I just came back from a great hangout with my girlfriend and some friends. It was a great evening; lots of laughter (especially when there’s a Nigerian at the table), food and pictures. Yes, pictures. I was the only one who wasn’t into pictures tonight… probably because I didn’t have my DSLR or because the iPhone doesn’t do too well in low light.

All the pictures (I can swear we took about about a hundred) got me thinking. How can restaurants, eateries & pubs in Ghana be social? It’s 2014, social selling is a catchphrase and every restaurant should not only be selling what’s on the menu but selling the experience of eating at their restaurants. I am gonna share a few tips from my observation today and at other eateries in Accra.

Let me start by saying I am a believer in the 360° approach to social media. if any business or organisation can afford it (time & budget), they should be on all the popular social networks. Why? You don’t want to be on hi5 when the party moves to a city called Facebook. That is your first tip.

I don’t see Ghanaian restaurants on Foursquare. Yes, people can check in at Honeysuckle, Regal or Starbites but is it a business place/venue? Did you know that on Foursquare, businesses can claim their places and manage it. It really helps. I have done a couple of searches for restaurants and had foursquare results in the top search. What if someone does a search and doesn’t find your restaurant or the contact information is wrong? Own it. Claim your Foursquare place/venue. You can have specials for people who check in quite often as well as advertise to have your place on top of searches. Picture this: on the door to entrance of your favourite restaurant, you see a nice welcome sign which says “Checkin on 4sq for Great Deals” or “Let Your Friends Know You’re Here. Checkin on 4sq” Cool or uncool?

This year is being touted as the year social media is really going to be visual. That means more pictures and videos. Instagram is trendy among millennials in Ghana. All that time we were taking pictures, I knew they were going to land up onInstagram but wouldn’t it be cool if your customers tagged you or say how nice the food they ate at your place was? I saw a lot of signs of about beer at Honeysuckle. What if a couple of those signs said “You like what you are eating, huh? Share on Instagram #RegalChinese” or “Best ___________ in Accra. #Aduane”?

One thing I haven’t noticed restaurants do is have their social media accounts listed on their menus. Yes, it’s 2014 and you should be doing that. If I am going to tweet about how good the food is, mentioning the Twitter ID will bring in some more customers. You can also tweet food tips, share scenes from your restaurant or who had lunch there today. You can be creative with Twitter but don’t forget your images.

Research shows Millennials are moving away from Facebook, yet it is still a big thing in Ghana. Everybody has an account now. Some restaurants have Facebook pages but are they really updating them? You need a strategy to manage it. One thing about doing social media well is how overwhelming it can be but don’t forget your Facebook page is good as dead if you don’t update it regularly. Beautiful images will bring you more likes and shares and eventually new customers.

Offer free wifi. I don’t understand why most restaurants don’t do that. It’s really annoying when my phone’s data is down at dinner and I can’t tweet a special moment.

If you know of any restaurants or pubs in Ghana using social media this way, let me know. I would love to check them out.