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Social Media for Restaurants: How to Manage Your Brand Online
Introduction Anyone will admit that social media has changed the world over the past decade. It has gone on to affect human interactions and has even impacted the way companies in every industry conduct business and connect with their customers. This is why managing your online restaurant brand is no longer an option - it’s a necessity. In this guide, we’ll give you a brief overview of the websites your business should be registered on and using. We’ll also highlight the goal of each channel, who you’ll be reaching, the best device to manage from, the ideal posting frequency, and much more. By the end of this guide, you will have a better understanding of: • The importance of managing your brand online. • The diversity of sites you should be managing, and how to maintain each. • What your guests expect from you, want from you, and need from your restaurant online.
As you read, you’ll discover that the world of online branding and social media is fast-paced, immediate, and at times hectic. With that said, there’s no time to lose! Let’s jump right into The Restaurant Online Branding Guide for tips on social media and increasing your presence on the web.
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Snapchat
Google My Business
Instagram: The Goal: Entice users with pictures of your food and your staff. Show them you’re more than just another restaurant. Best Device to Manage From: Smartphone or tablet, although you can view (not post) from a computer. Who You’ll Reach: 500 million users of varying ages, but mainly the “younger” crowd. More than half of 18-to-29-year-olds are on Instagram. Ideal Posting Frequency: No more than once a day. Users want quality content and photos every time you post, so keep it to about 4-5 times a week.
“A picture’s worth a thousand words.” That couldn’t be more true for the millions of users of Instagram, which is now the second most popular social networking site behind Facebook. On Instagram, the picture speaks for itself. What your write for the caption for the photo is important, but users scrolling through their timeline won’t always notice the words if the picture doesn’t stand out. So follow this process to make your images pop and build a great presence on Instagram.
Step 1: The Picture For posting frequency and content, it’s good to mix things up for your audience. First and foremost, people love to see food on their Instagram feeds. For you, this means posting the most tempting and delicious-looking images of your food. Food floods Instagram timelines, so if you post a generic shot of a sandwich or a glass of beer, it will easily be passed over. For ideal engagement, post food shots at least 2-3 times a week. Always use new shots of your food, and make sure a different menu item is featured to keep things fresh. Your Instagram is more than just a way to push out #FoodPorn. Use it as an opportunity to highlight a new menu item, your weekly special, a limited time promotion, and your team! Try one or more of these ideas: If you’re offering a happy hour deal for the week - post a photo of one of your best bartenders pouring the perfect pint, and mention the available deal in the caption. Take a shot of your employee of the month to boost worker morale and put a personality spin on your content. Designate a day to post a shot of your weekly menu special. Write that anyone who comes in and shows they follow you on Instagram will get a discount on that special. The possibilities are endless, but try to keep these posts to about twice a week.
Step 2: The Filter Filters are a fantastic way to add some flair to your imagery. After you select the image you want to use on the app, you’ll be directed to choose a filter, which will alter the colors and look of your picture. This is an optional choice that you should take advantage of. Scroll through all the filters and see which ones work best for your image.
Step 3: The Caption The caption isn’t the most important part of your post, but that does not mean it can be ignored. For descriptive text, sometimes less is more. Just a simple sentence or two on the food item you’re posting (or 3-4 describing the picture of your recent team outing) will be plenty. Something that is imperative to your posts is the hashtag you include. Hashtags allow you to reach users and grow your follower base. Popular tags include #FoodPorn or a location-based hashtag like #BostonEats. Do some brainstorming and searching to see what hashtags near you have a good search volume like #BostonRestaurants or #BostonFoodPorn. This will help you notice the other hashtags being commonly used in your area, which you can include in your posts as well. Be generous with your hashtag use the more you include, the more likely you’ll get noticed! Finally, always put a location to your photo, which is another way to engage other customers who search based on location. Always make the location the name of your restaurant, and encourage your customers to do the same when they post pictures of their meals. If you are tagged or mentioned, take it upon yourself to comment on or repost the photo as a way of saying thanks!
