The power of social media is not hidden from the world. Brands use various social media channels to build a robust online presence with an aim to attract potential customers and establish brand loyalty with the existing ones. While all this may sound easy, pulling off a successful social media marketing strategy is a task that needs immense hard work.
As a restaurant owner, one has to take care of a plethora of things including orders, hiring, cleaning, maintenance and all small day to day operations. However, in the digital age, all the hard work that one puts in to make the restaurant successful may go in vain if the business has no social media presence.
Let’s be honest about it, people don’t use local directories to look for information anymore – they simply Google it. The number of internet users is snowballing each passing day, and there will be a time when the internet will become a way of life, and there will be little or no non-internet users.
Social media is an influential platform that can offer some of the highest ROI. And it’s a no-brainer that two of the most influential social networks for restaurants are Facebook and Instagram while Twitter is catching up fast.
So, here are 5 social media marketing strategies to reach a large customer base.
It’s time to get socially visible!
Know Your Audience
The first step is to have a clear idea about who the restaurant is trying to reach. Different platforms help reach a variety of audience. Therefore, it becomes vital to know precisely who the restaurant is trying to woo. Is it the families? The business lunch crowd? The after-work crowd?
Knowing the audience well will help in channelising the marketing efforts in the right direction and targeting the right audience.
Choose a Theme and Stick to It
Restaurants, when have a personality of their own, attract more customers. A hip and trendy restaurant should create social media posts that match the personality and speak well with the same set of audience. Any contrast in the theme of the restaurant and that of the social media pages may negatively impact the business.
Hiring a professional graphic designer is a great idea to make the posts appear professional, enticing and drool-worthy.
Get into Visual Advertising
The decisions made on social media are largely dependent on images. There is nothing that can create a similar impact like images. Millions of active users make Instagram one of the most influential platforms that can make or break anyone’s decision to visit or go back to a restaurant. Also, the power of hashtags should never be underestimated.
They are one of the greatest ways to drive people not just to the Instagram page but also to the restaurant. Popular hashtags of Instagram include #foodporn with 178,588,419 posts, #foodie with 105,911, 161 and #food with 304,867,988 posts.
Mouthwatering shots of food, employees having fun and any special décor are sure to be highlighted. Also, the images mustn’t only be a part of the Instagram profile or the website. Facebook posts that are backed with images see 2x more engagement, so integrating images is a great way to boost a visual advertising strategy.
Avoid Too Much Promotion
The audience these days is smart enough to understand when a brand is engaging with them and when it’s promotional. While promotion is an integral part of the social media marketing strategy, overdoing it may backfire. A healthy balance between engagement and promotional posts will benefit for sure.
Too much promotion on social media channels is like being that guest at the party who boasts only about themselves. Rather, restaurant owners should listen to other guests, try and build a connection and then subtly boast about their products and offerings.
Target Specific Geographic Areas
Location-based marketing allows controlling when people see the posts or ads, often within a certain geographic area. Specific business locations can be easily targeted through Facebook. Facebook also allows customising business marketing to an incredible degree of specificity. Geo-targeting advertisement is a great feature that allows to easily reach the target market across in an instant.
Being customizable, restaurant owners can choose specific geographic areas that they want, or don’t want to target. Furthermore, they can also decide whether the people who see the advertisements live in the same area, were travelling in the area, or recently in the area.
How to Budget the Social Media Marketing Strategy?
The answer is simple and straight – a business loan. Starting a restaurant is an expensive affair. From the interiors to the staff and even the branding, everything will cost a significant amount that can break the bank.
A wise decision here will be to apply for a business loan from any of the financial institutions to give wings to your dreams of making it big in the culinary business. Financial institutions like ABFL Direct offer instant online approval on business loans that too without any paperwork.
Final Words!
Social media and its tactics aren’t hard, but they do require some level of dedication, planning and organisation. Once the plan is ready, creating posts and making them reach the right audience will only take a few minutes.
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