5 Social Media Marketing Tips for Gastronomy Businesses
Anyone who runs a restaurant, café, or bar can no longer avoid social media – even if classic advertising is far from obsolete. But online marketing, where SEO has always been a bread-and-butter strategy, is becoming increasingly important – especially via social media. Because with the right channel, you can easily open a new shop window for a large number of potential customers. With our tips, you can easily put your high-reach marketing in gastronomy into action.
#1 Invest in selected platforms
In the first step, it is important to think about which platforms you want to use for your gastronomy. There are many social media networks, but the main platforms are currently Google My Business, Facebook, and Instagram.
To reach as many potential customers as possible, we recommend creating a page for your restaurant on both Facebook and Instagram.
In all accounts, you should include all the details for a successful restaurant visit – for example, opening hours, address, and phone number for reservations. Clearly name your social media page(s) with the name of your restaurant and link to your website.
Especially in gastronomy, many guests also want a menu that they can view online. You can present them on your website, but also on Facebook or Instagram: For example, create a photo album with the current menu on Facebook or photograph the current daily offers for Instagram. So your guests can quickly inform themselves in advance about your offer.
Also, choose an attractive profile and background picture. With a beautifully designed ambiance or a look at your dishes, you convince at first glance of your restaurant.
#2 Make your guests aware
Here are two options that you can combine well:
- Talk to your guests directly and ask them to support your restaurant online.
- Draw attention to your profile on flyers, menus and blackboards, newsletters, and website.
To become better known, you can also make contacts with food blogs and forums that report on gastronomy and restaurants and rate them – modern restaurant critics, so to speak. Write to these contacts in a friendly way, invite them to a rehearsal dinner and try to set up cooperation: Positive reports on renowned websites will bring you many new customers.
We also have a trick for success with little effort for you: Offer your guests a free Wi-Fi hotspot and log in to your guests via Facebook. Here you can ask them to follow your restaurant or to mark your gastronomy in the location for their own posts. This is how you create a win-win situation: Your guests benefit from free Internet and at the same time increase your number of followers and the reach of your online presence.
Further login options are offered by e-mail and WhatsApp login. Both are valuable online marketing channels to improve customer loyalty. More information about the marketing use of Wi-Fi hotspots can be found at Socialwave, for example.
ALSO READ: The Continuous Trend of Milk Tea
#3 Post regularly
If you’ve created your social media profile and already gained some followers, there should be no shortage of regular posts. The best way to get is beautiful pictures with little text. Share photos of the dishes, your décor or your current weekly menu. Also, pictures of the team are always good. You can also share pictures of customers who have tagged your store in their posts.
So that you do not forget social media in your everyday business, a so-called content plan can be worthwhile: It is best to always plan a few weeks in advance when you want to upload which posts and collect image and text material so that you do not have to fill your accounts “in-between” in the stressful everyday business between service and kitchen.
#4 Use the range
Everyone who likes your Facebook Page or Insta profile may have followers who belong to your target audience. And every time your followers like or share one of your posts, it’s visible to their friends. This automatically increases your popularity without you having to make a lot of effort – apart from a great atmosphere and good food and drinks.
In addition, you can also encourage your followers to like and share your posts with certain actions in order to attract new guests.
#5 Complaint management via social media
Surveys on Facebook or Instagram are a great way to get the opinion of your guests: If you know what your customers want, you can align your restaurant business accordingly and thus increase sales.
Direct feedback on the comments can also be worth its weight in gold. In case of complaints, you have the opportunity to react directly and to assure not only the guest concerned but all followers that you take criticism seriously and implement it.
Conclusion
In today’s world, social media have become indispensable as a presentation space for modern companies. There are many possibilities and opportunities here that you can use well planned with relatively little effort for your company. Use these tips to strengthen your customer relationships and reach new guests.