Things to remember about Instagram: • It’s all about the imagery, but don’t forget about those hashtags! • Keep things fresh and try not to recycle or reuse content. • The Huffington Post reported that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to post. Catch the attention of the dinner
crowd with 5:00 PM posts and the lunch rush with 10:00 AM posts.
• Make your shots stand out. If you need some examples of great food shots, see some here.
Instagram All-Star Upper Crust Pizzeria With 8 locations, Upper Crust certainly appeals to a lot of people. Their Instagram account does the same! Notice the variety of shots and their use of captions to boost discovery.
Facebook: The Goal: Build a community for your customers by encouraging page visits and comments. Best Device to Manage From: Whatever you’re comfortable with, though smartphones are better for quick posting and responding. Who You’ll Reach: 1.7 billion monthly active users. Ideal Posting Frequency: 1-3 times a day.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume you’re familiar with how Facebook operates, so let’s just skip right to the best practices.
“Information” & “About” Sections: Your Facebook business page should function as a one-stop source for your customers and fans. Because of Facebook’s established presence on the internet and the amount that you can do on your page, it’s likely that this will be the first place your customers will look for you. Make sure your page includes the following information, at the very least: • Link to your website/online ordering website • Address, phone number, and hours of operation • Your menu (Click here to watch how to add it)
Photos: Just like on Instagram, the importance of imagery cannot be overstated. Adding a photo at least once a day on Facebook is a smart tactic. You can use the same ones from your Instagram, or you could post original shots optimized for Facebook. While shots of food still do well on Facebook, this is a better place to post some pictures of your team, operations, and customers enjoying food. Whether you’re a bar showcasing the fun times your nightly patrons have or a family restaurant showing a young child devour an ice cream sundae for dessert, you can definitely find ways to feature customers in an interesting way. But let’s talk about something more established on your page - your profile picture and cover photo. Both of these should be chosen carefully, as they’re often the first thing visitors notice when coming to your page. Your profile picture is simple enough - your restaurant logo or an exterior shot is perfect. Cover photos can be rotated out every week or so - try experimenting with your business’ logo, a photo of your entire staff, or your most delicious looking menu item. See what gets the best engagement! Changing on a weekly basis puts this activity on your fans’ timelines, so you’ll keep popping up every time they log in.
Other Posts: Video + Facebook = Awesome. Consider the videos of amazing cooking tutorials that flood your Facebook timeline. If you (or someone on your staff) have the production skills, a how-to video would be awesome to share. Share the process of making your signature dish (Don’t worry - you don’t have to give away your full recipe!). Exclusive content like this is a great way to connect with your customers and show them that they are appreciated. The rest of your posts should also be fun and interactive, like announcing specials and new menu items. End all of your posts with a question or a fill-in-the-blank challenge (i.e. My favorite topping to get on a pizza from Ellie’s Pizzeria is _______!) so you can push interaction from your fans. One last thing about Facebook: not all of your posts will be seen by all of your fans. This means you can republish great posts - like specials or coupon codes - to reach more people.
Things to remember about Facebook: • Facebook isn’t as visual as Instagram or Snapchat, but videos and images are still important. • Verifying your Facebook business page is easy and effective. Learn how here. • If you have an important announcement, feel free to share it more than once on this site. • There’s less limits on Facebook compared to other sites, so be creative and interactive. Show and tell your fans everything you
want them to know about your business!
Facebook All-Star: IHOP IHOP has earned its 3.5 million followers. Yes, it is a nationwide chain, but it doesn’t use that as an excuse to not post. The company’s page grows in number and engages followers with photos of smiling children, promotions, and even video.
Twitter The Goal: To stay relevant in the eyes of your customers, announce immediate news, and respond to your customers. Best Device to Manage From: Smartphone for in-the-moment updates and alerts. You can also use it from your computer. Who You’ll Reach: Over 320 million users of all ages. Ideal Posting Frequency: Up to 5 times per day (not including responses to individual tweets)
“Twitter is not a social media tool, Twitter is social.” - Vincent NG Twitter is an ocean of information blurbs. Without the proper management and promotion, your account will just be another fish in the sea. But there’s plenty you can do to stand out.
