How to Use Social Media to Boost your Restaurant Business
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January 2, 2020Whether you like it or loathe it in your personal life, social media has a crucial part to play in running a modern restaurant. Even if your restaurant isn’t active on social media, you can be sure that your customers are posting and tweeting about your business online. Surely then, it makes sense to be a part of the conversation.
If you’re creating social media profiles for the first time or have existing profiles that aren’t generating results, here are some leading social media strategies for restaurants to help you get it right.
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Give your customers a glimpse behind the scenes
These days, people crave experiences that are authentic and want to know more about the people and brands they follow. The same is true for your restaurant. While there’s nothing wrong with occasional posts pushing your latest menu or drinks offers, they should be interspersed with social media content that gives customers a glimpse at the processes and people that make your restaurant what it is.
That doesn’t mean you have to share your mundane jobs and mishaps. Instead, create content that gives customers an insight into how you create the mouth-watering dishes you offer. For example, you could choose to show the whole process of making a dish and upload it to YouTube, or post a 10-second clip of filleting a fish or the plating up process to show off the talent and skill of your team.
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Capitalise on user-generated content
User-generated content, or UGC, has the potential to become an incredibly effective and low-cost form of marketing for your restaurant. If one of your customers has posted a photo of one of your delicious meals on Instagram, along with a write up saying how tasty it was, you’d be crazy not to use it. Not only is it free marketing, but it’s also straight from an authentic customer, which makes it all the more powerful. It’s also an effective way to connect with existing customers and build a sense of community.
Ensure you seek permission first from the original author and give them credit in your social media post, then you can safely repost any piece of user-generated content.
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Create a two-way conversion
Unlike a one-way conversation, where users are bombarded with promotional deals and endorsements for upcoming events, a two-way conversation allows you to connect with your consumers and respond directly to their wants and needs.
As a general rule of thumb, to reduce the risk of alienating your audience on social media, 80% of your posts should be adding value and brand building (two-way), and only 20% should be self-serving endorsements of your restaurant and events (one-way). That can be achieved through the use of questions that encourage responses and content that’s engaging and fun for potential customers to use.
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Run competitions
Everyone loves to get something for nothing, which makes competitions and giveaways a quick and cost-effective way to build your brand. There are hundreds of different contests you can run on social media. For example, asking users to create captions, name new dishes or simply to tag a friend in your post can build rapport and increase engagement online. In return, your restaurant can give out prizes such as free meals and drinks to the competition winners.
Spread your social media reach with Eatigo
When you join the Eatigo restaurant reservation platform, your restaurant will reach thousands of potential new customers via our active social channels so you can fill your seats at any time of the day.
You can join Eatigo today by submitting your interest via one of the forms below:
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