Social media is a powerful tool in this day and age for industries across the board—from real estate to restaurants. Especially for restaurants.

Restauranteurs may think maintaining fresh social media accounts for their businesses isn’t all that necessary. It’s already expensive enough as it is to run a business – especially in the food industry. Investing in restaurant social media marketing services may seem like just another unnecessary expense to tack on. After all, if the food and service are good, people are bound to hear about it, drop by, and give it a shot, right?

Wrong.

Restaurant Social Media Marketing Overview

In today’s digital world, having a fresh and current social media presence is crucial to attracting new customers and getting the word out about your business. Don’t believe us? Let the numbers from Profile Tree speak for themselves:

The numbers don’t lie! Now, attracting new customers and solidifying an online presence isn’t the only benefit of keeping your Denver restaurant social media marketing channels up to date.

MORE RESTAURANT SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS

We gathered some rad facts from Search Engine Journal and GitNux, to lay out some visual restaurant social media statistics for you!

How Can Restaurant Social Media Marketing Help Your Business?

MAKE YOUR RESTAURANT MORE SHAREABLE

Social platforms like Instagram and TikTok make it easy to share photos and videos of your food and drinks with just a couple of quick clicks. Whether it’s a customer posting food pics to the ‘Gram or sharing your post with their friend for Friday night plans, making your restaurant more sharable on social media is key to attracting and retaining more customers.

RESTAURANT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AND PROFESSIONALISM

Social media marketing for a restaurant is so much more than colorful pictures of delicious eats. Most businesses also share social media content that informs their customers and potential customers of the following:

• Contact number or link to make a reservation
• Restaurant location(s)
• New additions to the menu
• Holiday specials
• Awards and recognitions
• Events, like happy hour, trivia night, or a sports event

In just a few seconds of interacting with restaurant social media accounts, customers can be in the know of everything there is to know about a business. This will help them feel more confident about dining at / ordering from your establishment. In other words, a well-done restaurant social media account can up your brand awareness while adding a welcome layer of professionalism and legitimacy to your business.

COMMUNICATION IS A TWO-WAY STREET

One of the biggest trends in marketing for a restaurant (as well as most other industries) is incorporating authenticity and transparency into your brand. It’s one of the easiest ways to maintain and build customer loyalty. A great method of showing your audience that your business embodies these two characteristics is through community management of your social media profiles. By using your comment sections and direct messages to initiate conversations, answer questions, and respond to any affection or critique, you’ll be able to communicate directly with your customer base and potential customers!

TARGETING LOCALS AND TRAVELERS

We don’t know about you, but when it comes to finding a new spot to try for happy hour or brunch, the first thing we do is head to Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to do some digging. If a specific restaurant isn’t very active on any of the above platforms, we probably won’t find them, and thus, there’s a good chance we won’t visit the restaurant at all.

We’re willing to bet your target audience isn’t too different from us, so make sure to add your location information in your bio and social media posts so people can easily find you! And don’t stop there – make sure to devote a small chunk of your marketing budget towards some Meta ad campaigns to target locals and tourists alike. This restaurant social media marketing tool helps keep you top of mind.

Ingredients for a Great Social Media for Restaurants Strategy

Now that we’ve got you reading this far in, we can safely assume you’re now looking for the secret sauce to what exactly a great social media presence looks like, especially for the restaurant industry.

We’ve got good news and bad news for you.

The bad news is – it varies. Certain restaurant social media strategies that work for your competitor may not work for you. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

The good news is – every great restaurant social media marketing strategy has three ingredients: clever copywriting, quality photography, and a solid social media strategy.

Let’s dive in.

TAKE IT UP A NOTCH WITH THE VISUALS

A restaurant is so much more than delicious food, and your customers should feel that the moment they’re on your social media feeds!

For centuries, humans have gathered around the table to drink, eat, and engage with one another. Whether it be a business dinner or an outing with friends, restaurants aren’t just selling food – they’re selling the “experience” of their restaurant. From the chefs making culinary masterpieces in the kitchen to customers laughing over a glass of wine and delectable appetizers on the front patio, every detail counts. That’s where the visuals come in.

