T H E E X PE RT G U ID E :

RESTAURANT
SOCIAL MEDIA
I N TR O DUC TI O N 1

THE “M UST- HAVE” PLATFORMS 2

SO C I A L ME DI A ADVERTISING 3

CO N N E C T W I TH INFLUENCERS 4

#J O I N CO N VE R SATIONS 5

P OST-VI SUA L CONTENT 6

CO N TE STS 7

CO N C LUSI O N 9
INTRODUCTION
It’s Friday afternoon at 4:00pm. The work week is coming to a close and
John’s fridge is empty. His cell phone chimes. It’s Jeff. “What r u doing for
dinner? Wanna grab a bite?” Does he ever. He remembers a picture Julie
posted last week, sipping a bloody Mary topped with a lobster claw, an
overflowing roll of crustacean meat in front of her. The caption read, “Wrap
your claws around this… ”
John responds, “I know this new seafood joint around the corner…”
And that’s how it begins.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it 1000 times: social media has changed
the way we do business. For restaurants, it’s changed the way consumers eat,
what they crave, and how they choose where to grab a bite.
43% of people are eating out more than once a week.
47% of people are influenced in their purchases by social media.

This is great news for restaurants. But, the competition is stark: nearly 40% of
all family, casual, and fine dining restaurants are very active on social media.
The question is no longer, should you use social media? But rather: how can
you use it to stand out?

This quick guide goes beyond the mechanics of social media and gives you
tactics that you can put into action to fill seats, generate revenue, and make
social media a part of the dining experience.

1
THE “MUST-HAVE”
PLATFORMS:
INSTAGRAM HOW OFTEN IS
Best used for: photos, short videos, contests, TOO OFTEN?
promotions, hashtagging
Finding the ideal
Frequency: 1 or 2 times per day. posting frequency

Hot tip: tag all your photos with a custom There’s an age-old
hashtag and geo-tag your restaurant’s location. advertising concept that
an audience must see
an ad three times before
it registers with them.

FACEBOOK But now, its disputed

that seven times is more
Best used for: check-ins, promotions, generating
effective.
customer relationships, customer service

Frequency: 2 times per day maximum. In any effect, repetition is

Two times per day is the max you should post key so posting the same
before interactions drop off dramatically. image or link to your
social media accounts
Hot tip: make sure you set up your restaurant’s
isn’t a bad thing. It
Facebook Page as a “Place.” This way,
reinforces your message!
customers can “check-in” when they visit.
But, your ad copy needs
to change. In other words,
use other words. Do
TWITTER repost the same content
Best used for: promotions, behind-the-scenes, in a different way, but
customer service don’t repost the same
message on Twitter as
Frequency: 3 or more times per day.
you do on Facebook.
Engagement with followers decreases slightly
Twitter is best for 140
after the third tweet.
character quips, Instagram
Hot tip: Use Hootsuite – a free social for hashtagging, and
media dashboard app - to schedule tweets Facebook for more
in advance. lengthy posts.

2
SOCIAL MEDIA
ADVERTISING
Most Effective Platform: Facebook
Purpose: Brand Awareness and Revenue Generation

“If you just spend $1 per day on Facebook ads, you will get in front of 4,000
people that wouldn’t have seen you otherwise. If you are doing that and your
competitors aren’t, you win the awareness game in your niche.”
- Brian Carter, Author, Speaker, Marketer at The Carter Group in Charleston, SC

The most effective social ad platform for restaurants, Facebook Ads allows you to
reach new audiences in a number of ways. You can: boost your Facebook posts,
promote your page as a whole, advertise an offer, send people to your website,
and more.

Facebook ads are effective because you can drill down into audiences by location
(down to the zip code!), age, and their behaviors. This means if you’re offering a
special on SuperBowl Sunday, for example, you can target customers by location
and by their sports interest.

Another way Facebook allows you to drill down and capture new customers is by
targeting the “friends of people” who like your page. Stats show that 80% of peo-
ple said that because of social media, they’re more likely to try new things based
on friends’ suggestions, so when a prospect sees that their friend likes your page,
they’re more likely to have an interest too.

As for the content on your advertisements, promotions always work best, but
informational content, like recipes and how-tos, work well too. The key to content
is to ensure that your prospects are getting something in return for their click.

3
CONNECT WITH
INFLUENCERS
Most Effective Platform: Where the influencer has the most engagement.
Purpose: Brand Awareness and Credibility Building

While having Guy Fieri post a picture of your signature dish to his Instagram,
which boasts some 109K+ followers, might be the ideal, the reality is inviting
local food bloggers and influencers of any kind will serve to get your name out
on the web. Inviting a blogger or food influencer to dinner with the promise of an
Instagram post or short blog post might seem like it has a small ROI but one study
showed that 81% of US consumers trust advice and information from blogs and
61% of US consumers have made a purchase based on a blog’s recommendation.

