 Sky Cutler For many restaurateurs, choosing the right social media platforms, creating content, and executing successful campaigns can seem like a never ending job, which requires a dedicated team. There are more social media platforms than ever before, and attempting to stay relevant on them all will only water down your intention.
As a business owner, it’s important you focus on achieving maximum results for a minimum amount of effort. You probably already understand the Pareto Principle which states: "For many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.” This concept is important when implementing an affective restaurant social media strategy. If used appropriately, this concept can increase your ROI on social media. Some known examples in marketing using this principle include:
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Using Pareto’s Principle on social media, one should focus energy on Facebook and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram are the restaurant industry leaders in social media, and narrowing focus on these two platforms is a great way to steadily grow business (Facebook and Instagram are the 80% in this example). Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world and currently has around 2.23 billion monthly users. Facebook is a great platform to convey the message of your brand since users are keen to learn about your story and values. Blog posts do great on this platform and are highly suggested for redirecting visitors to your website. Older audiences are more likely to be using Facebook as opposed to other platforms which makes it a solid all round platform to focus energy. On the other hand, Facebook is a poor platform for growing exposure and a fanbase. Facebook will be your weakest performing platform. This is why balancing Facebook with it’s other sibling is a great combination. Instagram (now owned by Facebook) is ranked 6th in the world for photo sharing apps and has around 1 billion active monthly accounts. Instagram is best for sharing beautiful photographs of products and food! Using hashtags on instagram is a great way to target interested customers. A branded hashtag can be used in a unique marketing campaign and can simply be the name of your business or a slogan/tagline. Instagram appeals to a younger audience and is often viewed as entertainment. Since Instagram is entertainment focused, this is a great platform to gain an audience and keep viewers up to date with what is new at your restaurant. The platform’s geotagging ability is also being used by travelers as a guide to find restaurants/things to do when they are abroad. OTHER PLATFORMS Although this strategy will primarily focus on the above two platforms it’s important that we maintain consistency across all platforms. The other primary platforms include Google Business and any review sites like Trip Advisor. Since my restaurant (Warung Falafel) is based in the tourist economy of Bali, Indonesia my focus is on Trip Advisor and Google reviews. This will differ depending on what platform is popular in the geographical location of your restaurant. In the United States, Yelp will be the platform to consider. Ensuring that these listings are consistent with all other platforms, will increase the frequency your restaurant shows up in customer search results online (SEO). In summary, Facebook and Instagram should spark the question from guests: do I want to try this restaurant? Much of the time, these guests will seek the answer to this question by viewing your credibility online (reviews). The ultimate goal for restaurants should be to create a stellar guest experience, which entices current customers to leave positive reviews online. Once this process is running, social media will be most effective in funneling interested guests to your website and review platforms so a decision can be made. NOTE A restaurants social media strategy should always begin with a quality guest experience, so before implementing the above strategy, make sure to read my other article "WHY SERVICE COMES BEFORE SOCIAL MEDIA.” "The best social media execution in the world combined with a poor guest experience would only speed up the demise of your restaurant..." |