If you’re a restaurant owner with a website, you’re off to a good start! But a website alone is not enough. To boost your visibility, social media has become a must. Which platforms should I focus on? What content should I post? We’ve got your answers.
1. Facebook
With more than a billion users worldwide, Facebook has become essential. But that’s far from a bad thing. Facebook is now much more than sharing photos from your vacation. For VSE’s and SME’s, Facebook can do wonders for your online reputation. Creating a Facebook page lets you share your restaurant’s news with your community. When you post photos of your chef’s specials, a beautiful order of fresh fish or your restaurant’s brand new decor, you are using your Facebook page as a showcase where you can tell your community about your expertise and your business’s daily activity.
Sharing photos of your kitchen, your day-to-day routines and your staff will welcome your Facebook “friends” behind the scenes of your restaurant. This will make it easy to build client loyalty. And be sure to include your restaurant’s menu. You can even give your clients the option of reserving a table directly from your Facebook page via the free app GuestOnLine.
2. Google My Business
Google My Business (formerly Google Local) is the other social media platform that no restaurant owner should do without. And for good reason. If your restaurant is listed on Google My Business, it will have a better chance at appearing in the top results of local searches conducted by prospects (e.g. A search for keywords like “restaurant” and “lille). who might soon become your clients! In other words, if you want your business to be visible on Google and for Internet users to find you easily, you need to be listed in the business pages of Google My Business.
3. Twitter
In addition to letting your customers follow your posts in real time (Think promotions, soup of the day and contests), Twitter is very useful for quickly spreading your customers’ reviews, especially when they’re negative.
Handy Tips
On Twitter, most negative reviews are posted when dissatisfied clients are still in your restaurant. By consistently monitoring what’s being said about your business, you can solve this problem, even before your clients gets up from the table
4. Instagram and Pinterest
Everyone knows that eating a delicious dish begins with your eyes. Since they’re perfect for posting beautiful photos of both your premises and your meals, Instagram and Pinterest make for powerful tools if you want to boost your reputation. A Turkish restaurant owner who has quite an original method for salting his meat (to say the least), recently went viral on Instagram and eventually on all of social media. But before you go for the “buzz,” make sure that the photos you post are good quality. Otherwise, you might get the opposite effect of what you’re going for.
5. Youtube, Dailymotion and Vimeo
Videos offer a very effective way to build your restaurant’s reputation and boost your online visibility. Creating a YouTube channel gives you the chance to promote your business activity. For example, you can regularly post your chef’s recent recipes (which your viewers can try to make at home), interviews with your employees (the best way to humanize your brand), videos from your events (New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day), testimonials from producers you buy from, and even your clients.
Key Points to Remember
- Do not neglect the importance of social media in your restaurant’s digital strategy.
- To use social media to promote your restaurant, you need to publish high-value content.
- Get your current and future clients involved by asking them to choose new dishes, launching challenges and inspiring them to engage with your brand.
