Social Media for Restaurants in 2023
Last updated on July 11th, 2023 at 09:33 am
Social media presents a cost-effective and powerful marketing tool for restaurants. They allow restaurants to connect with customers and enhance their brand presence. Properly using social media can drive customer traffic and gain you a competitive edge in the market.
Looking at the statistics, utilizing social medias is extremely important for any business. As of January 2022, there are over 4.62 billion social media users, roughly 58% of the world’s population! And the number of new users continues to grow. Just over the span of 1 year, from January 2021 to January 2022, there was 424 million new social media users.
Just reading the statistics, you can easily see how important social media can be for a restaurant. The continued reliance on social media by younger generations makes keeping up to date with social apps almost a requirement.
General benefits to using social media in restaurants:
Increased Brand Visibility: Social media platforms provide an opportunity to showcase your restaurant’s brand, ambiance, and food to a wide audience. By consistently sharing visually appealing content, you can enhance brand visibility and increase recognition among potential customers.
Targeted Marketing: Social media platforms offer robust targeting options, allowing you to reach specific demographics, interests, and locations. This enables you to focus your marketing efforts on the audience most likely to be interested in your restaurant.
Customer Engagement: The many social media platforms facilitate direct interaction and engagement with your customers. Twitter, Facebook, and others enable you to respond to inquiries, address concerns, and receive feedback in real-time. 71% of consumers who had a prompt brand response on social media are likely to recommend that brand to others, according to Forbes.
Word-of-Mouth Promotion: Social media provides a platform for customers to share their experiences and recommendations with their networks. Positive reviews and user-generated content can serve as powerful testimonials. Most consumers are more likely to listen to friends and family recommendations over business advertisements.
Special Offers and Promotions: You can easily promote special offers, limited-time promotions, or discounts to wide audiences. By leveraging social media, you can quickly and cost-effectively communicate exclusive deals to your followers, driving traffic to your restaurant.
Showcase Culinary Creations: Visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok are ideal for showcasing your chef’s creations. High-quality images or short videos of mouthwatering dishes can pique the interest of potential customers and entice visits.
Stay Competitive: In today’s digital age, having a social media presence is almost expected by customers. If your competitors are active on social media and you’re not, you may risk being overlooked by potential customers.
Market Research and Insights: Social media platforms provide valuable data and insights about your audience, including their preferences, behaviors, and feedback. By monitoring analytics, you can gain insights to improve your offerings, tailor your marketing strategies, and stay ahead of industry trends.
What different social media platforms can be utilized?
Utilizing social media doesn’t require a full-time commitment. By just setting aside 10 minutes a day or 30 minutes a week, your restaurant could grow a following that engages with your brand online and offline. If you are not able to set aside the time to create the content yourself, delegate the task to your employees or hire an outside company to help. If you are going to delegate, it’s important to have a clear vision for your brand and to express that to whoever is creating your content.
The average social media user interacts for around 2 hours and 35 minutes each day. Millennials and Gen Z users typically hold an astounding 8.5 social media accounts at a time. For these reasons, it’s important to utilize not just one, but multiple social platforms.
Here are multiple approaches so restaurant owners can successfully utilize the 4 major social platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
Facebook is the most popular social media in the world with over 2.95 billion users. Social suggestions are becoming more and more trusted in today’s online world. According to Empatica research, 72% of consumers have used Facebook to decide on a restaurant based on reviews and photos published by other users.
For these reasons, Facebook is a must-have for any business. Here’s how you can use Facebook to benefit your restaurant:
Share enticing visuals. Post high-quality images of your restaurant’s dishes, ambiance, and special events to capture attention and entice customers.
Run events, contests and promotions. Encourage engagement by organizing contests, giveaways, or special offers exclusively for your Facebook followers. Create a post and encourage engagement on it with special giveaways. Create and promote events using the Events feature.
Respond to customer feedback. Actively monitor and respond to reviews, comments, and messages. Doing so in real-time can help build a positive online reputation by providing excellent customer service.
Utilize Facebook Ads. Leverage targeted ads to reach a broader audience, promote seasonal menus, or announce special events. Starting a Facebook ad campaign is possible starting at $10. You can gradually increase the budget as your company and online presence grow.
Twitter
Twitter’s greatest strength is its capacity to provide a clear and engaging platform for users to communicate with companies. Customers have a direct line of communication with restaurants.
Engage in real-time conversations. Utilize Twitter’s fast-paced nature to engage with customers quickly. You can respond to inquiries and provide up-to-the-minute updates on daily specials or promotions.
Use relevant hashtags. Incorporate trending or location-specific hashtags to expand your reach and attract local food enthusiasts.
Retweet positive customer experiences. Share positive reviews and experiences from customers, showing appreciation and building social proof.
Instagram
Instagram is often thought of as the “foodies” social media app. This application is simpler for most people to operate since there is less content to get lost in. Simply manage your feed and utilize stories and reels as you see fit.
Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users. This makes “The Gram” the fourth most popular social media in the world.
Showcase visually appealing content. Post high-quality images and videos of your restaurant’s signature dishes, behind-the-scenes moments, and happy customers enjoying their meals.
Utilize Instagram Stories and Reels. Use Stories to share daily specials or limited-time promotions. Content expires after 24 hours, but there is a simple way to keep it. You may keep a few of your favorite Instagram stories pinned to the top of your pages in personalized groups by using Story Highlights. Instagram reels receive an average of 22% higher engagement than regular video content. Create engaging Reels or short movies to showcase food preparation, recipes, or fun challenges.
Team up with food bloggers or influencers. Partner with Instagram influencers who specialize in food or local lifestyle to amplify your reach and credibility. The more followers someone has, the more exposure your restaurant can get.
TikTok
TikTok allows users to create, watch, and share short videos. The app is renowned for its addictive nature and high levels of engagement with its tailored feeds of amusing short movies with music and sound effects.
TikTok has been the fastest growing social media in the world over the past few years. There are currently just over 1.5 billion monthly active users. If your target audience is younger Millennials and Gen Z, this is the social media platform where they spend the most of their time.
Share engaging and entertaining content. Create short, captivating videos showcasing food preparation, unique recipes, chef’s tips, or entertaining dining experiences.
Participate in challenges and trends. Stay up to date with trending challenges on TikTok and participate with your own unique twist, incorporating your restaurant’s branding.
Encourage user-generated content. Prompt customers to create their own TikTok videos while dining at your restaurant, using a specific hashtag. Share and engage with their content to foster a sense of community and word-of-mouth promotion.
Conclusion
Different social media apps provide different possibilities. Knowing which ones to utilize and update daily will help increase your restaurants reputation. The best restaurants have effective social media marketing plans in effect. They plan their posts out over time while continuously interacting and answering customers daily.
Remember to tailor your social media strategy to fit your restaurant’s brand and target audience. Consistency, creativity, and responsiveness are key to achieving success across these platforms.
