Social Media Marketing Tips for Restaurants:
If your restaurant doesn’t have a strong digital presence, they could be losing out on capturing covers left and right. At Elysium Marketing Group, we know all about restaurant and food marketing, so we’re sharing with restaurant owners our top ten tips for using social media to properly market your restaurant.
Know Where You Belong (In Regards to Your Platforms)
There are numerous social media platforms nowadays: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Google my Business, Yelp and LinkedIn to name a few. How are you, a busy restaurant owner, supposed to manage and maintain all of them? Easy enough, you don’t need to! When it comes to social media marketing for restaurants, there are a few networks that you need to focus on but the rest you can put aside. We recommend: Facebook, Instagram, Google my Business and Yelp. The ones that focus on imagery are the perfect place for restaurants to showcase their menus.
Have Mouth-Watering Imagery
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to restaurant social media a picture is worth even more. Make sure your restaurant’s imagery is spot on and truly shows your food off in the best way possible. Having someone who’s good at taking pictures with the latest phones will be sufficient for your social media platforms, but we still recommend investing in a food photographer to shoot some high-quality photos to use in your organic social media and especially your paid social media. These images can be repurposed for all of your other marketing as well- email marketing, menus, etc
Get Your Google my Business in Good Shape
Google is more often than not the first place someone turns to find a restaurant, therefore your Google my Business profile is crucial to your social media success! It should be set up with your correct phone number, address, URL and hours and updated frequently as information changes. Closing for a holiday? Google should know! You don’t want to disappoint any potential customers by not having your hours of operation up-to-date. When it comes to this platform, post frequently as you would on other platforms! Google rewards active platforms with being shown more in people’s searches, maps & more! Plus, when someone is searching for a place to eat, you want your pictures and good reviews to entice them to come to you.
Incorporate Your Promotions
Promotions are something that people have become accustomed to seeing from restaurants, and social media is an easy way for them to get the word out. Whether you have a daily happy hour with specials, a weekly kids-eat-free offer or anything in between you should be including these promotions in your social media strategy. Without awareness, what good is a promotion?
Educate Your Audience
Your social media platforms are the perfect place to educate your audience about all that your restaurant has to offer! Post about the different items on your menu and explain the ingredients in your dishes. Do you offer gluten free or vegan options? This is something that should be a part of your social media strategy. Your restaurant is unique and has a lot to offer, make sure your guests are aware!
Get to Hashtagging!
Hashtags, when used correctly, are a POWERFUL tool for your business on social media. How exactly do you use them correctly? They should be applicable to your restaurant AND your post. For example, if you’re a steakhouse stick to steak-related hashtags and stay away from #pizza or other super popular, but not applicable tags. Lastly, don’t over-hashtag! Keep it to around 6 per Instagram post.
Stay Local by Checking In
This tip is really a two for one tip. The first part, encourage your guests to check in at your restaurant! This can be done on both Facebook and Instagram and helps get the name of your restaurant out there using the platforms of your guests! Human nature tells people to try places they see friends and family trying, so it’s great awareness for your restaurant. To help entice guests to check in, we’ve seen success by offering an incentive to check in! An example could be to “Show your server your check-in and receive a free dessert.” The second is that by having people check-in you can share their posts on your pages as user-generated content! People love to see what others are saying about your restaurant and what better what to share this information then by sharing their post word-for-word. A repost, or share to your page is an easy and free way to post great content on your pages.
Find Your Fans and Keep them Loyal
Guests are your biggest advocates when you use them properly! Make sure you’re keeping the people who are championing your restaurant online acknowledged. The people who like, comment, and share consistently should be appreciated! The simplest way to do so is by responding to their comments (this should be a staple in your social media strategy), but if you begin to recognize the same names over and over again it may be time to thank them for their loyalty. Send them a private message with a special offer or discount or make a note at the host stand to send them a dessert during their next reservation.
Identify Your Influencers
Influencer marketing is all the craze and doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Buying a meal for an influencer in the right geographic location can expand the reach of your audience greatly! Not only do you get in front of all their followers, but you can also share their content (we LOVE user-generated content) on your profile pages. This does two things: one, it creates a buzz for your restaurant that so-and-so influencers went to your restaurant and two, it allows you to share content on your social media that you didn’t have to create!
Respond to Reviews
Reviews are far and away the most important part of your restaurant’s online strategy. Guests can leave reviews on Google, Facebook and Yelp and responding to them is incredibly important! If someone leaves a good review, thank them for taking the time to share their experience! This shows that you are active on these platforms and will encourage others to feel comfortable leaving a review. If someone posts a not so pleasant review, address it in a cordial way, by trying to make the guest feel heard. If the feedback is useful take it as a learning experience.
So, there you have it, the ten tips to follow when using social media for your restaurant! Interested in better utilizing social media but don’t have the time or energy? Follow our social media for more tips and tricks and contact us today for a free consultation!
