In the dynamic landscape of today’s restaurant industry, where trends are constantly evolving and competition is fierce, mastering social media marketing is no longer a trend—it’s a necessity for success. Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook present an unparalleled opportunity for restaurants to attract and retain customers, enhance customer engagement, build a strong online presence and, most important, drive business growth.
In this article, we will explore the critical role of social media in restaurant marketing, discuss effective strategies for leveraging the most popular social media platforms, and offer actionable insights and practical tips that restaurant owners and marketers can use to optimize their social media efforts.
For restaurants trying to grow their customer base, the days of solely relying on traditional advertising media—prints ads, direct mail, outdoor, TV and radio spots—are long gone. Social media has completely changed the game, revolutionizing how restaurants and essentially all other service-based businesses connect with customers.
Consumers in general—and restaurant patrons in particular—have come to expect communications that are more timely and more personal. With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok, restaurant owners and marketers have powerful yet affordable tools at their disposal for meeting these expectations. Using social media, they can showcase their culinary creations, offer behind-the-scenes looks at their operation, and present the unique story of their brand, ultimately building a loyal customer base through personal and real-time interactions.
Optimizing your social media strategy requires maintaining engagement, creating appealing content, and effectively (and diplomatically) handling online reviews. To address all these challenges, it is well worth the investment to have an experienced, dedicated social media manager to consistently create content, post it, and be immediately responsive to comments and inquiries.
“Consistently” is the operative word. Once you commit to building a social media presence, it is essential to maintain that connection with your followers. The other challenge is creating content that is high in quality, not quantity—content that is always consistent with your brand, that engages your audience in ways that are authentically you, that puts a smile on their face and makes them hungry for more of everything you’re serving.
An experienced and efficient social media manager will create a series of posts that can be scheduled in advance, which eliminates the pressure of generating content daily and gives you time to thoughtfully develop fresh ideas to promote. Remember that social media is a two-way street, so encourage your followers to submit questions and comments about menu items, making reservations, daily specials, or their positive experience with your restaurant. Incorporating user-generated content—photos of patrons dining at your restaurant, for example—is a great way to enhance your online presence and build your brand’s authenticity
And you should encourage your patrons to tag your location in their Instagram Stories or Facebook posts. It’s great—and free—advertising for your brand.
In creating a cohesive strategy that aligns with your restaurant’s brand and goals, you should consider the unique benefits of each social media platform.
Before we look at specific strategies for each of the top platforms, here are some of the most important social media restaurant marketing tips to keep in mind:
Here’s a profile of the top social media channels for restaurant marketing:
Instagram. This visually driven platform is ideal for showcasing your restaurant’s food, atmosphere and culture, using different types of content:
Posts: That high-quality, professional photography of your mouthwatering dishes we talked about earlier? Instagram is the ideal online platform to present it.
Stories: With Instagram Stories, you have an opportunity to share the more personal side of your restaurant—behind the scenes in your kitchen, profiles of your employees, and more.
Reels: Share recipes of menu items, show clips of diners—anything that’s unique to your restaurant experience.
TikTok: This social media sensation, with hundreds of millions of active users, is the place to showcase original and spontaneous content about virtually anything. For restaurants, it’s a great opportunity to present their true brand personality in short-video form, showcasing signature dishes, funny interactions with patrons and employees, time-lapse meal-preparation videos to whet customers’ appetites, and more.
Facebook: Good Facebook content educates, entertains, and creates an emotional connection with customers and potential customers, and also encourages active engagement with your restaurant. Facebook is a great platform for leveraging user-generated content. When one of your Facebook followers posts a positive review of or story about your restaurant on their page, be sure to reshare that post on yours. This type of organic advertising helps build community by showcasing authentic, relatable experiences.
We’ve only scratched the surface of social media’s potential for your restaurant marketing. Here is one example of how social media was used to promote a Tulsa-based restaurant: Mazzio’s.
For more than a decade, AcrobatAnt has partnered with Mazzio’s to grow its regional presence through integrated campaigns that include traditional media—TV, print ads, in-restaurant point-of-sale pieces, direct mail, etc.—as well as digital and social media. Our recent promotion for Mazzio’s new Street Pizza was unlike any campaign we’ve ever done for the company—because Street Pizza is unlike anything Mazzio’s has ever created.
Street Pizzas are different from any other Mazzio’s product in shape, flavor and size. The target audience is different, too: a younger demographic, which means people who live on social media, where we focused much of the promotional budget. Featuring an attention-getting logo, eye-popping Street Pizza truck graphics and fast-paced, high-energy video, the campaign included TV spots and additional photography and video for use on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Street Pizza clearly found where its audience lives. Check it out.
Ready to leverage social media to achieve marketing success for your restaurant? AcrobatAnt has more than 15 years of experience working with restaurants and other food-service industry clients to tailor social media strategies that connect with their target audience. Let’s chat. Contact AcrobatAnt CEO Angela Brock at 918-938-7912 or [email protected].
Sources:
AcrobatAnt: “Taking a Flavor Trip: AcrobatAnt Ignites Crave for Mazzio’s Street Pizzas”
Loomly: “Social Media Marketing for Restaurants: The Ultimate Guide”
LocalIQ: “Marketing Your Restaurant on Social Media”