If the slew of fix-‘em-up cable television shows have taught us anything about the restaurant business, it’s that running a successful restaurant is incredibly difficult. Not only does a restaurant owner have to worry incessantly about the cleanliness of the establishment, the quality of the food, payroll and mortgages and taxes and food costs, and whether or not the restaurant’s employees are performing their duties correctly, but then there’s the matter of advertising to the public.
Restaurant advertising can be very expensive, and some usual tried-and-true methods of yesteryear are unequivocally failing in today’s age of social media. So, what’s the solution? The savvy restaurateur decides to market their establishment via social mediums like Facebook.
Offering Customers What They Want
Advertising a restaurant via Facebook is all about giving diners what they want. This means presenting clean, colorful, creative ads displaying your restaurant in a good light. It also means deals and discounts up the wazoo to draw the customers in. Basically, you’re looking to create fan support behind your restaurant – a following that continues to grow via word of mouth.
There’s nothing simple about it, but there are plenty of tips you can use.
- Be Creative: Holding cool contests and displaying the atmosphere of your restaurant should be the goal in your Facebook ads. Of course, you’ll need the proper ad-management software to ensure you’re targeting the right niche, but keep things on the social side of the equation. For example, aim to create a dialogue with the individuals who are liking your material.
- Show off Your Establishment: Give people an inside look at your restaurant. Offer up fun facts and profiles about your chef, your hostess, your wait staff, your management team, ownership, etc. Make it come across as a family-friendly establishment and show that your restaurant is a social location where people can eat, hang out and have a good time.
- Encourage Feedback: Ask people what they think about your restaurant. You can accept reviews via your fan page and you can use your customers’ input to help you create your new ads going forward. With an ad-management tool like Qwaya for example, you can easily categorize ads and change text and images and preferences on the fly. This allows you to quickly launch new ads every time you receive some feedback.
- Offer Social Specials: Make sure your Facebook audience is treated well by offering them deals that are specific to Facebook. For instance, you can give out codes for fans to use when they come into your restaurant, or you can offer up printable coupons for fans who like your page.
Above all, the idea here should be for your restaurant to fit in with the social nature of Facebook. You can’t approach it as if you’re advertising your business. You instead have to approach it as if you’re introducing your restaurant to the world of social media. Present your material in a way that’s worth checking out.
This is a guest blog post written by Stan Johnson.
About the Author: Stan Johnson is an online writer for Qwaya- a Facebook ads manager.
