I’m a Restaurant! What Should I Post online?
We all know lifestyle blogs, Mommy blogs, and food blogs are brimming with content on their websites and their social media platforms. But restaurants? If you’re wanting to draw in more customers and get more traffic in the door, posting content online is a guaranteed way to do this.
You might not know where to start as a restaurant owner so we’ve compiled a list of techniques that you can utilize for your digital marketing strategy. Ask yourself these questions:
What makes you unique?
What are the normal restaurant things that you excel at?
What is the experience of being there like?
What’s new?
Show us the food!
Bonus Tip at the End
A Quick Tip For Restaurants
While you’re answering these questions, think about how you can share the information in more than one way. Check out some tips on how to repurpose content from stuff you’ve already created here. For example, if you’re showing off a new menu item don’t just take a picture.
Use the opportunity to make a video of you, your chef, or whoever is the most comfortable being on camera speaking about how exciting and special the new dish is.
What makes you unique?
You probably already know the answer to this question and have proudly shared it with a fellow restaurateur or even a stranger. It’s probably the reason you know your business is going to flourish. If it is exciting to you, it is most likely exciting to people when they dine and drink with you.
Showcase this unique quality of your establishment on your social media platforms and your website. Make yourself stand out from the crowd. People will notice as they scroll through and want to check your restaurant out for themselves.
The follow-up question to this one is, “Why is this important?” If the unique feature actually makes a difference in the customer experience, then you want to make sure you’re answering both the “what” and the “why” when you post about it.
If struggling to put these into the right words then go ahead and ask your customers. If they love it, they will tell you why. Use their words and with permission, their name, to lend some credibility to your unique difference-maker.
What are the normal restaurant things that you excel at?
Within the average routine of dining at a restaurant, ask yourself what it is that your business does the best? What elevates the customer experience? Is it the big-screen TVs or the freshly made chips?
Is the reservation process extremely quick and efficient? There’s something “regular” that keeps people coming back. Share a video or a picture of someone experiencing this excellent service and let people know that you do it well.
What is the experience of being there like?
Besides enjoying their food, what is the top most thing you want customers to feel while they are at your restaurant? Maybe it’s that your place has a great family-friendly atmosphere. Or maybe you’ve created a fine dining establishment that is a perfect place for date night.
You’ve created a unique experience, advertise it! You want to make sure that you have content-video or photo-of your target demographic enjoying that experience.
If it’s kid-friendly, ask a friend or family member if they will be in a photo with their family enjoying a good time. Offer them a discount or free meal in return for their help.
Hire out models if you have the cash. Content that you create for online purposes must reflect the experience itself. If your target demographics see themselves represented in the content you post, they are sure to walk into your business doors.
What’s new at your restaurant?
Is anything changing at the restaurant? What’s your weekly special or new winter menu? Let people know what’s happening! A key here is to give people time to see your post and make plans. This type of campaign is more effective when you budget in more time for it to work.
If you have a big change planned for your restaurant, don’t be afraid to post about it more than once. For example, don’t post that the new menu is coming. Instead share with followers that some things are leaving the menu at the end of the month.
Is there something that’s a known customer favorite but it’s only seasonal? Create a sense of urgency with your social media content. Highlight the fleeting nature of the menu item.
Show us the food!
This one is easy, right? Take well-lit pictures or videos of your amazing meals and post them. Show off those mouth-watering meals but remember there is a reason we put this at the bottom.
There are millions of photos of food being shared every single day and you don’t want all of your content to be the same and get lost in the mix.
You probably have a ton of photos that you just can’t wait to share but remember your content must be balanced. A lot of places have beautiful looking food and terrible service. Showcase the experience alongside the food and you’ll reap the results.
Bonus Tip: Make How-To’s
There are a couple of ways to do this and both are effective. The first is to take photos of each step of preparation for a meal and post the corresponding instructions in the caption on a blog post or the stories feature of Instagram and Facebook.
The second is to make a video of your chef explaining the steps. Again, both of these are effective. Teach people how to make a generic meal like spaghetti and meatballs to make it easy. On the other hand, you can teach followers how to make one of your signature dishes or desserts.
Even if someone learns the steps they’re still going to come back to the restaurant because you have created value for them. You gave them something without asking for anything in return.
People don’t always want to be sold to. This is an easy way to build rapport with your customers by making them feel like family.
Also, take a look at some of list posts on restaurants on midlandaf.com and odessaaf.com.