The imagery you use on your restaurant’s social media feeds is one of the first ways you interact with your customers. It pays to invest time and energy into getting great shots of food, your employees, and your establishment so you can cultivate the right experience and make a good first impression. Plus, having good-quality photography adds yet another layer of professionalism to your restaurant social media presence.

RESTAURANT SOCIAL MEDIA POST IDEAS

Here are some cool content ideas that we love to see on restaurant feeds:

• Beautiful shots of your restaurant’s dishes.
• Snap a photo or a quick video of your bustling restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night to give your followers a healthy dose of FOMO (fear of missing out).
• Repost user-generated content to your stories – it’s a great way to interact with your customer base, and it’s free product photography!
• Introduce your audience to your local suppliers. This is an especially great content idea for your farm-to-table restaurants.
• Are you a people-first, community-oriented restaurant? Show off some photos of your staff with their favorite dishes.
• Share snapshots of Chef’s Specials to make viewers’ mouths water!
• Display a sneak peek behind the scenes of your kitchen or dining area, showcasing the teamwork and dedication that makes every dish special.
• Show your audience what your satisfied customers have to say! Share positive reviews and testimonials through text or visually appealing graphics overload on images of delicious food.
• Join the fun! Tempt followers to participate in interactive polls and quizzes and ask for everyone’s fan-fav menu items.
• Announce upcoming themed events or promotions. Create excitement by sharing sneak peeks or exclusive offerings!

THOUGHTS FROM A RESTAURANT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AGENCY

We love seeing local spots doing a great job with their socials. From one restaurant social media marketing agency to you, we want to share some with you! Below are two incredible Denver-based restaurants that have mastered the imagery game on their social media channels.

Mister Oso, a Latin American-inspired eatery based right here in Denver’s RiNo Arts District, is all about creating a cozy yet energetic experience for its customers. The bright colors, leafy greens, and beautiful photography all come together to create an unmatched experience for viewers. We love this spot for ah-mazing caipirinhas!

Birdhouse is a ramen and taco spot in Erie, Colorado. Their main goal? To give their customers a place to come together to escape from the stresses and messes of real life through addicting food and an oh-so-relaxing environment! Our creatives here at Red Egg Marketing took the reins of their social media marketing strategy and worked to ensure that the laid-back nature of their restaurant combined with their kick-ass food really shined through in their social media feeds.

GET CLEVER WITH YOUR CAPTIONS

Even if your brand is more on the conservative and refined side, having crisp, creative copywriting to complement your gorgeous imagery is a crucial component to pulling audiences deeper into your restaurant experience and thus, prompting them to visit your establishment or place that take-out order.

Now, you may be asking yourself…how exactly should I go about putting together the best captions? Where do I even start?

There are a few things you should keep in mind when writing your restaurant’s social media captions. Here are a few tried-and-true rules our copywriters here at Red Egg Marketing like to follow with every post.

• Keep it Short – Whenever possible, short and sweet is a great rule of thumb to live by for writing captions.
• Keep it Clever – Don’t overthink it. The secret to a clever caption is just to be as genuine and authentic as possible (keeping your brand voice in mind, of course). Write as your target audience speaks!
• Keep it Simple – There’s no need to use overly complicated words to get your message across. Elaborate wording gets in the way of people understanding what you’re trying to tell them.
• Keep it Clean – By clean, we mean keep the formatting easy to scan. This is especially important if you’re working with a longer caption. Emojis are a great way to break long paragraphs up into more bite-sized chunks. If you have a lot of information that you want to convey, we suggest trying to incorporate a list of some sort to break the information up. Whether you’re looking to unveil the secret recipe to a renowned cocktail or giving quick a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a reservation on your new booking platform, a list is the best way to get the information across!
• Keep it Interactive – While you don’t HAVE to include a CTA for every post, CTAs are a great way to encourage engagement and create a sense of dialogue and conversation with your audience. Plus, encouraging engagement increases the likelihood that your post will appear in other users’ feeds as a “recommended account” to follow.

Here’s a post from one of our clients, Hops n Drops, that hits a lot of the above notes.

