If you’re in charge of marketing for a restaurant, you’re probably overwhelmed. There are numerous strategies out there and just as many solutions for sale. And while any growing restaurant will need outside support eventually, you need the cheap restaurant social media strategies that can improve your business.
Cheap Strategies for Restaurant Social Media:
Talk About What’s Trending
Even if it’s not directly related to food or food service, there are ways you can use current events to bump up social media sharing and engagement. For example:
- Mother’s/Father’s Day
- Holidays
- Viewing Parties for Trending Shows, Sporting Events, Elections, and anything else you can show on your TVs
Don’t forget: topics trend locally, too. You can take advantage of that and encourage people to get out, about, and into your dining room for:
- Events Near Your Restaurant
- Local College/High School Graduation Parties
- Hometown Games/Tailgates/Big Games
Have a Contest
You can do this on every social platform to increase engagement that much more. Reward winners with food discounts and other incentives that encourage them to sit down for a meal. (Quick Note: Contest entries should be engagement-focused: let guests know to share, like, or comment to enter.)
Video and Live Stream Rule
More and more people are engaging with video on social than ever. It gives your followers a face-to-face experience and the chance for them to chime in with questions and feedback (when you go live). You can use videos to:
- Give a “behind the scenes” look at your kitchen
- Interview your chef, sous chef, servers and cooks about their favorite dishes
- Share a live cooking or food safety tutorial
- Host a Kitchen Q&A
- Show your guests having fun during a happy hour, big game, or special event
Get your guests involved. It’s easy to make the mistake of focusing only on how to get your guests to engage with you when there’s a winning strategy right in front of you: engage with your guests! You can do this a few different ways:
- Respond to (or like) Their Comments
- Ask Questions on Your Platforms
- Share, Reblog, and Retweet Their Posts
You don’t have to make restaurant social media your full-time job. But using these techniques consistently (and scheduling those posts in advance when you can) will get them excited about what you’re bringing to the table.