Why is the impact so great? Because bloggers make business personal. They
invite consumers into their lives, so their endorsements feel like they’re coming
from a friend. Since these influencers are established and trusted purveyors of
deliciousness, when they say something’s good, their followers believe them.

Examples:

New York
Nick Solares @NickSolares http://ny.eater.com
Alex Reichek @chekmarkeats http://www.chekmarkeats.com
Danyelle Freeman @restaurantgirl1 http://www.restaurantgirl.com

Toronto:
Abbey Sharpe @AbbeysKitchen http://www.abbeyskitchen.com
Grace Y @FoodintheCityTO http://foodinthecitytoronto.com
Hurbert L @goodfoodtoronto http://www.goodfoodtoronto.com

4
#JOINCONVERSATIONS
Most Effective Platform: Instagram and Twitter
Purpose: Brand Awareness

There are two types of hashtags you should use on your social media pages:
unique and niche.

Unique hashtags are those that you create. For example,

the name of your restaurant or the name of a contest or
promotion you’re running.

Niche hashtags are those that already exist. They

might be geographical, industry related, or event-
driven. Avoid excessive hashtagging. Your prospective
customers won’t be looking for #fork #butterknife
or #greencurtains, but they might be looking for
#foodspotting, #comfortfood, or #homemadeburger.

But posting photos to hashtags isn’t the be all, end all. If you’re looking to
increase brand awareness, interact with other accounts posting to those
hashtags. Like photos. Comment on accounts. Start conversations with your
followers. Show a genuine interest in their lives. This not only promotes good
will, but it reminds them that you exist.

5
POST-VISUAL CONTENT
Most Effective Platform: All
Purpose: Brand Awareness and Revenue Generation

According to a recent study, visual content gets 94% more total views and
is 40% more likely to be shared on social networks. That is HUGE. Especially
for restaurants because you have so many amazing visual opportunities. Post
pictures of your signature dishes, guests, and special events. You can take
behind the scenes snaps, post a timelapse of a meal being plated, unveil a new
drink – the possibilities are endless. The bottom line: images are visual stimuli.
They whet the appetite. And for a hungry scroller on Instagram, it might be just
be the thing they need to get them in the door.

Hot tip: Make your photos look professional!

Consider using a photo editing app before you post:

Afterlight SnapSeed

Fused VSCOcam

6
CONTESTS
Most Effective Platform: All
Purpose: Revenue Generation and Customer Retention

Everyone likes free stuff. Contests are a great way to build relationships with
your social media following and get people in the door. One survey showed that
79% of social media contest participants felt more positively towards the brand
after a contest and 74% reported a positive influence on future word-of-mouth
recommendations. There’s no better way to engage your followers and spread
the word of your restaurant in a fun and engaging way.

CONTEST TIPS:
• Ask participants to tag a friend or two in their entry to help
spread the word.

• Make sure you read the social media platform’s contest

rules. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter may require you
to have a separate landing page for your contest rules,
while Instagram is a little more lenient. You can release
Instagram from any liability by attaching a statement like
this to your contest launch photo:
Per Instagram rules, we must mention this is in no way
sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram,
Inc. By entering, entrants confirm they are 13+ years of
age, release Instagram of responsibility, and agree to
Instagram’s term of use.

• Make the prize worth while! The more you’re asking of your
followers, the bigger the prize should be.

7
CONTEST IDEAS:
Simple photo contest: take a picture with friends and a
favorite meal at your restaurant

Guess the menu item: take a picture of a signature dish.

Post it. The person who guesses it right first wins.

Name this dish: cook up something new. Take a picture

that makes ‘em drool. Then have your followers suggest
a name for the dish.

What’s on my spoon/plate?: Create something mouth

watering. Give no clues. Have your followers guess the
make up of the plate. This works really well with sauces
and smoothies!

Submit a recipe: get your followers to submit a recipe

that could be featured on your menu. There’s so
much you could do with this contest. Break it down to
three finalists. Video tape the adjudication. Have your
followers weigh in on the recipe they’d like to win.

8
CONCLUSION:
BE SOCIAL MEDIA FRIENDLY!

You’ve got personality. You’ve created your

amazing brand, your unique dining concept.
You strive to give your guests an experience.
Now it’s time to share it digitally.
We’re living in a social media world. Even if
you’re not running contests, commenting on
external feeds and posting five times a day,
being social media friendly can be as easy as
creating a photo op or advertising your hashtag
around your restaurant. You need to have your
basics covered if you want to come to mind the
next time a patron’s stomach growls.

And why not – social media is fun! It’s a great way for you not only to get creative,
but share the experience of your venue that you’ve worked so hard to create.

TouchBistro is an iPad POS and integrated payments solution built for restaurant people, by restaurant people.
It helps thousands of restaurateurs across the world run better businesses and makes managing a restaurant easier.

www.touchbistro.com | Speak to a Software Sales Representative today 1-855-363-5252