Local Restaurant

Social Media

Strategy

Guide

Do you have a local restaurant social media strategy for your Mom and Pop business?

If you don’t, you could be missing out on sales and business, especially from tourism. If you do have one, maybe there are techniques that you are missing out on. Luckily, establishing a local restaurant social media strategy is as difficult as you might expect it to be.

In this guide, I will show you how to get started with a social media strategy for your local dining establishment.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy Tip #1: Create Social Pages

For a local restaurant social media strategy to work, you’ll need some social pages for your restaurant.

I recommend going with the most popular social networks that restaurants are using. Create a business page on Facebook, and make sure it’s a page and not your profile. Create a profile for your dining establishment on Instagram as well.

Facebook and Instagram are popular social networks used by restaurants of all sizes.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy Tip #2: Post Timing

Consider the times of the day when posting content on your social pages because it can create more business.

For example, posting in the evening hours might be ideal for promoting your breakfast special so that people know where to go the next day. Post in the mid-morning hours about lunch and any specials you have going on to draw in lunchtime customers. Pay attention to your own social media habits and when you are looking for dining posts.

You should at least post the number of mealtimes (3 if you have breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.) that you offer to encourage traffic for each of them.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy Tip #3: Appealing Visual Content

The best way to get the attention of your consumers and audience is to post visually appealing content on your social page.

This means photos of your food choices and trying to ensure that they look delicious. This also means videos of behind-the-scenes and food preparation; it’ll earn the trust of your patrons. And you might also consider doing original episode series of some kind (it doesn’t have to be a few minutes each video).

Everyone loves photos and videos on social media these days, so you should be leveraging that.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy Tip #4: Feature Employee Spotlights

Show some love to the people helping you keep your restaurant going on social media.

Consider an ‘Employee of the Month’ program and spotlight them on your social media. Customers will likely trust a restaurant that treats its employees nicely. This could also help with employee retainment, which is a big deal in this day and age.

Just make sure your employees are okay with it, as not everyone wants to be posted on social media.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy Tip #5: Repost Audience Content

Repost or share content about your business posted by customers on social media.

If someone gives a review, reshare it on your social page and share your positive feedback. If someone makes untrue claims, reshare and correct them but remember to be professional. If you get fans that praise your content, reshare their praise and make friends for life.

Be sure to share content created by your followers to keep them around for the long haul.

Local Restaurant Social Media Strategy #6: Keep It Fun

The most popular business pages on social media are usually packed full of fun and entertaining posts.

Try to make your social page fun by posting fun and entertaining content RELATED to your industry. Post memes and GIFs if you can find them but make sure it is family-friendly. Be personal, as if you’re talking to your customer one and one.

And make sure you keep the content native by not posting external links.

The last word on ‘keeping it native’ as described above: You need to ensure the content you post is uploaded to your social page. For example, please don’t post a video you uploaded onto YouTube; instead, upload the video itself to the social page. Social networks have designed their websites to rank external content lower than content native to the page. For example, more people will see a video uploaded to Facebook than a video linked to Facebook on YouTube. This is done to keep people on the social network so that their ads are clicked more and make money. It is business.

And there you have it – an excellent little starter local restaurant social media strategy guide to enjoy. If you need additional help, I provide Social Media Auditing Services and Social Media Marketing Coaching Services for a competitive fee. Thank you for taking the time to read this article – I hope you found it helpful.