Social Media Marketing for Restaurants

Facebook 

Here’s the process to create a profile.

  • create a page - choose 'local business or place’

  • add a profile picture

  • add a cover photo

  • add a short description

  • create a username

  • add a call-to-action button

  • choose your page tabs

  • set up roles - including:

    • admin

    • editor

    • moderator

    • advertiser

    • analyst

    • live contributor

  • verify your page

Posting content is the core of Facebook marketing. Post types include:

  • images

  • links

  • video

  • Facebook Live

Here’s a guide to strategy on Facebook.

  • identify your audience

    • location

    • age

    • gender

    • income

    • interests

  • evaluate your competitors

    • visual quality

    • post frequency

    • content mix

    • engagement on posts (likes, comments, shares)

    • response time and quality

  • create a content calendar

  • scheduling posts

  • best frequency and timing

  • get likes and fans

  • generating leads

  • creating events

Facebook advertising is highly effective. According to studies, 96% of social media marketers consider Facebook the most effective social media advertising platform. You can start with just a hundred dollars. Each click on your ad could be just $0.10-$0.30, to get a new lead. It’s simple to set up and gets fast results. You can reach your perfect audience with highly detailed targeting, based on their interest, demographics, location, and behaviour.

The campaign structure consists of:

  • campaign

  • ad set

  • ad

Here are the steps to set up campaigns:

  • step 1: select your campaign objective

  • step 2: give your ad campaign a name

  • step 3: set up your audience targeting

  • step 4: set up your ad placement

  • step 5: set up your campaign budget and bidding

  • step 6: set up your Facebook ads

Ad types include:

  • traffic and leads to your website

  • sales and leads for your product or service

  • likes and engagement of your page

  • visitors to your venue or event

Determine the audience and targeting. Targeting options include:

  • location-based targeting

    • country

      1. state/region

      2. counties

      3. DMA (Designated Market Area)

      4. city

      5. postal code

      6. specific address radius

  • demographics-based targeting

    • age

      1. gender

      2. language

  • interest-based targeting

  • behaviour-based targeting

Determine ad settings.

  • budget

    • daily budget

    • lifetime budget

  • schedule

    • run continuously

    • set a start and end date

Instagram 

Here’s the process to create a profile.

  • add your bio / description

  • add your profile picture

  • add your link

Determine content themes. Content themes could include:

  • behind the scenes content

  • user generated content

  • product demo / showcase

  • educational

  • culture focused

  • fun / lighthearted

  • customer stories

  • get to know the team

Create a content plan. A content plan includes these elements:

  • style guide

  • composition

  • color palette

  • fonts

  • filters

  • captions

  • hashtags

Here’s a guide to strategy on Instagram.

  • key elements

    • clear vision and strategy

    • consistent frequency

    • familiarity with your audience

    • clear visual style

  • choose main goals

    • showcase your products or services

    • build your community

    • increase awareness of your brand

    • showcase your company culture and values

    • advertise to potential customers

    • increase brand loyalty

    • share news and updates

  • research the demographics

    • age

    • gender

    • location

    • education

    • income

  • best frequency and timing

Instagram advertising offer a seamless experience for users, and Instagram ads appear in a bold linear format for visual inspiration. It’s a great way to drive awareness, increase customers, and share your story amongst a highly engaged audience.

Here are the steps to set up campaigns via the Facebook Ads Manager:

  • create a business page and profile

  • set up your ad

    • placement

      • feed

      • stories

  • determine your budget

  • publish

You can also set up campaigns via the Instagram app.

