Social media influencers seem to be everywhere these days. They create content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook to sway their followers to engage with the businesses they promote.

But does influencer marketing work for restaurants?

Trevor Lui, restaurateur, cookbook author and co-founder of the agency Quell, says it can. “I think that in the age of trying to figure out how to expand the reach of your brand, utilizing people that have reach within their own network on a social level is beneficial.”

“I think that in the age of trying to figure out how to expand the reach of your brand, utilizing people that have reach within their own network on a social level is beneficial.”

Trevor Lui, restaurateur, cookbook author and co-founder of Quell

Sean Beckingham, principal at the food and beverage marketing agency Branding & Buzzing, agrees. He says working with an influencer allows you to address their niche audience. “They’re going to tell the best story from their lens.”

Beckingham says digital marketing “is not just about an influencer having an Instagram account. It’s about running ads, having a content strategy. It’s about partnerships. You have to really open up your basket of marketing.”

But influencers are still important.

“When you’re purchasing their power, they can do many things for you,” Lui says. These include posting on their account, temporarily taking over your account or live feed, or being a brand spokesperson. Each has a different fee structure, which may involve a combination of dollars and product.

Beckingham notes that the COVID-19 pandemic’s toll on restaurants has led his agency to approach costs differently. “Where we used to charge restaurants to do certain things, we’re asking suppliers to cover costs. We’re doing everything we can to keep them (restaurants) open because they’re such an important part of society.”

Building authentic partnerships

Beckingham says restaurant operators can find influencers through an agency, social media specialist, or on their own. Lui’s first approach is to “rely on a tight network of people that I’ve done work with in the past,” whether influencers or trusted advisors who select them for him.

• Tip: Whatever the approach, don’t focus only on follower count.

Beckingham advises vetting influencers to ensure they’re a good fit. Are both they and their audience local to you? Do their demographics fit your target market? He suggests using selection tools like geo-targeted maps in Instagram, hashtag searches, and identifying contributors to local publications. Also ask for the influencer’s media kit — it should explain their demographics and reach.

• Tip: Assess the authenticity of a potential influencer partnership. Would your burgers-and-fries brand resonate with their wellness-focused followers?

Ryan Hinkson of @EatFamous, an influencer and food culturalist with 275,000 Instagram followers, echoes the importance of authenticity. “The times when I’m most excited to actually try something or eat somewhere are usually when I get the best results.”

Building and measuring success

Successful campaigns start by discussing with the influencer your goals, such as target reach and specific outcomes. Also communicate expectations for deliverables and data measurement. “I have very tangible, transparent and clear outcomes for what I want to achieve on any program,” Lui says, “so I have those conversations well in advance.”

• Tip: Develop measurable tactics to meet your goals.

For instance, if your initial focus is on building your social media following, a contest to drive engagement can be effective.

Lui, who recently launched a new brand, Joy Bird, says, “The more impressions on your brand, the faster it gets bumped up in any type of algorithm. Because everything is algorithm based.”

They partnered with an influencer to run a contest where entrants had to follow the brand and tag two friends. The result? Brand followers increased from 320 to 960 over a two-week period.

Beckingham suggests established restaurants could offer a series of tastings for influencers. “You may want to do a burst when you have a new menu launch where you have five influencers come in at the beginning, and every month have another influencer come in.”

Specific calls to action like a secret menu item or limited time offer promoted only in a specific campaign allow you to directly measure its sales results, as do trackable gift cards.

Mutually rewarding relationships

Building trusted relationships between influencers and restaurants is a mutually rewarding outcome of successful influencer marketing.

Hinkson says he’s worked with some restaurants repeatedly over the years and they’ve developed synergy. “They’ve been happy with what I’ve done and I’m a fan of what they do.” He knows of other influencers who also experience this. “And if it’s yielding good results, then I say go with it.”

These relationships matter more than ever during the pandemic. “Really and truly,” Beckingham says, “if your restaurant is established, you should go back and look at the folks you’ve worked with in the past that have been good to you […] because you’re both in it together.”

In our digital age the influence of a titled food critic’s opinion has been replaced by the emergence of guest review websites, social media, and food influencers. Food critics per se are not as common as they used to be, however the thorough process that notable food critics follow is extremely useful in understanding how your operation stacks up.