Building a solid restaurant social media marketing strategy that enables you to see real results in the short and long term for your Denver restaurant is probably the single most important thing on this list. Your social media strategy is essentially your North Star – your blueprint to success – your treasure map!

“Social media has revolutionized the way small businesses operate in every industry. From fashion boutiques to tech startups and restaurants, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok offer unparalleled opportunities to reach and engage with potential customers. By showcasing products, sharing stories, and authentically connecting with audiences on a personal level, businesses can drive growth, build brand loyalty, and stay competitive in today’s digital landscape.”

Steps to Build a Strategy for Restaurant Social Media Marketing

While we have touched on some of the steps and ideas we will share with you for your social strategy, don’t forget to scroll back up for more in-depth information! But as far as a checklist goes, we got you covered!

1. Audience Analysis: Conduct thorough research to understand your target audience’s demographics, preferences, and behaviors on social media platforms. Use tools like Facebook Audience Insights and Instagram Insights to gather valuable data.
2. Content Diversification: Experiment with different types of content, such as videos, GIFs, infographics, user-generated content, and interactive polls or quizzes, to keep your audience engaged and entertained.
3. Localized Targeting: Utilize geotargeting features on platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach potential customers in specific geographic areas near your restaurant. Tailor your content and promotions to resonate with the local community.
4. Social Listening: Monitor social media conversations about your restaurant, competitors, and industry trends using social listening tools. Respond promptly to customer inquiries, feedback, and mentions to maintain a positive online reputation.
5. Collaborations and Partnerships: Explore opportunities for collaborations with local influencers, businesses, or organizations. Consider hosting joint events, cross-promoting each other’s content, or offering exclusive discounts to each other’s followers.
6. Customer Testimonials and Reviews: Showcase positive customer testimonials, reviews, and testimonials on your social media channels to build trust and credibility. Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences and tag your restaurant in their posts.
7. Interactive Experiences: Engage your audience with interactive experiences such as live streams, Q&A sessions with chefs or staff, virtual cooking classes, or behind-the-scenes tours of your restaurant. Encourage participation through comments, likes, shares, and direct messages.
8. Social Media Advertising: Allocate a portion of your marketing budget to social media advertising campaigns targeting both existing customers and new prospects. Experiment with different ad formats, targeting options, and ad creatives to maximize ROI.
9. Performance Tracking and Analysis: Regularly monitor the performance of your social media efforts using analytics tools provided by each platform. Track key metrics such as reach, engagement, click-through rates, and conversion rates to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy and make data-driven optimizations.
10. Continuous Improvement: Stay informed about the latest trends, algorithm changes, and best practices in social media marketing. Continuously adapt and refine your strategy based on feedback, insights, and emerging opportunities to stay ahead of the competition.

By incorporating these additional steps and ideas into your restaurant social media marketing strategy, you can further enhance your online presence, attract more customers, and drive business growth.

Common Challenges to Building the Best Social Media for Restaurants

Navigating the world of social media for restaurants can feel like a wild rollercoaster ride, full of twists and turns. From dealing with limited resources to constantly cooking up fresh content ideas, it’s a real challenge! And let’s not forget the dreaded negative feedback – it can sting like a hot chili pepper! But don’t worry, with strategic planning and a dash of creativity, you can conquer these challenges. Pick the platforms that speak to your audience, get the crowd involved with user-generated content, and enlist some automation tools to ease the load. Stay on your toes with quick, witty responses to negative and positive feedback, and focus on the metrics that matter. By tackling these challenges head-on, you’ll whip up a social media presence that’s as sizzling as your signature dish – and keep those customers coming back for more!

Your Favorite Restaurant Social Media Marketing Agency

Developing a social media strategy that works in the long run for your restaurant is not a quick and easy process. It takes a bit of finessing, a bit of trial-and-error, and a careful hand to get just right. Lucky for you, Red Egg’s marketing creatives have been developing effective social media strategies for businesses across a myriad of industries for more than a decade. If you’re looking for a partner to help you out with your Denver restaurant’s social media marketing strategy, our creatives would love to give you a hand. Drop us a line at 720.782.0597 or shoot us a message at hello@redeggmarketing.com and we can get the ball rolling.