Restaurants are making full-fledged use of social media giants like Facebook & Instagram. These are the platforms aptly utilized by other niches, so why shouldn’t restaurants get here too?! Social media marketing has expanded partly through posting high-quality photos. Businesses are always hunting for unique strategies for social media promotions. We’ve compiled some advice from experts about some unique restaurant marketing ideas. Before we hop to it and discuss a handful of marketing strategies for restaurants, you should grab these new & trending restaurant menu template ideas too!
Social Media Engagement Fact File For Restaurants
- 71% of adults in the USA are active on Facebook
- People spend an average of 28 minutes on Instagram every day
- 99% of Gen Z and millennials are more likely to use social media for choosing restaurants
- Fast food brands are performing better on Instagram when compared to any other social channels
- Nearly 50% of diners say they’re trying new restaurants inspired by social media posts
- Client spend increased by 40% or more for brands engaging with followers on social media
7 New & Inspiring Marketing Strategies For Restaurants
1. Launch New Items More Frequently
Success never arrives overnight for the restaurant business. You’ll have to win guests with the delicacies and lure walk-ins by launching interesting menu items.
Marketing a new restaurant can seem daunting. You can approach social media marketing like a clean slate. Also, curious customers might drop in to try the new dishes you have to offer. But, if you’ve owned the restaurant for years, what marketing strategies can you leverage to attract new customers? We have the key!
Plan something special for weekends & boost promotions with these ‘Weekend specials’ in full swing. Similarly, you can start free taster sessions for new dishes. Customers will be more than happy to participate in your experiments and give you valuable feedback.
2. Keep Customer Preferences In Mind
Prioritizing consumer preferences reduces your efforts because you know what to emphasize. For instance, you may target website visitors and track what they’re interested in. You can then create a digital menu separated for breakfast, brunch, lunch & dinner. The additional benefit you get here is you can focus on target audiences based on the menus they’re more interested in.
Did you just make an upgrade to the restaurant menu? Great! You already have a target audience for this. If you’re planning for social media ads or Google ads then you can run them based on search preferences. In other words, show your breakfast menu to people searching for breakfast items, lunch menu to lunch surfers, and so on.
These ads can also be based on the times when people are searching. Just be specific about when you want to appear in the search results. Make sure to impress your target audience with the customized digital menus you can create with free menu maker apps.
3. Be Relevant With Ads
The best thing about Facebook Ads is you can customize your audience. This also helps you to stop spending on ads for customers who are already loyal to your restaurant or customers who wouldn’t be interested in your cuisine.
For example, if you’re attracting a new audience then you should be relevant in displaying coupon ads to customers who haven’t redeemed them yet. It doesn’t make any sense to target the customers who have visited your restaurant twice or more. They might be less interested in cashing those discount coupons, don’t you agree?
4. Engage Followers With Reels & Stories
Whether it is on Facebook or Instagram, you should make the most out of reels and stories. Instagram allows you to add story-specific stickers which increase your exposure/outreach. Take full advantage of such trending stickers by adding them to your stories.
We see reels as 20-sec or 30-sec short videos highlighting your plus points. Utilize these reels for inviting guests/walk-ins to your restaurant by featuring your best. In short, tempt your viewers by giving them a peek at your cuisine display, ambiance, BTS, or how you attend to your guests.
5. Never Forget To Use CTA
Tell your followers what they’re supposed to do after watching your reels, stories, or feed posts. You can simply add a call-to-action (CTA). For instance, you can give them an idea of what they can order this weekend. Likewise, you can let them know that your new menu item is available for a free trial with limited pieces.
During festivities like Valentine’s Day, you can use special restaurant menu templates for a personalized touch. Don’t forget to add power words like “Booking open now”, “Limited Bookings only”, etc.
6. Go Offbeat With Free Tools
These days, restaurants that are active on social media platforms want to spend as little as possible on promotional materials. With the right amount of creativity, you can do the same. Design creative restaurant menus, create place cards for the table, and organize interactive activities like scrabble, ludo, etc with less investment.
7. Host Contests
Who doesn’t love free stuff? Team up with local radio channels and give away free coupons for the lucky winners. Speaking of social media, you can design posts on Facebook or Instagram and add that the best comment will win a free dinner. Besides this, you can give your followers a chance to win coupons by tagging their friends or friends of friends. Such contests offer an unexpected boost and they’re a win-win for both restaurants and fans. Additionally, you’ll be encouraging engagement on social media.
Build Your Restaurant Community On Social Media
The social media landscape is ever-changing & you should take every chance to achieve your goals. Developing a social media presence & utilizing it as well as your marketing channels will build a strong community online. Moreover, you’ll be interacting with your target audience & maintaining a vibrant social media network.