Unlike unforgiving guests who often give you one chance to make it, food critics never dine just once at a restaurant and they often wait until a few weeks post opening to test it out. To gain a deeper understanding of how your restaurant brand is actually performing, it’s critical that you maintain operational check-ins regularly to see the level of consistency in the service, food quality and overall brand experience.

So, put on your food reviewer hat, it’s time to put your own operation under the microscope.  

Investigate the competition

Dine at your competitors on a regular basis to get a true picture of the lay of the land. Make notes of what they are doing well and not so well, and overall how their service, food, and brand stack up to yours

Take a seat at your own table

In addition to regular tastings for quality control, invite a few guests in for a complimentary experience that you can trust will offer an authentic opinion. Sit at the table with them to see your operation from the guests’ perspective.

• TIP: To maintain a typical experience, refrain from letting your service and kitchen teams know in advance that you will be dining in!

Review each guest touchpoint

Every touchpoint in your restaurant needs to be representative of the experience you want to offer your guests. Take the time to review each brand touchpoint; you know your biggest critics will be! 

• Exterior design and décor — entranceway, front signage, patio, sidewalk, parking area, planters and foliage. Ensure these first impression zones are clean, up to your brand standards and guest expectations.
• Entrance and greeting area — doors, lighting, floor mat, greeting stand. The first greeting and entrance to the space set the tone for the guests’ dining experience.
• Team attire and presentation — ensure the team attire is professional and aligns with the personality of your brand, whether it is causal or upscale.
• Interior design — floor layout, lighting, flooring, wall designs, accent décor, signage, floral and live plants, window coverings, bar design, washrooms, menus — each detail must be consistent with your overall brand experience.
• Music — this sets the tone and the mood for your space. It needs to suit your guest demographic, ideally changed for the time of the day, and matching and enhancing the vibe of your brand.
• Table setting and arrangement — whether you’re a modern upscale restaurant or casual vibrant pub, your table setting needs to provide guests with the tools and information they need to understand your restaurant offering and enjoy what’s to come, without having to ask.
• Kitchen and server stands — guests have eyes and ears open to what’s going on in the restaurant, so be alert to how your team is congregating in visible areas.
• Service — professional, caring and consistent service is essential in running a successful restaurant operation.  
• Quality — the presentation, the quality and the freshness of dishes and drinks is your number one biggest factor for success or failure. Just like a food critic, trying all menu items at various times will give you a true sense of quality consistency. 

These three practices will provide beneficial insight into your operational opportunities for improvement, and the changes needed to achieve a 5-star review. 

If you’re not on Instagram, you don’t exist. That’s the hard truth. The social media landscape has quickly become the dominant marketing tool for restaurants to connect globally and directly with existing and potential customers. No biggie, there are just around 1 billion of them.  

The “gram” user, combined with Instagram algorithms, continues to challenge restaurants to push creative limits, in order to achieve Follows, Likes and Comments.

What are some social media tactics your restaurant can employ to develop impactful social campaigns?

Start with a monthly plan

Take the time to plan out your key messages and posts for the upcoming month by developing a social media content calendar. Your goal should be to support and highlight initiatives within your restaurant operation that set your brand apart, while reinforcing key brand messages.

Put your best post forward

Instagram can be a powerful tool to stay in touch with your loyal customers, to let them know what you’re doing:

• How you’ve changed your menu for takeout and delivery
• Strategies you’ve put in place to retain staff
• Gift cards and other loyalty promotions to keep customers engaged if your restaurant is closed to eat-in dining

Times to post

Social media reporting suggests that the social guest is most engaged in the early mornings, lunch and dinner hours, and later in the evening. These moments tend to be when we are taking a “break,” which results in spikes in social media activity. Instagram for businesses also provides effective reporting on your social guests’ most engaged days and times per day. Utilize this data to identify the optimal days and times of when to post.

#Hashtag

Hashtags can make or break the effectiveness of your content strategy by how relevant they are to the content you are posting. Digital users can follow hashtags to collect content on their feed that is of interest to them. The goal is to use hashtags that will place your content on the feeds of your target guests. Popular hashtags are identified in the “TAGS” search bar on Instagram by the number of times they have been used in a post.

