10 Best Ideas For Restaurant Social Media Campaigns

best ideas restaurant social media campaigns

The best social media campaigns for restaurants requires thoughtful planning and creative design. It is more important than ever for your restaurant to be visible on various social media platforms.

If you are new to social media check out our Beginner’s Guide to Social Media for Restaurants!

Now we’re going to take it one step further. Because it’s all well and good knowing what platforms to be on and how they work. But it’s another thing to know how to create the best restaurant social media campaigns on them.

It may seem overwhelming at first. And some owners can struggle to think of what to post. That’s why we’re here with some awesome content ideas that you can use and some real-life examples of brands that are already using them.

So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

 

10 Tips to Create the Best Restaurant Social Media Campaigns Possible

Here are 10 content ideas you may use today. The best restaurant social media efforts generate engagements, leads, and sales. With just a smartphone, any restaurant owner can design them. So, guys, there are no longer any justifications for barren social media pages.

 

1. Smart Offers To Attract Customers

Who said your social media pages had to be filled only with pictures of your food or restaurant? There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t use your social media pages to drive people through your doors or to your website’s online ordering system. And smartly designed offers are a great way to do this. Offers does not necessarilty needs to be discounts.

If you feel like you are losing out to third-party ordering platforms, coupon offers can also be a great way of making sure more money goes into your pocket. People are looking for deals that provide the most value. They don’t care if they order through your restaurant or a third-party, so give them a strong reason to use your own ordering platform.

Applebee’s offer customers 20% off

Applebees Social media

 

2. Engage with Video

You should always be using high-quality images in your posts. That’s a given. But don’t be scared to mix it up with a video now and again. Videos are more much engaging than images and perform a lot better than photos on social media, too.

If you don’t know what kind of video to post, think of creative ways to showcase your food. It could be a short video of your fresh pasta getting made or your dough getting needed. Or you could share a video of a customer being sung happy birthday by your team. This is a great way to wish someone a happy birthday and also show that you’re the perfect place for parties.

Starbucks use video to show off their new reserve store

Starbucks social media

 

3. Make ordering available on social

Making sure your Facebook page is well set up is just as important as having great content. We talk about profile pictures and header images in our Facebook 101 guide, but now it’s time to kick things up a notch. If you use Delivery.com or Slice to receive orders, you can integrate their system into your Facebook page. Here’s a handy how-to from Facebook. If you don’t use Slice or Delivery.com, you can still use Facebook’s standard shop now button as shown by Pizza Hut below.

Pizza Hut makes online ordering easy

Pizza hut social media

 

4. Ask for word of mouth marketing

Don’t feel shy about asking your customers to spread the word about your service. It’s getting harder for brands to get their content seen on Facebook, so getting your fans to share your content for you can lead to huge boosts in engagement. In short, don’t be afraid of asking for a share.

Dairy Queen get their customers to shout out their favorite Blizzard

Dairy Queen social media

 

5. Make the most of the moment

Great brands always find a way to capture the moment. Think back to Superbowl XLVII when the lights went out at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Within minutes Oreo had released a social media ad making fun of the event. You don’t have to be as timely or as witty as Oreo, but big events such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and public holidays are a great chance to piggyback your way to customer engagement.

Subway make the most of National Cheese Day

Best restaurant social media campaign Subway

 

6. Host competitions

Competitions have long been a staple of successful social media campaigns and there’s no sign of that stopping. Whether it is a free meal, a discount, or a ticket to your town’s hottest event, competitions on social media can be a great way to increase engagement.

Chipotle giveaway tickets to one of London’s hottest events

Chipotle social media

 

7. Pull back the curtain

Everyone likes to see what’s behind the scenes. Not only do we love the voyeuristic nature of a behind-the-scenes look, but it’s also a great way to know that the restaurant your eating at is clean and does things by the book. With that in mind, why not create a video (see above) that shows your chefs in action. What’s more tempting than seeing your delicious food get made on Facebook?!

Little Caesar show off their new Pizza Portal

Little Caesar social media

8. Share customer images

Customer photos are a fantastic source of publicity. So it’s important to encourage your customers to take and share as many as possible. How do you do that? Well, one way could be to share your customers’ photos on your social media profiles. This nice little ego boost for your diners may encourage them to post more and often for a chance of getting featured on your page. Just make sure you ask for permission first!

