Digital marketing is vital to running a restaurant. Most consumers leverage the internet to search for new places to shop, dine, and even leave reviews about their experiences.
Digital marketing is more than just google results and running ads in online news resources. Social media now plays a large roll in the success of a business and can even influence customer behavior. These days, restaurants can’t afford to not be active on social media. If your restaurant has not set up social media accounts, you’re missing out on a whole community of people looking for new places to eat. Communities like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Tiktok are great places to reach new customers, spread the word about your restaurant, and showcase your restaurant environment.
Here are some steps to setting up social media accounts for your restaurant:
Decide Which Platforms Are Relevant to Your Brand
With so many platforms to choose from, it can be overwhelming to pick the best ones that your restaurant should be active on. There are so many options, but here is a break down of the popular social media sites restaurants are using and their purpose:
- Instagram: menu promotions, food and drink photos, staff shout outs
- Twitter: join the conversation, engage with customers who are talking about your restaurant
- Facebook: a great place to run paid ads targeting different customers, a great space for restaurant operators with multiple locations
- YouTube: video content, share recipes and videos of your chef cooking, give an inside look into your restaurant
What is Your Brand Voice?
What is the tone you will use in your posts and engagements with online communities? Are you a fun restaurant with a fun and corky atmosphere where your employees where pajamas for uniforms, or is your restaurant a more elegant environment where the waiting list to dine is 3 months out? Either way, its important to pick an online voice that matches who your brand is. This will be a preview of what your customers should expect when they dine at your restaurant.
Whatever tone you decide is the right one, make sure it’s consistent across all platforms. You want your customers to be able to get the same engagement no matter what platform they visit.
Choose a Profile Picture
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. On social media, it’s the first thing people notice. If your restaurant has a logo, it’s a great idea to use it as your profile photo so that your followers can associate your content with your brand when they see it in their newsfeeds. Newsfeeds are where your followers will see your posts and with many people following hundreds even thousands of accounts, your content could get lost in the stream of ads, video content and photos someone’s family tagged them in.
If you don’t have a logo, make sure whatever image you choose as your profile picture is a good representation of your restaurant brand. Use this same profile photo through out all the social media accounts you create so that your followers get a consistent look no matter what social community they are on.
Write a Short Bio About Your Restaurant
When you sign up for a dating app, the first thing a potential date will read is that one or two lines about who you are. The same thing goes for your social media bios. This is the opportunity to tell everyone who you are, what kind of food you serve and what your restaurant represents. Keep in simple, no one likes a whole paragraph, but make sure include the important facts. Are you a vegan restaurant, comfort food fabulous or does your entire menu include 50 different versions of an ice cream sundae? Whatever makes your restaurant unique from others, make sure to mention it in your bio.
According to Upmenu.com, there are an estimated 3.8 billion active social media users in the world. WHOA! That means there are 3.8 million people in the world who you could be connecting with that have no idea your restaurant exists. Talk about a great opportunity to attract new customers!
Now that you have set up your social media accounts, it’s time to start posting. A great place to start is a post about your restaurant and who you are. People love a good story behind the food they are eating. Take pictures of your food and drink menu items and let the world know you are ready to give them a great dining experience.