Follow these five top tips to develop a list of hashtags relevant to your brand content:

1. Research what competitors and the foodie community are using as popular hashtags.
2. Identify 30-50 hashtags that align with your menu offerings and location, and are popular, and reference them selectively within your content calendar.
3. Post hashtags that match the photography or video content you are sharing.
4. Post the hashtags as a “comment” to your post, versus within the post.
5. Post between 15 and 30 hashtags from your list per post.

As you monitor the effectiveness of your social campaign, be aware of spikes in your engagement when certain hashtags are used in your posted content, to identify your top-performing hashtags.

Utilize apps

Developers are launching innovative useful social media content editing, organizing and publishing apps on a monthly basis to support small businesses in managing digital campaigns. We recommend downloading a few different apps to test them out and understand which will be most effective in supporting your social media goals.

Using Instagram and Facebook to build a community of engaged brand advocates can seem intimidating, until you realize what makes them work. Implement these tactics to see what a powerful tool social media campaigns can be for your restaurant business.

To say that Instagram’s food community is an impactful marketing channel for your restaurant business is an understatement.  

Restaurateurs need always to be thinking about how every element and square inch of their restaurant can be used to create their unique brand and be “Instagram worthy.” The more potential photo opportunities designed within your restaurant and menu, the more diners will want to snap and share, and the bigger your following will become. It’s that simple.

So first off, who is your customer base?

Of the current 800+ million Instagram users, the majority are Millennials with 90% of the Instagram user base 35 years and younger. That’s not to say Instagram can’t be effective connecting with a mature restaurant clientele, you just might experience slower growth through the platform.

Cater your Instagram content to your demographic by sharing photos and messages that will matter to them.

What should restaurants posts?

Before it was just about food, now it’s about sharing everything about your restaurant that is consistent with your brand.

• TIP: Organize your Instagram feed as a story of six posts; each post should depict a different part of your restaurant brand.

1. TEAM
2. MENU ITEM
3. DÉCOR
4. DRINK ITEM
5. SERVICE
6. BRAND ELEMENT

#Food #Drink

When designing your food and drink menus, create three to five items that will become your “Instagram stars” in addition to your other items. The “Insta Stars” should be unique to your restaurant — for example, in their presentation, the ingredients, or the way they’re prepared or consumed. Snap these items with a consistent aesthetic to your brand and add a custom hashtag so you can track how many times they’re posted.

Your Insta Stars will be the key elements that get you the most #instalove, and are likely to be snapped and shared the most, garnering your brand the most attention. Try to create new Insta Star dishes seasonally so Instagrammers and diners continue to come back to see what’s new.

#InstaDesign

Your restaurant’s design and décor provide endless opportunities to incorporate Instagram-worthy elements that are consistent with your brand.

• TIP: Consider messaging in tiles or signs, unique wallpaper, interesting colour palettes, feature photo walls, and themed sitting areas.

Exterior to interior design, nothing should be over looked as Instagrammers flock to restaurants for the trendy design photo opp, but then stay for the food.

#GoTeam

Action shots of your chefs cooking or plating, servers sharing their favourite dishes, bartenders shaking up fancy cocktails are all great photo opportunities. It is an Instagram fact that photos featuring faces get 38% more likes than those without, according to Sproutsocial.com.

#PicturePerfect

A professional photographer will always take the better shot and edit it to perfection, hands down. But for restaurateurs who are managing Instagram in-house it is most effective to have one team member manage the process for consistency.

• TIPS:

• Take your shots in natural light or bright, well-lit spaces.
• Purchase a Selfie Right Light to attach to your phone for immediate lighting.
• Avoid using a flash.
• Use a tripod built for phones.
• Figure out if the shot will be of one item or a few items to create a scene.
• Use props to help fill in the shot.
• Try different angles.
• Add a human element. Maintain a consistent filter.

#Hashtags

1. Hashtags allow users who are searching that hashtag to connect with your post.
2. Hashtags allow your posts to be part of a trending topic.
3. Hashtags allow you to track the number of posts associated with the hashtag, for effectiveness.

• TIPS:

• Create unique brand-specific hashtags.
• Post hashtags that are relevant to the image and message being posted to capture the RIGHT follower attention.
• Be aware of the trending food holidays on Instagram to join in the conversation when appropriate for your brand.

Over the last decade, like burning wild fire, word of mouth advertising has erupted into a fierce, influential, and potentially detrimental digital landscape called online reviews.  

