There are many benefits to using social media for restaurants, from user-generated content to building brand image. In our current digital age, sharing photos is a daily habit and food pictures are no exception. For restaurant owners, utilising this can be a great way of creating exposure for your business.
Most smartphone users now own at least one social media platform. In fact, Instagram alone is home to over two billion global active users, according to Statista. Because of this, social media should have a prominent role in your marketing strategy. With such high saturation, there is an evident opportunity to reach potential new customers.
However, this significant volume of users also includes a high number of rivaling businesses, also attempting to reach their intended audience. This makes it increasingly harder for restaurants to target customers and stand out from competitors. Misusing social platforms can consequently cause your account to be underexposed, hindering marketing success. It can be highly beneficial to consider the assistance of an expert marketing agency to avoid this. An agency can help by ensuring your strategy includes effective social media for restaurants that supports your business goals.
Influencer Partnerships
Food and drink is a huge sector among many social platforms, with numerous influencers running dedicated profiles. These individuals frequently share reviews and insights, making social media a popular way to discover new places to eat. Customers will typically look to influencers for a reliable recommendation, as they are considered to have authority within their field. This makes influencer partnerships a crucial element of social media marketing for your restaurant.
When generating these partnerships, It’s important that you choose suitable individuals that relate to your restaurant and its characteristics. This will ensure that the visibility and brand awareness is concentrated to a relevant audience of ideal customers. For example, vegan influencer, Clare Every, frequently works with vegan restaurants, aligning these businesses with her appropriate following.
Testimonials and Reviews
Impactful testimonials are a commonly overlooked factor of social media for restaurants. They are of great significance within this sector, where customers frequently look for recommendations. Social media is a great place to share customer testimonials and positive reviews. This works as a free form of promotion that can increase the credibility of your business. There are various ways to curate testimonials, such as regularly monitoring the tags and mentions for your account. This content can then be reposted to your page for free endorsement to followers and visitors. Sharing user-generated reviews is useful, as it’s considered to be trustworthy due to the authenticity and unbiased nature.
Additionally, if there is a lack of testimonials readily available, there are many ways to encourage customers to create them. For example, when diners visit your restaurant, a prompt can be provided to provoke a review or testimonial. This could also be accompanied by a promotional offer, as an incentive. Alternatively, reviews can be requested from customers that consent to marketing content, such as emails, following a visit. However, it’s integral to remember that there is a fine line between contacting customers and bothering them. If your efforts cross this line, it could be harmful to your brand as customers may become irritated. An expert marketing agency can help you to avoid making this mistake.
Giveaways and Contests
As mentioned, additional user-generated content can be encouraged with promotional offers, to increase brand awareness. A great way of doing this is through running giveaways or competitions. This can include offering your audience the chance at winning a free dining experience, meal or other complimentary prize. Entries are typically made through comments and shares on the giveaway announcement post, encouraging engagement and interaction.
When followers share your content, your restaurant gains exposure and reaches new potential customers. This additionally generates positive publicity by demonstrating the appeal and demand for your restaurant. As well as this, offering customers a complementary product or service helps to build a positive reputation for your brand. With versatility and affordability being key factors in the appeal of this strategy, giveaways are definitely worth considering in effective social media for restaurants.
Create a Community
Creating a sense of community is an integral part of building brand loyalty and customer return. With the flexibility and scope of social platforms, there are numerous ways to regularly stimulate this. The most straightforward way is through regular, efficient interactions. This includes actively responding to messages, comments, tags and all other forms of engagement. In doing this, your restaurant business becomes more relatable and connected to customers.
As well as this, interactions encourage customers to become active participants of your restaurant brand, creating user-generated content. When followers feel acknowledged by brands, they are more likely to continue interacting with them. This can transpire as free promotional endorsement from customers that’s impactful and trusted by others. Because of this, community building is key in social media for restaurants.
Using the most appropriate social platform is crucial to ensure these interactions are maximised. For example, if your restaurant caters to younger demographics, you should consider the likes of Instagram or TikTok. This will increase the chances of engagement, as the audience will be aligned to your content. When the most relevant individuals are engaged, they are more likely to become online ambassadors for your business.
Building a community not only increases brand awareness and loyalty, but also provides insight on customers. When interacting with your restaurant’s audience, information can be found on their behaviours, opinions and expectations. This allows you to tailor your offerings and enhance customer satisfaction by catering to their needs efficiently. However, generating a strong community can be very time consuming and challenging. The assistance of an expert marketing agency can help you to achieve this without wasting time and resources.
Brand Updates
Using social media to update your followers is a great way to keep customers engaged. Updates can be based on any developments to your restaurant; for example, a new location, menu changes, or seasonal updates. Sharing this not only ensures your customers are updated with any changes, but also allows you to remain competitive and relevant.
Additionally, sharing improvements or positive developments can strengthen your brand image. Followers like to see effort from the companies they follow. Evidence of this effort, through the form of updates, will resonate with customers and encourage them to visit.
During quieter periods is the perfect time for creating and sharing behind the scenes content. Doing this demonstrates employee appreciation, which also supports the reputation of the business. As well as this, sharing behind the scenes in the food and drink industry is a reliable way to increase the trust of customers. Sharing the functional operations of your kitchen allows diners to feel reassured about the experience they can expect. Overall, this content builds a relatable and authentic brand image, making it essential in effective social media for restaurants.
Contact Us
If you would like your restaurant to benefit from efficient social media marketing, get in contact with our expert agency, VerriBerri. With successful clients in various sectors, we can assist you in maximising your social media and reaching goals.
Get in touch by calling us on 01376 386 850 or click here for our contact form!