Getting Found: Twitter users can search for your restaurant. If you want them to know it’s your account and not a fake one (Twitter account verification isn’t easy to obtain), make your account as official as possible. Use your restaurant’s logo as your profile picture. Share a photo of your restaurant interior or exterior as your header image. Also, be sure to add your own website and location, because there may be another restaurant with the same or a similar name. If you have multiple locations, specify that in your bio (“Serving mouthwatering burgers and brews across the Midwest!”).
Posting: Every message you send should have a photo! In a user’s infinite timeline, posting images is one of the most wise ways to catch their attention as they’re scrolling through. Like Instagram, Twitter posts benefit from using the right hashtags. If you’re an independent restaurant owner running one location, how can you find the right hashtags that are applicable to your area? Head over to a desktop and log into Twitter. On your Twitter homepage, notice the “trends” bar on the left of the screen. You’ll see a “change” button. Once you click that, you’ll have the option to cater the hashtags and trending topics on Twitter to your location. After that, you’ll see a list of the trending topics in your region, and tweeting about these topics is a great way to connect with your local audience. For example, maybe #MondayMotivation is trending in your city. If you’re a café, you could post a tweet saying “There’s no better #MondayMotivation than one of our famous mochas! Come visit us in Boston on Park Drive!” Make the hashtags work for you! If you’re creative enough, a new customer just might notice you.
Interacting With Users: The beauty of Twitter lies in transparency. If somebody who has visited your restaurant has a great (or not so great) experience, they may tweet about it. These tweets could come either from a direct mention (@ YourRestaurant) or an indirect mention, where they’ll tweet about “Your Restaurant” without calling out your username. It’s up to you to monitor these direct mentions by checking your notifications center and by regularly searching your restaurant name (or any variation) in the search bar. Making an attempt to interact with every mention you receive does wonders for your brand. If you receive a neutral comment, liking the tweet will usually suffice. Mentions that are particularly positive - or negative - will usually require a response. For positive comments, match the user’s tone and come up with a fun response, like this one below. You can even sign it with your initials to show the “human” behind your brand. For negative responses, take a more serious tone - they’re usually not joking around. Always offer some sort of solution, which may require starting a private direct message or scheduling an in person meet-up. It’s times like these that will determine the way your brand is perceived online. If you respond with a standard “cookie-cutter” message to all comments, don’t offer any sympathy, or don’t respond at all, your customers will take note, effectively damaging your brand. Instead, tackle each comment or mention as an individual issue. Personalizing each message and genuinely appearing interested to alleviate any problem builds goodwill for your brand and its perception online, like this:
Things to remember about Twitter: • #Hashtags are your new best friend. • Respond to every customer mention, tag, comment, complaint, and criticism. • Use images! • Keep the content current. • Offer links to your website/online ordering site if there’s room.
Twitter All-Star: Dunkin’ Donuts In case you couldn’t tell, we think Dunkin’ is doing awesome on Twitter! They fill their followers’ timelines with photos, frequent posts, and announcements of new features. They also reply to their customers, and almost every tweet is a new and individualized response.
Snapchat: The Goal: Reach customers with immediate, fast-paced content. Devices to Manage From: Smartphone or tablet only. Who You’ll Reach: Over 100 million daily users - mostly in the millennial or Generation Z age bracket. Ideal Posting Frequency: Whenever you have something you might want your followers to see (Yes, I know that’s not a number, but you’ll understand why Snapchat isn’t as quantifiable as you read on).
Snapchat is one of the more unconventional social media platforms. Each “snap” or picture only lasts temporarily (24 hours for a story, up to 10 seconds for an individually sent snap). Now you may be thinking, “Great...so a perfect shot or funny video will last only 24 hours? And it won’t even be seen by everyone?” However, the benefits of this app - such as reaching a younger demographic and enticing guests with limited-time offers - are hard to ignore.
