5 things to get your restaurant social media right
If you don’t have a website, social media and UGC (user generated content) review sites probably are the best way you can get a listing on the internet. Last article we talked about identifying the target demographic. If you know who they are, then you know what kind of things they like to see on their social media.
Social media is a big topic, so I am only going to cover some of the fundamentals and common mistakes.
Good pictures
This is where you can’t save your money. Hire a photographer to get some nice photos. Diners do judge the book by its cover. If they have never been to your place, the impression they get about your food. A good photographer is pricey, but you only need them once or twice a year. And trust me, you will make your money back.
Right content
Social media is where the conservation takes place. You interact with your customer on these platforms. Imagine your restaurant is a person, keep publishing promotions on your social media is just like an aggressive insurance sales who keeps pushing and chasing.
You can categorize your customers into 5 different stages, and ideally, you want to convert everyone of them to the last stage.
- Don’t know about your restaurant
- Know your restaurant
- Remember your restaurant
- Try your restaurant
- Your restaurant is their favorite
Your daily posting mainly are for moving customers from 1 to 4. From 4 to 5, it’s mostly about your operation.
Big brands like Coca-cola, Nestle spends millions of dollars every year just creating content for social media. Maybe you don’t have that kind of resource, but you certainly know your customer better than they are.
I once met a Italian chef, he was so passionate about his dishes.He told me how frustrated he was when he saw the Hong Kong style Carbonara. Carbonara is one of my favourite dishes so I was interested to know what’s the original recipe. After that conversation, I visited his restaurant a lot to listen to his foodie stories and adventures.
Conversation is about connection, not only in reality, but also on digital. Base on your target customer and design what to share on your social media.
You are what you post.
Be active and responsive
Try to keep your social media active, update at least once a week. When I see a restaurant’s page didn’t update for a month, I will assume it’s closed. This is Hong Kong, the turnover rate is really high.
Reply to all the customers that gives you feedback, like I said, build up the relationship and connection. Also, enquiries about catering or private events are usually from social media private messages. That is business.
Social media advertisement
Don’t spend money on getting likes for your page. If you have a budget and decide to spend on social media, invest them into posts and feeds that do well. That will help you to reach much more followers.
Be internative
If your restaurant is being featured on other’s social media, leave a thankful comment on their page. That can help you to get more exposure of your page.
Interact with brands that have similar target demographic, exchange followers by sharing each other’s content.
Social media can be exhausting, but it is a very powerful tool to get customers and exposure. I will talk about the impact of reservation in the next article.
Chapter 1: How to Start Promoting your Restaurant with a Minimum Budget
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