Meta Description: Learn how to use the power of social media marketing to boost your restaurant sales. Discover effective strategies and tactics that can help you attract more customers and increase revenue.
Your customers are likely to be on social media, and so should you. Social media plays an integral part in modern businesses. It helps them to increase their visibility and expand their customer base.
So, how can you boost your restaurant sales with smart social media marketing? Where can you start? Learn more below.
How to boost your restaurant sales with smart social media marketing
Social media promises incredible return on investment, where marketers can get an ROI of 31% in short-form videos and an ROI of 22% in images. These impressive ROI shows that social media is essential in boosting sales. But how can you use it effectively to promote your restaurant sales? Below are a few tips for you;’
Use hashtags (#)
Hashtags provide an excellent way of getting your restaurant’s content in front of more people..The hashtag in the post will help bring potential customers to your posts. This could encourage them to visit your restaurant.
Another thing you can consider doing is to use trending hashtags like #tbt or #soulffood. These trending hashtags will increase the reach of your posts, which in turn leads to increased sales due to the larger traffic.
Share Useful Tips
Another effective way to utilize social media for your restaurant is by sharing useful tips with your audience. These tips could range from cooking techniques and recipe ideas to dining etiquette and food pairing suggestions.
By providing valuable information related to the culinary world, you position your restaurant as an authority in the industry, gaining the trust and loyalty of your audience. Whether it’s sharing insider tips on selecting the perfect wine to complement a meal, offering cooking tips for creating restaurant-quality dishes at home, or providing brewing smash beer tips to elevate your gatherings, sharing useful tips can enhance your social media presence and attract more instagram followers. Or if you need quicker results, you could use platforms as Twicsy to buy organic instagram followers.
Run a contest
Contests are a great way to boost engagement. One social media platform that you can use to run the contest is Instagram. Instagram is the site where most restaurants see more engagement. Its algorithm likes it when people like, comment, and share your photo. Thus, a contest will give your audience a reason to do that.
Another incredible thing about running a contest on Instagram is that;’
- It is a low-budget
- It helps to drive more individuals to your restaurant
- It promotes easy engagement
- It allows you to gain new followers on social media
Note that, as you run a successful Instagram contest, you should set the following criteria to ensure engagement;’
- You can give people a better chance of winning if they tag your contest post to multiple individuals.
- Save and like the contest image, and then follow you.
- You can offer a high chance of winning to people who share your post in their Instagram stories.
Use influencers
If you want quick success, use food content creators or influencers. These individuals often have an incredibly strong social media presence. In most cases, they tend to influence their followers with various products and services actively.
For instance, foodie influencers give reviews about their restaurant experiences. In turn, their followers become inclined to try the same. Thus, if you make a deal with influencers to market your business on social media, you stand a higher chance of getting increased sales.
Below’s how you can make this deal with a foodie;’
- Reach out to influencers through their business email or social media messaging.
- Ask them to come to your restaurant
- Propose your idea to them
After they agree, write a contract with details like;’
- The type of post you want them to promote
- The social media platform you want them to use
- Tags to your restaurant’s social media account
- Date and time to go live
- Monetary exchange (if necessary)
Another thing to note is that not just any influencer will do. You must consider the following;’
- Who are the influencer’s followers?
- What type of content are the influencers crafting?
- What other restaurant deals has the influencer promoted?
Use different social media platforms
There are many social media platforms available on the web. So, if your goal is to increase your sales, you must use different social media platforms for your marketing strategy. Using different platforms will ensure a large audience in all your accounts. This large audience can lead to increased sales.
Another thing to note is that your social media content should be consistent in all your accounts. It means that the tone and content you post on Facebook should be similar to those you post on Instagram.
This will ensure that you have a consistent brand image of your restaurant.
Have a clear voice and tone
Your content should follow the normal conversational and casual tone of social media. A fine dining restaurant can appear dull if it writes Instagram captions as it does menu descriptions. Thus, the way you write your content can cheapen your restaurant or make it appear exquisite.
The key is to find the right balance between your restaurant concept and the trending social media voice and tone. For instance, you can choose to use a humble social media voice. This voice can give your restaurant a low-key, friendly neighborhood vibe that strives to create deep connections with your customers.
Show your menu items
“Seeing is believing” is an unspoken rule in restaurant businesses.
And the best way to do this is to offer your menu items to your social media followers. This offering will motivate them to visit you and eat at your restaurant. Research shows that social media influences 50% of restaurant diners.
So, capitalize on your social media to market your menu. Ensure that you use high-quality videos and images of your food. It can lead to the following;’
- Increased engagement
- Increased likes and shares
- Increased post visitors
- Increased sales
Treat your social media accounts as canvases of culinary art. Ensure you have captivating images of your dishes on;’
- TikTok
Leverage local SEO
One way to leverage your local SEO is by using local keywords. These keywords will ensure that your restaurant appears in local searches. So, ensure you incorporate relevant local SEO keywords in your profile and posts.
This strategy will help improve your visibility when social media users search for the best dining option. Also, ensure you add location-specific terms, like “best Chinese restaurant in {Your City}. This description will help potential customers to discover your restaurant quickly.
Post often
Research shows that social media can increase your brand awareness by 63%. So, you should be consistent with your posting. Consistency will help keep your restaurant in the minds of your potential customers. Note that you do not need to post daily. However, consider at least three times a week.
It can be challenging to craft new content regularly. So, some ideas you can consider using when you are experiencing a creative block include the following;’
- Give potential customers a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action in your kitchen.
- Snap a photo of the day’s special
- Remind your social media followers of the merchandise or gift cards you have for sale.
Optimize the bio on your social media accounts
Imagine a situation where you do everything right. You use trending hashtags and have quality images for your social media posts. Your social media followers see your content and become interested.
So, they decide to reach out to you for a reservation. However, they can’t find any of your location information, emails, or phone numbers because you didn’t include them on your social media page. Disappointing, right?
This case happens more often than not and can be counterproductive. One of the primary goals of social media marketing is to drive customers to your business. So, if you don’t include the relevant contact information, you can lose valuable sales.
Below are some of the information to have before you publish;’
- Restaurant information
- Directions/maps from famous landmarks
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Location addresses
Re-share user-generated content
Don’t underestimate the power that your customers can have. A little digging on their social media accounts can reveal beautiful photos and stories they shared about your restaurant. With their permission, ask whether you can repost, retweet, or share their content from your page.
A few ways to get user-generated content include the following;’
- Conduct an X or Facebook search on the name of your restaurant to see whether there are any mentions without hashtags
- Carry out a hashtag search of your restaurant’s name
- Look up your location to find photos of your restaurant on Instagram
- Check out pictures on Instagram, X, and Facebook that you’ve been tagged in
- Ask your guests to post your restaurant on their social media accounts
Engage with users
Most restaurant owners are happy to engage with users who post positive comments and ignore the negative ones. This marketing strategy is not ideal for restaurants. When your customers talk about your restaurant on social media, others will also see their posts.
You cannot make them delete their social media posts. However, you can tame the issue by responding kindly. The negative reviews show that your customers care about their experiences and will go the extra mile to solve the problem.
So, ensure you understand their concerns and analyze what they say. Were they expecting something that you didn’t offer? Was there something wrong with the food? Was the food expensive?
Paying attention to positive and negative comments is vital. The best part? It enables you to be approachable and serve your customers better. Plus, it enhances your user engagement. It is a win-win.
Bottom Line
Social media is a goldmine when it comes to your restaurant marketing. Leveraging it will enable you to derive the benefit of increased sales. So, use the above tips to get the word out about your restaurant and see your sales increase.