Dunkin’ Donuts share user-generated content

Dunkin donuts social

 

9. Engage customers

Social media is about engaging with customers, not engaging in a one-way conversation. That means it’s important to respond to your customers in a quick and friendly manner. And that includes negative reviews! Yes, review sites are part of your social presence, so take care to manage your presence on the most important review sites and to respond to any negative reviews in a way that befits your brand.

Wendy’s is the queen of customer engagement on Twitter

Wendy's social media post

 

10. Sell your menu

Got a new dish on the menu? Then show it off on your social accounts! Got a new seasonal menu? Let everyone know about it. After all, what’s the point in cultivating an audience of fans if you’re not going to let them know when something exciting happens. New dishes and menus make for perfect social content, just make sure to include high-quality images to really capture your audience’s attention.

Taco Bell encourages customers to get their Orange Cream Pop Freeze before it’s gone for good. 

Taco Bell social media

 

A Custom Social Media Strategy Created Just For You

If you’ve got to the end of this post, you should raring to start creating awesome social media content for your website. Remember that best restaurant social media campaigns drive engagements, leads, and revenue. However, running social media campaigns isn’t for everyone. Some restaurant owners are just too busy to take care of their social presence, no matter how good it is for business. If this sounds like you, The Digital Restaurant is here to help your brand create the best restaurant social media campaigns that will leave your competition in the dust.

We create and execute custom social media strategies for restaurants just like yours. To find out how we can help request a demo of our NGAZE restaurant marketing platform or get in touch with a member of our team today. We’re here to help! Learn more about how we can help your restaurant social media campaign.  

General FAQs

? How do I market my restaurant on social media?

If your restaurant is just starting out on social media, it is sensible to keep your marketing to a few core platforms. That way, you can focus on growing your following on those few platforms before expanding to the others. Next, is to have a social media strategy and allocate resources to execute that strategy.
To learn more, read our beginner’s guide to social media for restaurants

? Why do restaurants need social media?

Social media is an absolute must for restaurants today irrespective of your customer demographics. Facebook has over one billion active monthly users and other platforms are rapids growing. These are the online platforms your customers are on, so if you want to get their attention and attract them to your business, you need to solid social media plan.
Learn more about social media ROI for restaurants

? Which social networks should my restaurants be on?

Facebook and Instagram are a must for every restaurant concept. Depending on your customer demographics and target market, you can consider Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TicTok and others.
Read the beginners guide to social media for restaurants

? How do I promote my restaurant on Instagram?

Switch to an Instagram business profile. Engage with customers daily. Cross post on Instagram. Leverage short videos of your food and restaurant. Use relevant hashtags. Encourage sharing and keep the conversations going.
Learn how to crosspost on Facebook and Instagram

? How many times should I post on Facebook?

Restaurants should post once a day to keep the engagement going and upto 2-3 times if necessary as in special event days. It is important to remember that how many times you post a day should be relevant to the day. Engagement is the key to organic reach.
Learn how to increase engagement on Facebook

? Should I boost my posts on Facebook?

Boosting Facebook posts is very common because it so easy to do so. Instead run Facebook ads as there are so much targeting and optimization options available for your ads budget. You will get much better results for your spend.
Learn about 5 unique Facebook marketing tactics for restaurants

? What is the best times to post on social media on restaurants?

For restaurants, relevance is as important as response rates. For example, is the post is for a lunch special, it is ideal to post before lunch time. To find the best time to post, see the Facebook analytics data to determine the best time to post. That will be different for different restaurants depending on the demographics and concept.
Learn more about ways to increase facebook engagement for restaurants

? How do I grow my Facebook followers?

With the constant Facebook algorithm changes, organic reach has steadily declined. To grow facebook followers, especially for new restaurants, running a facebook ads campaign is the best way to grow followers rapidly.
Learn more about facebook algorithm changes and restaurant marketing

? Should I buy Facebook followers?

Absolutely not recommended. It is a waste of money and the followers acquired are not relevant for the business. To have the right facebook audience, run a facebook ads campaign to grow your followers.
Learn about unique marketing tactics to grow facebook followers

? What should restaurants post on social media?

Restaurants should post relevant and creative content to create engagement with their followers. Share photos and videos of food and events to generate interest with your target demographics. To know what is resonating, share various types of content and find out what our audience is engaging, then post more of similar content.
Learn about creative facebook marketing ideas for your restaurant