This is a rather simple answer and when I reveal it you’re going to say “well duh.”
The answer is so obvious. It’s so sad to see so many restaurants are using social media the wrong way.
This idea and technique are going to put thousands of dollars in the pockets of restaurant owners.
Simply…
Take more pictures. Yes it’s that simple!
Take more pictures on social media. Restaurants are one of the easiest things to capitalize on social media. People buy with their eyes not their mouth so what does that mean for your restaurant?
Taking more pictures and putting them on social media is going to only get more people’s eyes on your food. It’s the exact reason why Burger King constantly puts ads on TV because their goal is for you to get extremely hungry by the time the show is over.
So, you get up off your couch or call Uber Eats to get you whatever you’d like to eat.
It may seem silly or it may seem stupid that they keep spending millions and millions of dollars on advertising.
However most hours of the day major restaurant chains have a line that far exceeds most people’s allowable wait time. Most restaurants don’t have budgets to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising every year especially on the TV space where ads are drastically overpriced. You’re not exactly sure when you’re going to get your return.
How Will Your Restaurant Make Money Using Social Media?
Start following local companies getting on the explore page or getting local companies to see your stuff is one of the fastest ways that you can put money directly in your pocket and if you don’t think you need to follow other restaurants, you should follow all other local businesses.
If you really want to step up your game you can also send out messages to the local businesses letting them know that you’re willing to give people that work in town a small discount.
Why give a small discount? It’s honestly quite simple. You need to support the people that are going to support you. If you have a restaurant in town most likely there are other small businesses in town.
Supporting other businesses is a very easy sign to show that not only are you willing and welcoming to them, but, if you make them happy they’re only going to send more people your way.
People love going shopping in small towns and eventually they’re going to get hungry.
If they’re not from the area there’s a very good chance they’re either going to hop on Google or they’re going to ask the people behind the counter what kind of food they like and who has the best restaurants in the area.
Your goal is to get them to send them to your business. If that means you have to buy a couple of lunches to hand out around town it’s so much easier than trying to pay for ads that you never know what your ROI is going to be.
I’m going to speak from personal experience with restaurants I’ve worked with. It’s unbelievably common for restaurants to post images and have people in the area comment immediately, “oh my goodness I was just thinking about that!”
Build With Relevant Hashtags
Once you start to build up your following by using relevant hashtags such as #yourlocaltown #yourlocaltownfood #foodporn #foodofthearea. Overtime and relentlessly posting while working with other businesses to have them promote you on their social media and you promote them is only going to give you a huge increase in foot traffic.
You’re not going to see results overnight. Just as if you go to the gym once or four times a week you’re only going to feel it a little bit but you’re not going to see results.
It’s something that has to be done over the long-term not 3 months, not 6 months, but at least one year. Yes, it may sound crazy that you have to dedicate a year but that’s how long it’s going to take.
I Don’t Take Good Photos, What Do I Do?
Great question!
Not everybody is going to be good at taking photos. However, at your restaurant there’s a pretty good chance you have some young employee working for you. Chances are they’re very good at taking photos and they’re also pretty good at using the internet.
Usually if you set up your social media correctly you can allow them to post pictures on your social. A lot of times they offer to do it for free or they’ll ask for a small amount of money in return which usually is money well spent.
Shortly you’ll see a blog post written on this site listing and explaining exactly how restaurants can use social media to make money. If you really want to do something crazy, go down to your municipalities in the area.
You could bring the fire department, local police department, and maybe even some of the town workers some lunch. You’re going to look like a rock star in their eyes and they’re going to do free marketing for you. Give them a wides pread of things to try. They’re all going to go home at the end of the day and tell their families and their friends all about you.
I have seen it work time and again for restaurants. Offering to-go to the local spots and giving a couple free meals or drinks is the easiest and cheapest thing a restaurant can do to get their name out.
For more ideas on using social media for your business check out this post.
Thank you for reading!