Getting Started: Get Snapchat on your phone or tablet if you don’t already have it. It’s free! Note that this app only works on these devices - posting from a computer isn’t a possibility. For your username, use your restaurant’s name if it hasn’t already been taken. If it has, try tacking a number or your location on it. “LaurasCafe” could also be “LaurasCafeMiami.” The nature of Snapchat is fast, new, and now. It’s a fantastic tool for creating immediate and temporary hype about your restaurant. Once you create a snap, you can send it to either individual followers or post it on “My Story” for all of your followers to see on their own time (within 24 hours of your original post). Restaurants will best benefit from Snapchat by posting on their story as opposed to sending snaps individually. Here’s the catch: unlike the other social networking sites, customers won’t be able to search for you. When you have started a Snapchat account, post your username and a picture of your Snapcode in your restaurant and on your official social media accounts. This way, everyone who comes into your restaurant will know how to add you.
Posting Frequency and Ideas: What could expire in 24 hours besides a snap from Snapchat? A mini-promotion to get people in the door! Quick-service and takeout restaurants can offer a free bottle of soda, a 5-10% discount, or $1 off an order of $10 or more to everyone who comes in from 2pm-5pm on that day (so long as they show that they’re following you on Snapchat). Cafés and coffee shops can use this as a way to sell the rest of their day’s baked good for the day at a discounted price. Snapchat also works great for generating buzz around that night’s special or a live event. Post a tempting photo of the evening’s special with a description, explaining it’s a limited time offer. Bars and nightclubs can promote their act for the evening with a video of the band’s setup, or entice some visitors with a shot of a new drink. Keep things fresh and exciting!
Finally, this is a fantastic tool to build your brand’s personality. Show a behind-the-scenes photo of your kitchen or operations. Snap a photo of your chef tossing pizza dough in the air, or get a happy customer to pose with their meal. Create content that will let your followers identify with your business and make them want to keep checking your story. You can also take the initiative to create a Snapchat Geofilter, which users can use as an “overlay” to their snaps. Snapchat has made it easy to create and purchase a Geofilter learn about it here!
Things to remember about Snapchat: • Nothing’s permanent, but snaps can be screenshotted and saved - post wisely! • Only snap individual followers for big announcements, or else they may become frustrated. Posting on your story is a
wiser way to go.
• It may take a while to build a following, but keep at it and you will reap the benefits. • Some sponsored updates, like Geofilters, may also be of value. Read more about those here.
Snapchat All-Star: McDonald’s McDonald’s launched their Snapchat presence by raising awareness on social media. Since then, they’ve shown pictures of new menu item launches, behind-the-scenes commercial filming, and have even created sponsored geofilters. It was all a part of their “Lovin’ Summer Fun” campaign.
Google My Business The Goal: To increase your website clicks and number of guests from Google Search results. Best Device to Manage From: Computer, although there are mobile and tablet apps to manage your Google My Business data. Who You’ll Reach: Anyone searching for your restaurant on Google. Ideal Posting Frequency: The best thing about Google My Business is that you only need to set it up once, and the process takes approximately 10 minutes. You don’t need to continue posting every day; you can just watch your traffic - and reviews, and phone calls, and requests for directions - rise.
We’ve saved the best for last. Google My Business is not a social media account, but it is crucial for your restaurant’s online branding.
Without Google My Business:
With Google My Business:
Do you see the difference? How about that big card to the right? That’s called a “Knowledge Panel,” and it’s one of the many benefits of Google My Business. Google My Business enters your restaurant into the Google “yellow pages.” By keeping your profile updated with your menu, website, photos, reviews, and social pages, you can increase the amount of visitors to your website - and, of course, to your restaurant. On a mobile phone, this information is even more prominent, as the example from the right illustrates. A potential guest can get all the information they need from one search, rather than having to tap around on your website. When 81% of consumers search for restaurants on their mobile device, Google My Business is essential - unless you want guests to click away to one of your competitors.
How to Set Up Google My Business in 10 Minutes Step 1:
Claim or set up your Google My Business page here. Google will need to send you an automated text message or a voice call at your restaurant number to verify the account.
Step 2:
Fill out your profile as much as you can. Don’t forget to include: • Address, Phone number, and Hours of Operation • Categories