Ad formats include:

  • photo ads

  • video ads

  • carousel ads

  • collection ads

  • stories ads

Determine the audience and targeting. Targeting options include:

  • location

  • demographics

  • interests

  • behaviours

Twitter

The elements of a profile include:

  • handle

  • header

  • profile picture

  • bio

  • website URL

  • birthday

Here are the ideas of content you could post:

  • post appealing photographs of food

  • promote deals of the day

  • acknowledge your customers

  • spread the news about your local events

  • share the insights

  • include your chef

Features include:

  • create Twitter lists

  • host a Twitter chat

  • use Twitter moments

Advertisements involve:

  • promoted tweets

  • Twitter ads

Here are two tactics:

  • build your follower count

    • ensure your content is shareable

    • use unique hashtags

    • create engaging content (giveaways, contests, questions, surveys)

    • enlist the help of Twitter (social media) influencers

    • include links to your Twitter profile on your website

    • interact with your current followers and retweet their content so they’re more likely to do the same for you

  • drive traffic to your website

    • add your website URL beneath your bio on your Twitter profile

    • incorporate links to your website in your tweets

    • retweet any content that includes direct links to your website and/or blogs other people have shared

    • embed tweets on your website with a Twitter Timeline

    • set up Twitter Ads to drive users to a specific landing page on your site

Here are two tips:

  • implement hashtags

    • create a hashtag that’s unique to your business so your followers and target audience can easily find you and your content

    • create relevant and memorable hashtags for other groups of tweets such as ones related to a specific campaign you’re running

    • use Twitter Analytics to review your most successful hashtags so you can ensure their use in future tweets

    • don’t overuse hashtags - this may feel and look spammy to your audience (not to mention it isn’t aesthetically pleasing). Also, tweets with more than two hashtags see a 17% decrease in engagement than those with one or two hashtags.

  • use keyword targeting in your Twitter Ads

    • search keyword targeting

    • timeline keyword targeting

Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media platform in which users explore, share, and store visual content they find inspiring, helpful, or entertaining

A profile consists of the following elements:

  • user name

  • a short description (no more than 160 characters)

  • your website URL

  • the email address that will show up for the public

  • restaurant phone number

  • restaurant address

The main features are:

  • pins

    • post your menu

  • boards

    • recipes

    • cooking tips

    • drinks

    • cocktail recipes

    • wine pairings

    • restaurant decor

    • restaurant design

    • special of the day

    • table setting

    • holiday centrepieces

More features include:

  • private messages

  • visual search

  • Pinterest browser extension

  • instant ideas

  • filter your searches

Common terms include:

  • pin: a pin is a visual bookmark that redirects you to another website if you click on it, often the original source

  • repin/re-pin: when you save a pin that has been posted by someone else, to your board, it is called repinning

  • board: a board is a place where you save related pins; they re like folders that let you keep your pins organised on the platform

  • pinner: Pinterest’s users are often referred to as pinners

  • follower: when you find a pinner who shares appealing content, you can follow that user

  • source link: a source link is the website URL that a shared pin links to

  • likes: similar to most social platforms, like a pin to show your support, and that you endorse it

How to use interest for marketing:

  • distribute your content

  • build a community

  • educate customers

  • drive website traffic and boost online sales

Tactics include:

  • enable rich pins

  • repin popular content to your boards

  • choose the right categories for your content

  • use unique images and videos

  • leverage keywords

  • add hashtags to your content

  • share your content on other social networks

  • follow, engage, and interact with other accounts

  • use social media best practices

DO’s and DON’TS of Pinterest marketing:

  • DON’T upload pictures to Pinterest from your computer. This will not link back to your website

  • DO put them on your website and pin them from your site. Not only does this link people directly to your site, but the more links you have going to your website, the higher your search engine rankings can be.

  • DON’T pin pictures from your site that have no content on your site. If someone has followed the photo to your website it is because they want to read more about the topic of the photo.

  • DO provide a visible subscription button to your page. If they like the content they may want to subscribe, you should make this as easy as possible.

  • DON’T direct people to a sales page (the “add to cart” page) with no product information. Prices, reviews, etc are always good to have immediately.

  • DO provide easy purchasing directions on your site. If it is confusing, or there are technical problems, customers may be deterred from following through with their purchase.

