Restaurant Marketing Tips for Facebook

When it comes to restaurant marketing, you simply cannot ignore Facebook.

Here are couple of eye-opening facts;

Worldwide, there are over 1.94 billion monthly active Facebook users for March 2017 (Facebook MAUs) which is an 18 percent increase year over year. (Source: Facebook 5/3/17) What this means for you: In case you had any lingering doubts, statistically, Facebook is too big to ignore.

There are 1.15 billion mobile daily active users (Mobile DAU) for December 2016, an increase of 23 percent year-over-year. (Source: Facebook as of 2/01/17) This is hugely significant and shows the dramatic growth of mobile traffic on Facebook. You can find more information about the power of Facebook here.

Here we share out top 6 tips from our Restaurant Marketing experience.

1. Improve your Facebook profile. You should thoroughly go through every section of your Facebook Business Page and ensure it is fully filled with up to date information about your business. Take care to add the correct category. Also in the description, remember to add keywords in your descriptions, example “Indian Restaurant in Cambridge“. Facebook is a search engine within its own right and you could gain more customers by have carefully crafted content on your Facebook page. the descriptions may also benefit you in search engines like Google. Ensure you include your full contact information and your website address. Your profile picture should be your logo in the correct format and the banner should be professionally designed, highlighting your restaurant product or service.

2. Hold Competitions

Competitions and promotions will encourage ‘engagement’ on your Facebook Page. Post engagement plays a huge factor in who sees your post. Facebook’s algorithm determines how much of your audience you will receive and takes into account how many likes, shares, comments and shares your post gets within the first few minutes of posting. Our top tip is to boost your post to reach a bigger audience, targeting your locality with the radius option. I have provided an example of a great competition that has gone viral, crafted by Alamin Media for clients. Keep your post simple, use high-quality photo and have a call to action in your terms, such as “Like & Share this post to enter”. Use social proof, in the example, we have a real customer. Click here: Restaurant Marketing Competition example by Alamin Media.

3. Showcase your product and service.

Your customers ultimately want fantastic food and service, Facebook is your window to showcase what your customer can expect from being your customer. Take the opportunity to share high-quality photos, your mobile phone camera is more than sufficient. Take photos in good light and have a clean background. You can communicate the history of the dish, talk about the quality of your ingredients and so on. Highlight your great customer service by sharing reviews from your customers on your page. Make it more personal and add photos of your staff and customers enjoying their time at your restaurant.

4. Social Proof

The rise of social media has enhanced the importance of social proof. Customer feedback and reviews from real people are more easily accessible than ever before. As a result, clever restaurant owners have realised it’s an important part of their overall social presence. We have all seen our friends and family and connections on Facebook checking into a restaurant and sharing reviews and pictures, we, in turn, have made a mental note to visit this restaurant on the back of the social proof from our connection. You can purchase Social Media frames and ask customers to take pictures with them and share on Facebook, incentivise the process with a discount or offer. Within Facebook, you can go to the Check-In section and share photos and Check-Ins from your customers onto your main page. Reviews from Trip Advisor can be copy and pasted or you can screen grab the comments and share on Facebook.

5. Use Facebook Live

Facebook Live allows you to broadcast live from your restaurant using your mobile phone directly to your Facebook Page. This is a powerful marketing tool. You can capture a busy night, showcasing a busy restaurant. Another idea is to ask customers if they are happy to give a live review of their meal and experience. You could even capture live action in your kitchen, for example, your chef could make a special dish on camera. A video is highly engaging and will build a stronger connection with your existing and potential customers. Remember, you may be the only

6. Be Consistent

One of the keys to successful Facebook marketing is being consistent with your marketing. Aim to post on Facebook at least once a day or more. Here at Alamin Media, we understand business owners are busy and finding time is very difficult. That’s why our clients work with us to make sure the social media marketing gets done. One tool we utilise here at Alamin Media is Hootsuite. This powerful software allows us to post on multiple social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google Plus. Even more importantly we can schedule future posts, which make for consistent marketing.

If you have and questions, we would be pleased to help you.

Written by Alamin Ahmed, Founder of Alamin Media, Website Design, Social Media Marketing & SEO Specialist, based in Cambridge.