Platforms like Zomoto, Yelp, Dine, Trip Advisor, Facebook, and Google Reviews have given public opinion an open forum to share their restaurant dining experiences on a global scale. If, and how you manage these digital guest reviews can make a significant impact on your brand’s reputation and business success.

Chew on this:

• 94% of consumers say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business.
• 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews. (BrightLocal)
• 3.3 is the minimum star rating of a business consumers would engage with. (Podium)
• A one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue. (Harvard Business School)

So, not only is the guest’s review influencing whether or not potential guests will come and dine with you, but so is how you respond to the online review, and what your total star rating is.

Moral: it is possible to come back from negative online reviews when brand authenticity is paired with transparency.

Managing your online review profile can be your most influential marketing strategy, second only to social media. It requires a plan with daily dedication and management consistent with your restaurant guest service standards. I’ve termed this strategy “Digital Guest Relations,” and this is your opportunity to increase your conversation rate of digital guests (visitors) into actual guests. Customers are willing to spend 31% more on a business with excellent reviews, so set that as your objective. (Invesp)

• TIP: First and foremost — be prepared to respond to ALL guest online reviews. Not just the good, and not just the bad.

1. Begin by identifying around the three most critical online review platforms, by reviewing where the most review activity is taking place by guests. Ensure the number you commit to is manageable on a daily basis, as ideally you are responding to each review within 24 hours to maintain an above average response rating.
2. Where possible, claim your online review profile page and update your profile with photography, menus, hours of operation, contact information, descriptions of the service level, and any other key details that set your restaurant brand apart.
3. Train a senior team member or members on how to use the platforms. Many of the platforms have phone apps, which are useful in responding to guests in a timely manner on the go.
4. Develop a response strategy that your trained team members can use as a guide, with example situations and responses, to maintain consistent guest service standards.
5. Train wait staff, bartenders and floor managers to encourage positive guest reviews in the restaurant during service. In a recent study, 68% of consumers indicated they will leave a review if asked (BrightLocal), and a half-star rating increase translates into a 19 per cent greater likelihood that a restaurant’s seats will be full during peak dining times (UC Berkeley). This guest touch point might also uncover dissatisfaction with a guest’s experience, providing another opportunity to turn a potential negative review into a positive experience.

• TIP: Add a personalized touch to each response in addition to using the guest’s name. Remember, potential guests are reading your responses too!

You can go even one step further by incentivizing the guest with a complimentary dish or discount as thank you for their time and feedback. This can be really effective to retain your regulars and encourage repeat business.

How to effectively manage online guest reviews

I recently supported a restaurant client who experienced the wild fire destruction that negative online feedback can cause. A guest had found a worm in their dish, snapped a picture of it, and posted it online with a detailed re-enactment of the situation from their perspective.

Within two days the negative review had spread to 200 additional guest comments, with the majority of the comments supporting the guest, and a community now claiming to boycott the establishment.

The restaurant had experienced a loss of over $50,000 in just 48 hours, and was in panic mode, as the wild fire continued to burn.

Lost from the one-sided online review were the facts:

1. This was the first and only time this had happened in the 10 years of being open.
2. Management had apologized profusely and did not charge the table.
3. The food and safety inspector was brought in immediately and found that their recent shipment of organic cabbage was the source of the problem, and it was quickly removed. Being organic, the cabbage is not sprayed with pesticides and therefore attracts insects.

The biggest concern was that although the restaurant was given a clear report to continue operations, no one was listening. So, we took immediate action, were honest and transparent both publicly and digitally:

1. Developed a lengthy and thorough apology to the guest and the public incorporating the “facts” and posted in online.
2. Posted images of the health and safety report to be as transparent as possible.
3. Followed up with a highly successful guest appreciation weekend event for the entire community.

Within seconds, the wild fire went out, as guests appreciated the transparency of the response and learning all the facts. The online community began to advocate for the restaurant brand, recognizing that sometimes, just sometimes, mistakes do happen and the customer isn’t always right.

Moral: it is possible to come back from negative online reviews when brand authenticity is paired with transparency.

Another effective approach is to take the conversation offline, by encouraging the guest to contact management directly to resolve the matter.

Restaurant guests will continue to post their experiences in the digital space, which is becoming the first touchpoint potential guests have with your brand before they walk through your front door.

For more useful stats:
https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/online-review-stats/