. So it is the key for all restaurant business owners to ensure that only the best food and drink posts reach your business’s social media platforms.
If you want to upload posts on different social media platforms in one shot, then use nothing else but Statusbrew business social media management tool.
12 Restaurant Social Media Marketing Tips For 2023
A New Year Demands a New You!
By this, we don’t mean that you need a new restaurant or a different location, but yes, you might require a change in strategies for posting on the business’s social media channels.
So, say goodbye to the oldies and welcome novel ideas for robust restaurant social media marketing.
Collaborate! Maybe This Time With Non-Food Joints
Unique collaborations work wonders on digital platforms. Whether paid or unpaid, partnerships will help you reach potential customers.
How To Do It? You can start by picking a food joint you really appreciate or a restaurant your customers like. Yes! You can do that. Picking a place you and your customers admire will bring excitement and more attention. What’s exciting about it is that you, being a restaurant owner, do not have to restrict yourself only to eateries.
For instance, Starbucks collaborated with Sabyasachi and took to all the social media platforms to promote their idea. Similarly, you can do something of sorts. Who’s stopping?
Let the Chefs, Food Bloggers, And Influencers Get Social
Social media influencers and food bloggers are on the rise. Open Instagram, and you will not skip a sight of an influencer asking you to visit the best restaurants. Why not take advantage of them? Jump to influencer marketing, offer meals and curate memorable experiences for them.
How To Do It? You can do this by featuring a blogger, a chef, or an influencer and showcasing their experiences of enjoying the nearby attractions. For instance, if your restaurant is based in Hong Kong, allow the invitees to post about your restaurant and other nearby places.
Another way to work with influencers is by creating a collaborative menu or an event. This may bring great results for ingredient-based brands.
Post High-Quality Media
Pictures Should Be Self-explanatory!
People refer to food images and videos before trying anything from a new restaurant. If something looks appealing and is drool-worthy, customers are likely to order that particular food or drink. So, as an owner, it becomes your duty to capture a click-worthy picture for your business Instagram account.
By this, we don’t mean you must flood your Instagram all at once to carry out restaurant social media marketing.
How To Do It? Post good-quality pictures. Try to be unique by capturing food, and drinks from different perspectives. Anything unique will make your brand stand out from the competitors. Your posts and captions should be in such a manner that they create a fear of missing out on a great opportunity among the customers. For instance, write; 30% off on all food items, valid till December 15, 2022.
Upload Authentic, Realistic Posts
Content creation is a must for maximum engagement, but what content should you use on social media for restaurant marketing? Well, the content should be such that it adds value to the viewer. So, in this regard, you can opt for educational, promotional, or engaging content.
How To Do It? Anything that enhances the knowledge of the customer goes into the category of educational content. To create promotional content, you can talk about discounts, coupons, etc. For promotional content to work, you may have to boast about the services and ambiance every now and then on the restaurant’s social media handle. You can also do it by incorporating action shots or placing products in a visually attractive manner.
To create engaging content, try focusing on initiating conversations, and that can be done either by asking questions or soliciting customer feedback, or creating user-generated content. Posting real-time pictures or people-in-action while at the restaurant will bring authenticity to the profile and the business.
Go Live!
If you conduct events like Ladies’ Night, or anything else, then go live and communicate about the same with the users ahead of time. Engage with the people who join and try to show them what’s happening behind the scenes.
How To Do It? This time, do not just focus on showing what’s happening around you. Try bringing the people attending the event/party during the live session and tell them to talk about their experience while they are in it.
Conduct games or interactive sessions with the customers and ask them to join. To avoid awkward situations, you can ask the customers to enter well in advance, so things go smoothly and efficiently.
Post Updated Menus
Any updates in the menu or food items should be communicated via photos, videos, or even reels. The idea is to post seasonally, weekly, or daily.
How To Do It? Make a creative and attractive food menu. This might look like a task, but it works wonders when you tag specific customers who like certain dishes and want to have them again at your restaurant.
Flaunt The Interiors
The ambiance of the restaurant is as important as the food your customers seek. So, ensure you do not stop posting images of your restaurant’s interiors.
How To Do It? To show how extraordinary your interior design is for your restaurant, build the Instagram and Facebook pages in accordance with your brand’s guidelines. Stick to a color theme, or go funky, just the way you think your customer would like it.
After all, ‘Customer Is The King.’ Curate bright, attractive, and aesthetically appealing roofs, and give your competitors a fierce competition that sets your restaurant apart from others.
Bring In Your Vendors
It is a great way to build trust among your customers. Post about the ingredients you use, from where you get them, and give reasons why you choose them in specificity.
How To Do It? Involving your vendors will tell your audience that you care about everyone who is connected with them. It will build a strong connection and help you reach those vendors’ clientele. This way, your customers will know that you support other local businesses.
Conduct Challenges/ Contests
When people are challenged, they get a boost and feel connected. So, this is one of many ways to bring in more customers.
How To Do It? There are multiple ways by which you can host social media contests. This can be a quick win for your restaurant and fans. You can ask guests to participate in fun trivia questions, riddles, photo contests, fill-in-the-blanks, caption contests, or tag friends. This way, you will build rapport with your guests and encourage them to engage online.
Jump On The Trending Train
Wakanda Forever pic.twitter.com/xlICyRJMyh
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) November 2, 2022
It means taking full advantage of current trends. Anything that is already a buzz can be jumped on and used accordingly. This is also called newsjacking.
