I do not know if you will agree with me, but some food dishes have a certain appeal that invite them to be shared by those who enjoy it. Before this the statistics do not deceive when we see that almost 52% of the people photograph their meals (in this I plead guilty) and 19% of them, they share them via web. This shows us a tremendous trend that can be used positively by a chef or restaurant owner.
And speaking of food, there are two ways you can ‘feed’ your audience to achieve greater interaction with the audience. The first form is through the strategic content, this should always be well orchestrated, with graphic basics that harmonize with the brand and with a visual quality that elevates the expectations of the audience. It would be fair to say that a restaurant or chef will never want to compromise his image by taking non-professional photos of his menu and publish them on his website or any other piece of communication.
However, there is another type of content that I call ‘on the go’ that allows the use of small and powerful telephone devices to share EXPERIENCES.
Based on the principle that all of your graphic strategy, including your web page, Facebook page, commercial photography, menu, etc., has been created professionally, then you can take advantage of other not so professional gadgets, such as your cell phones, to create and share more spontaneously with your community of followers.
In this case his main message is “sharing experiences”. Listen to the conversations / experiences that your own community is creating around your brand / business to feed your own conversation.
10 Tips that will help local restaurants to increase their interaction in Social Networks:
- Make sure you have an account with Instagram and also put in your website and how to find it on the social network.
- Be sure to create a #hashtag and promote it on your different social networks. Try to follow the conversation that said hastag will derive and do not hesitate an instant in “Re-post” in Instagram some of the photos or moments that your customers have shared in this social network. Always mentioning the person who originally uploaded the photo.
- If time and resources permit, have someone capture moments and special celebrations that occur in your restaurant. And share them as they happen.
- Create a forum on Instagram for special occasions. The name forum is another way of calling conversations. Simply create an exclusive instagram hashtag for one occasion. For example: #DefinitionName_CincodeMay. Just be sure to promote that hashtag on every table, on your website or in a very visible place in your restaurant.
- Birthday? They are also an excellent reason to create content? On the go? Take advantage of sharing the photo of one of your birthday, you will always notice that there will be someone who visits from a long distance or who is reaching his majority or celebrating many years of life, etc., sharing this type of occasions always provides a familiarity and festivity.
- Use Foursquare to create retention and loyalty programs. Personally I think it much more convenient to create such programs using Foursquare than through those magnetic cards that I personally hate to collect. Simply browse the incredible options that Fourquare offers to stimulate more than 10 visits to your establishment, to reward the “Foursquare’s Mayor” of your restaurant or to promote the cocktail of the house.
- Create an exclusive babge that your visitors can win when they check in your restaurant on special occasions such as New Year, Christmas, etc. This automatically generates a message that is self-published in your Twitter and Facebook accounts generating SEO and Social media Buzz.
- Probably for this type you will need to hire the services of a designer or agency. But be sure to create Facebook applications that promote more sharing of your page, show galleries of your professional images, as well as sections with promotions.
- After curtains; you might find it convenient to hire a professional photographer to perform a few quarterly photographic sessions and be able to capture the real action of happening in the kitchen. Showing the professionalism, fun, love and integrity with which food is prepared. Presented a piece more to that puzzle that is called “Experience” Always making use of the StoryTelling.
- Elevate your conversation! The philosophy of your business should always be one of the focal points of your conversation. Are you a local restaurant? Then let your customers know the impact your establishment brings to the local community. Is your restaurant based on an organic philosophy and where all its ingredients are bought from local farms? Then educate your clients on the quality of their ingredients, their commitment to animal protection and whole foods.
For restaurateurs of more delicate palates, consider creating an interactive menu, include in one of the sections QR codes of video that show the exquisite ingrant and supreme form of preparation. Do not forget the possibility of allowing “Tweet” or share in Fcebook the main dish directly from the menu.
Finally, the most important of all these actions is that they correspond to a content strategy so that the uniqueness of their communication exalts their brand and is clearly positioned in the minds of their consumers.