Everyone wants a piece of the social media pie. A growing number of new restaurants are using social media marketing to put out the word about their businesses. Social media has the power to draw customers to your restaurant. Imagine someone scrolling on Instagram, and sees that a friend visited your restaurant and posted an image about their experience.

The first thing they will do, is to go to your restaurant’s Instagram account to find out if they should also visit. Technology has made it easier for customers to “suss out” restaurants before they visit them. The first interaction they’ll have with your restaurant will be through your online presence. This is why you want your brand identity to have the brightest shine online – follow this advice and you will blind all competitors.

Focus on visual appeal

Before you start populating your social media accounts, you need to have a thorough understanding of your audience. Think about what your customers want and why they should visit your accounts and your restaurant. Consider the best strategy that will entice them. To keep you grounded and focused on a single message, pick a theme. Perhaps you want your restaurant to be known as the best neighbourhood hangout. Your tone of voice will then need to reflect this. Choose a long-term staff member, like a waiter or your chef, to be the face of your social accounts.

Create valuable content

First and foremost, each post you share should correlate with your brand identity Avoid trying to get caught up in trends if you don’t know how to pull it off or how your audience will perceive them, such as trying to incorporate a message through a popular meme. But don’t be afraid to use visual content because it works well for restaurants, especially on Instagram. Read our previous blog for more information. Bear in mind that it is far better to focus on what you’re sending online than to worry about meeting a content calendar to keeping the content machine turning.

Get help from influencers

First-time restaurant owners can find it extremely difficult to be noticed on social media, especially if they are competing with other brands with bigger budgets. An excellent way to get around this is to leverage someone else’s audience by asking a guest blogger or well-known figure in the food industry to collaborate with you. Get more involved with groups on social media. Focus on Facebook and LinkedIn because you can follow industry-specific groups on these platforms to help build your audience.

Use paid advertising

For any new business, paid advertising is a great way to put the spotlight on your new restaurant and guide more traffic through to your website. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on social campaigns. To help you spread the word, boost posts on your platforms that are already doing well organically.

When it’s done correctly, social media can yield great business returns such as increasing the strength of your brand identity and boosting your customer base, but social media is not the only tactic you can use.