How To Do It? Look for trending hashtags and use them for your benefit. Create content around that hashtag. This is a great way to increase exposure for the posts, especially if you can build a clever take on the topic.
Celebrate The Strengths Of Your Employees
The story of Hugs Cafe will air TONIGHT, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. "Inspiring Stories". Watch to see your favorite team mate. pic.twitter.com/EGvYMxGWqI
— Hugs Cafe (@HugsCafe) April 17, 2017
Spotlight your employees on your social media handle.It shows that you care for those who help your business grow. It builds empathy.
How To Do It? Being unique brings more attention.Profiling those people who are behind the curtain is an excellent way to humanize the experience for customers. Sharing anecdotes and real stories can make followers feel more connected to the business and those who make it happen.
Here’s an example; the restaurant employs differently-abled people and is successfully run by them. Similarly, you can bring an X-factor about your restaurant and post it on social media.
Do Not Just Say It; Show It!
When there are already speculations of social media being fake, it is suggested to take a different stance on it and not just talk but show it through your restaurant’s social media profile.
How To Do It? Consistency is the answer. It may sound cliche but showing up on a daily basis makes a world of difference. Post every day or set a stipulated day and time when you should be posting on social media. It can be in any form, posts, reels, stories, etc. But make sure you are always there for your customers present and active on the restaurant’s social media profiles. Make your brand, logo, and profile stand out.
Now, this might seem humongous work, but what if I tell you that a buffet of social media activities for your restaurant can be handled on a single, comprehensive platform? You might not believe it, but you must try it here.
Bonus Content: How To Spot A Fake Review? 5 Tips And Tricks
Statusbrew: The Best Tool For Restaurant Social Media Marketing
Hopping from one social media profile to another, say, from Instagram to Facebook to Twitter, can get on the nerves. To avoid the hassle and save time, and effort, trust the social media management tool that brings everything on a single platform, i.e., Statusbrew.
Here are the reasons that make Statusbrew a great choice for restaurant owners.
A Unified Inbox For All Notifications: Statusbrew helps you to stay hands-on with every notification that comes on different social media platforms, say, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. The Inbox collects and organizes all the comments, replies, mentions, messages, and reviews.
For restaurant owners, Statusbrew will prove to be a boon as it will give them the freedom to reply to messages, comments, etc., from all the social media platforms just from a single dashboard.
Get Approval For Posts: Statubrew allows you to get instant feedback from your team by sending posts for approval.
To ensure accuracy of the posts, prior approval is necessary. Statusbrew's Collborate feature helps restaurants streamline the complex approval workflows. You can also set access permisssions for select users to avoid any errors for a seamless management experience.
Add Notes: Assign special messages or notes to the team members.
In case, any post requires an important message to go along with it, restaurant business owners can do that as well by assigning notes to it.
Create Content Once And Schedule For Multiple Networks: Statusbrew allows you to create content in bulk and schedule that for multiple networks- all through a single platform and a flexible compose window.
Because restaurants have to post content on all social platforms, Satusbrew makes it easy for them to upload it all at once. So, content creation may take time, but with Statusbrew, it gets easier than anything.
Customize Posts For Different Networks: If you want different posts for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, this is possible with just a few clicks.
If you want to post different content for your restaurant on all social media profiles, then here's good news i.e., Statusbrew allows you that freedom as well. So, post fully customized content throughout the platforms.
Add Media From Your Favourite Cloud Storage App: Statusbrew gives you enough flexibility to add photos from any cloud storage application.
To make the posts attractive, restaurant social media executives and managers can also add media from any storage application or the in-built library on Statusbrew and edit them right on the platform.
Schedule Posts In Bulk/ Fill Your Calendar For Weeks: Upcoming festivals, events, discounts, offers, menu updates, etc., can be done in advance so that if your mind forgets it amid other priority works, there is still no delay.
Because we understand that the restaurant owners have to look into other priority tasks as well, they can schedule posts for all social platforms just at once.
Sounds interesting? Book a free demo now! ?
Key Takeaway!
Whether you get a negative response or a positive comment on your restaurant’s social media profile, you will have the opportunity to answer the customers as well as the clients on the spot without having to log into different social media platforms.
Not just this, Statusbrew also allows you to stay on the top by being hands-on with your approach towards social media, customers, clients, and your team.
The good news is our very own and trusted restaurant social media management tool is available for a 14-day free trial. So, what are you waiting for? Book A demo now and learn more about what Statusbrew can offer!
Statusbrew is an all-in-one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and even Google My Business.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here are some commonly asked questions and answers about social media for restaurant marketing:
Which is the best social media management tool for restaurants?
Statusbrew is the best social media management tool for restaurants. It allows you to reply to comments from different social media profiles from a unified dashboard. Statusbrew helps you to engage with your existing as well as potential customers. You can hide negative comments or reply to them instantly without logging in to different social media profiles through Statusbrew's unified dashboard.
Which social media is best for restaurants?
There are many social media platforms, but to reach maximum customers, restaurants must have an active presence on Instagram and Google My Business (GMB). People search for the restaurant's name, look at the food images, ambiance on Google, refer to reviews and then decide to try it out.
What should a restaurant post on social media?
Restaurants should post real-time photos of customers, food, ambiance, updated menus, offers, discounts, events, if any. You can also post behind the scenes of food preparation process etc. Post mini videos, testimonials, images, and reels. It is suggested to either go for educational posts, entertaining or informational posts because all of these will add value to the current and potential customers.
Explore the Statusbrew range of social media tools
Cancel anytime!