5 Ways to Promote Your Restaurant on Social Media

Social media greatly increases awareness about your restaurant. Adding social media to your marketing mix can generate more engagement with your restaurant and get more customers in your door.

In this blog post, we’re going to show you five ways to promote your restaurant on social media. We encourage you to create a social media planning calendar so it becomes an integrated daily task.  If you are already taking advantage of social media platforms, it’s time to step up your interactions. If you haven’t taken the social media leap, we’ll give you some examples.

You can’t afford to ignore social media. The Pew Research Center found that 52% of online adults now use two or more social media sites, showing a significant increase in the last two years. This statistic shows that social media is key to reaching large numbers of people at once, and generally at a low cost to your bottom line.

It is  important to understand the relevant social media platforms for promoting your restaurants.

  1. Create a Facebook Fan Page

You absolutely need a Facebook page for your restaurant. A study found that Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform.  Create your Facebook business page carefully. You have 851×351 pixels to market your restaurant for free in your timeline image. Carry your brand identity through all of your social media so you are easily recognizable to users.  When posting on Facebook, include either a video or image with your text. Images and video grab their attention. Become familiar with the different options for posting. Feel free to create your posts for the week using the schedule tool.  Most important for your restaurant on Facebook is consistency. Listen to what your users want. Be careful with too much self-promotion. Give your fans useful information, share tips and offer discounts and special promotions.  Lastly, explore Facebook paid advertising. This can be hugely successful for your restaurant.

  1. Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

Twitter, the second most popular platform, is basically a micro-blogging site. You are limited to 140-character tweets.  Twitter is great for short messages such as daily meal deals, promotions, last minute menu additions and changes, fun facts and photos, and more. Include links to your website’s menu items.  If you craft messages that your Twitter followers like, they can re-tweet them enabling you to reach an even broader audience. Add hashtags to your posts; this is good to remember for other social media platforms, too. Here’s an example of a hashtag: #lovepizza.  Try promoted tweets. Choose your best tweets and pay to promote them to a targeted audience. Promoted tweets can be effective especially if sent out around mealtime.

  1. Encourage Check-Ins: Foursquare

Foursquare is at its best as a mobile application that allows users to “check-in” to places on their smart phones.  Claim your business listing on Foursquare so you can see in real time who is “checking in” at your restaurant. Offer a special deal to people who check-in. Many restaurants reward these loyal diners when they check in with coupons and other promotions.

  1. Blog About It

It can be daunting to step into the world of blogging, but it has many great benefits for your restaurant.  Search engines like fresh website content, and your blog provides the perfect avenue for this. Blog about anything that has to do with your restaurant. Share facts, recipes, photos, staff favorites and more. Link your posts to all of your social media networks.  When blogging, find your niche and your voice. What makes you unique? Tailor your blog posts. Do you have a special Happy Hour menu?  Do you run a sports bar? Depending on your audience, write your content for them. Listen to your social media users. Learn what they want, and then give it to them on your blog.  Consistency is key. Once you’ve established a routine, your blog visitors will come to expect it, so don’t disappoint them.

  1. Get Listed on Yelp

Yelp is a site where users leave reviews of restaurants and read your restaurant’s reviews. If you don’t have a Yelp page yet, claim it by submitting your business details to show you are the owner.  After you’ve claimed your page, you can respond to reviews and participate in advertising if you choose. Don’t forget to add quality photos.  Additionally, your users can connect their Yelp and Foursquare accounts. This enables their Foursquare check-ins to show on Yelp. It’s vital to claim your Yelp listing as it greatly helps with your local search marketing.

Check back with us in a month for 5 ADDITIONAL ways to promote your business on Social Media!

Source: Restaurant Engine (adapted)

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