Believe it or not, nearly 60% of Instagram users upload their pictures whenever they visit
restaurants, pubs, and bars. Instagram has become the place for restaurant and food vendors to
boost their visibility and grab everyone’s attention. That’s exactly why you need to do
social media marketing for restaurants.
Earlier people used to research on the internet about the best places to dine in their vicinity. Due
to the Covid-19 pandemic, now everyone researches on Instagram and Facebook about their
preferred restaurants. This is a new trend that has come up in the restaurant industry.
Hence, now restaurant owners should make their restaurants ‘Instagrammable’ instead of making
them ‘Popular’ in the vicinity. The best part is now such Instagrammable restaurants are picking
famous foodies as their brand ambassadors for promotions and marketing.
So without further ado, we’re sharing some instructions for helping you get started with
restaurant marketing and maximizing your success rate on Instagram, one of the powerful social
media platforms.
Here Are The Basics Of Effective Posting For Restaurants
❤Prioritize Your Best Pictures
Ultimately, your objective should be to grab everyone’s attention. Whatever type of
content you’re posting on Instagram, it should be appetizing. Your best pictures should
include the restaurant’s interior, happy moments, your team members, and the latest
additions to your food menu. Avoid uploading saturated and blurry pictures on Instagram.
❤ Upload Your Posts Regularly
The more relevant posts you’ll upload on your Instagram handle, the more you’ll increase
your visibility. In our opinion, one or two posts per day are enough. Don’t just keep
uploading anything random on your Instagram account.
❤ Stay Consonant
Your Instagram pictures, Reels, and feeds are representative of your restaurant. Before
someone following your Instagram account, they would first see your content and how
consistent you are. Pick a theme for your Instagram account, and don’t rely on heavy
editing software.
How To Boost The Followers Count Of Your Restaurant’s Instagram Account?
❤ Don’t Forget The Hashtags
Hashtags are the key to welcoming potential consumers to your restaurant. Here, you
have to search for less competitive hashtags that determine the vision and mission of your
restaurant.
For example, if you’re planning to upload a picture of French fries on your Instagram
handle. Head to the search box of Instagram, type ‘French Fries,’ and check out the
‘Hashtags’ section. Here you’ll find hashtags like #frenchfries, #bestfrenchfries,
#spicyfrenchfries, and so on.
Such hashtags should be present in every uploaded picture. As per Instagram rules, you
can add a maximum of 30 hashtags to your every picture. In our opinion, try to add
maximum hashtags but only the relevant one that defines your restaurant.
You have the freedom of putting hashtags in your picture or adding them to the comment
section.
❤ Don’t Underrate The Interaction Power
The most important thing that determines your success is how much you connect with
your followers. We recommend you respond to every positive and even negative
comment if you're too much occupied with your restaurant work, at least ‘like’ the
comments you receive.
The more you reply and like your followers’ comments, the more the engagement level
will increase. As a result, your posts might appear in the ‘Popular Feeds’ section.
❤ Post Content In The Peak Hours
Posting content at the right time is equally important, like posting relevant stuff on your
Instagram handle. The best part about having a business account on Instagram is seeing
what time people like your posts and visiting your Instagram handle.
Make a note of these timings and set reminders on your smartphone. In simpler words,
posting pictures and videos during strategic times would be undoubtedly beneficial for
your restaurant.
How To Take Your Restaurant Instagram Marketing Game To The Next Level?
❤Start Focusing On Creating Story Highlights
Story Highlights are essential when you’re thinking about marketing your restaurant on
Instagram. When someone is landing on your Instagram handle, your ultimate goal is
he/she checks out your content, likes or comments on the posts, and ends up following
your account.
Story highlights are like a mini-website of your restaurant that easily allows viewers to
navigate the relevant and promoted content. No one likes scrolling up and down; they just
directly hop on the Story Highlights
In our opinion, you should break your story highlights into different menus like ‘Latest
Cuisines’ ‘Our Happy Customers’ ‘Weekend Specials’ and many more.
Your story highlights should be flooded with the content which you want to convey to
your audience. We also recommend you curate some catchy thumbnails or covers for
your Instagram story highlights. In the end, your Instagram handle will look clean and
professionals and also highly informative. You can prefer using the Instagram integrated
editing tools or third-party applications like Canva.
❤Having An Unique, Easy To Remember, And Instagrammable Brand Symbol Is
Mandatory
If someone wants success on Instagram, getting viral is the only option. Since the last
couple of years, many people got viral incidentally, and now they have turned into
successful social media influencers. If you feel there is something very eye-catching and
unique about your restaurant, it can go viral in the restaurant industry within seconds. In
our opinion, this is one of the best restaurant marketing strategies, especially for new
start-ups.
The best part you don’t require a brand ambassador or social media marketing because
your loyal customers are already promoting your restaurant via posts and videos. This
Instagram marketing strategy can be applied to cafes, restaurants, and small stall owners.
Now your brand symbol will entirely depend on your creative skills.
❤ Collaborate With Food Vloggers And Social Media Influencers
Collaborations with social media influencers and food vloggers aren’t an expensive
marketing strategy. However, the food industry is trendy on social media platforms, and
many popular influencers also get ready for free collaborations because they are content
for their audience.
If you’re lucky enough, you can invite some social media influencers to your restaurant,
serve some delicious platters, make some Instagram Reels and short videos. The audience
base of these social media influencers is enormous, and the success rate is very high.
In our opinion, never spend money on getting shout-outs for your restaurants. Inviting
social media influencers physically is the best thing you can do for promoting your
restaurant.
❤ Nowadays Giveaways Are Very Popular
Giveaways are undoubtedly getting popular day by day because they increase your
engagement with the audience. Here, your audience gets motivated to comment on your
picture and videos and also tag their friends. In the end, with small giveaways, you’re
increasing your brand awareness significantly.
The best part is the majority of your followers will be locals, which means your brand
will become more prevalent in your vicinity. Nevertheless, what will be the prize,
selecting the winner, how the prize will be redeemed, and the terms and conditions will
be decided by you.
So use your brain, think out of the box, and run some interesting competitions and
giveaways on your social media accounts.
Final Thoughts
Taking your Instagram marketing game to the next level isn’t easy; you have to incorporate
various social media marketing strategies. We recommend you try different strategies and stick
to the ones that work superbly for your restaurant.
This wraps up our guide on restaurant marketing on Instagram. Do you have some more
strategies that worked for your restaurant? Let us know via your comments.
Also if you are looking for Instagram marketing for your restaurant, you know where to find us.