Snapchat

Snapchat is a visual social media platform where users can share fleeting pictures and videos

Snapchat terminology:

  • snap: a snap is a picture or video that you send through the app to one or more of your friends; the platform deletes content after the recipient has viewed the snap

  • stories: stories are snaps that you’d like to share with all your Snapchat friends; stories stay on the app for 24 hours before being deleted

  • custom stories: custom stories allows you to create stories together with other people from your friends’ list

  • snapstreak: a snapstreak tracks how many consecutive days you and a friend share snaps

  • filter: a Snapchat filter is a fun way to jazz up your snaps by adding an overlay or other special effects; filters can change based on special events or holidays, location, or time of day

  • lenses: lenses are where AR comes into play, by allowing you to add 3D special effects, objects, and characters to your photos or videos

  • geofilter: geofilters are unique to your current location

  • snapcode: snap codes are unique QR-style codes that you scan to add friends or access features and content on Snapchat

  • chat: chat is Snapchat’s version of instant messenger for individual and group chats; messages disappear after they’re viewed

  • memories: memories are snaps and stories that you can save for viewing later, rather than allowing them to disappear

  • friends: friends are people you’ve added on Snapchat; you can share snaps, stories, and other content with your friends’ list

  • discover: discover is a Snapchat seen where brands share stories with the app’s large audience; perfect for businesses, publishers, and content creators looking to increase engagement and build brand awareness

  • snap map: snap map shows your location and the locations of all of your friends

  • context cards: context cards use information from Snapchat’s partners to provide additional information about a place mentioned in a snap or allow you to take actions like booking a ride or reserving a table for dinner

  • bitmoji: a bitmoji is a cartoon avatar that represents you; it allows you to add personality to your profile and account

  • cameo: Snapchat cameos are animated gifs that you can customise with your face and send to friends

  • spotlight: Snapchat’s spotlight feature is the place to share video content with a public audience; it allows users to post 60 second videos to the app’s spotlight section; think of spotlight as a place to share your best content int he hope that it goes viral

  • snapcash: powers by Square, snapcash is a fast, free, and easy way to send money to your friends via the Snapchat app

Screens include:

  • camera screen: think of the camera screen as your home screen; you can take snaps, send snaps, and navigate to other areas of the app

  • chat screen: the chat screen is where you’ll find everything that has to do with your friends; here, you can chat with friends, view snaps that they’ve sent you, edit your friend’s list, and make audio and video calls

  • stories screen: here, you’ll find your stories, your friends’ stories, and stories from brands and creatives int he discover section

  • memories screen: this feature allows you to revisit snaps and stories from days gone by; you can flick between snaps, stories, camera roll, and private snaps

  • search screen: here, you can search Snapchat, access games, quickly add friends, and check out what’s currently trending on Snapchat

  • profile screen: you can find a collection of your Snapchat information on this screen, e.g., your account info, bitmoji, location on the map, story management, and more

  • map screen: on this screen, there are a few things you can do: my bitmoji, place, and friends

  • spotlight screen: this screen is the place to find and interact with short viral videos from across the platform

Features include:

  • Snap

    • take a picture or video

    • get creative - using creative tools:

      • caption

      • doodle

      • stickers

      • scissors

      • music

      • link

      • crop

      • timer

    • send your snap

  • Snapchat Stories

  • Snapchat Lenses

  • Snapchat Filters

7 ways to marketing your restaurant:

  • snap coupons or discount codes

  • snap your food

  • encourage customers to snap

  • limited time specials

  • snapchat takeover

  • create a snapchat geofilter for your restaurant

  • tour your city

 

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Digibites is a digital agency for Bars, Cafes, and Restaurants. We specialise in digital marketing and creative solutions that will get new customers to your door and keep customers coming back.

Our services include: consulting, online marketing, website design, branding & graphic design. We also provide an online course.

About Digibites

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