Being a restaurant owner, can you afford not to be on social media? Certainly NOT! Whether you like it or not, today social media has become an inevitable part of a marketing strategy. It is now much more than a place to share life’s good moments, watch cute pet videos or interact with friends. From car workshops, online stores, bakeries, personal trainers, music bands to whatever you name, every business has a solid presence on social media which also includes your restaurant business.
Why social media marketing is important for your restaurant?
Do you know food and beverages are some of the most famous content on social media today? Well Yes, there are more than 200 million posts tagged with #food and 23 million posts are tagged with #drinks on Instagram. So the number says it all. No matter whether you are present on social media or not, you can be sure that people are tweeting, posting and instagramming about your restaurant online. Not only this, online reviews and comments on these posts also have a huge impact on the patrons who’ll be walking through your doors. Hence if you are not visibly active on social media, then for sure you’re missing out on a large customer base.
Having a presence on social media has so many benefits for a restaurant owner. It gives them a chance to interact with customers and keep your business events in front of them. With a platform on social media you give your customers the ability to leave reviews and comments, to share photos and mentioning your restaurant as an awesome place to celebrate. So if you haven’t started optimizing your social media marketing strategies for better exposure, then do it today. And here are some Expert tips from Aladdins shisha lounge to help you get started. Let’s have a look:
Social Media Marketing tips for Restaurants:
Tip #1: Create consistent profile on social media channels
Restaurant social media marketing begins with the basic task of creating proper social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Where Facebook and Instagram are two of the most important channels for your restaurant, a Twitter profile is also beneficial. A consistent profile on all the three platforms should include a short description, address, contact number and most importantly a unique branding. Just like people judge a book by its cover, in the same way one need a beautiful branding to attract more attention on social media.
Tip #2: Create engaging content and post regularly:
Great content is the real essence of a social media marketing strategy. For a restaurant marketing, great photos are all that sell. Visual content is superior to any form of content and when it comes to food, it whets the appetite. So don’t overlook the importance of posting and sharing engaging content on your social media pages. But don’t be too consistent with the type of content you share otherwise It will bore your audience with time. Always keep it fresh. Split up your content strategy into the equal parts of sales posts, share posts and brand photos.
Tip #3: Interact, engage and share
Your restaurant is a part of local community when it is online. A participation in the events held by these local communities is a good opportunity to bring a lot of attention to your restaurant. Let’s say you own a shisha lounge in london and there is World Book Day, then offering a good discount on shishas to your visitors who spend their time reading a book in your lounge can be a good option. Options can be many here and you need to come up with the ones that best suits you and your restaurant theme.
Tip #4: Announce some social media contests
You may have seen many quizzes, Q&A’s and contests online but did you notice the number of shares, likes and comments on them? One will find a lot of interaction on such posts. This is because contests and quizzes instigate a person’s mind to participate in the greed of getting something in return. Such as “Caption this photo” contest of Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop who offers food coupon to the most interesting caption on the post.
Tip #5: Respod online reviews:
Your customers give your restaurant valuable feedbacks on different review submission sites. Being a restaurant owner you need to be sure that you have a proper profile on these sites. Also be persistent with your online reviewers and respond them time to time.
While maintaining an engaging social media network seems a daunting task, the bottom line is that it is a direct communication line between you and your visitors. So use these tips to optimize your social media marketing strategy and make the most out of it.
