Content Marketing With Instagram for Restaurants

Rounding out our #DineOutBoston series aimed at helping restaurateurs optimize their restaurant’s social media presence. Yesterday we covered Content Marketing With Facebook for Restaurants and today we’re on to Instagram.

Instagram is visual platform that hosts photos, GIFs and 60-second videos. Instagram stories are combinations of photos and videos taken within the last 24 hours. They essentially tell the visual story of your day. They are visible for 24 hours and then deleted forever.

Share trivia

Instagram is a great way to educate your audience and show how smart you are. Caption your photos with interesting tips or create a pattern in your Instagram posts alternating photos with facts. Foodies love to learn cooking tips or interesting facts about your recipes, ingredients or suppliers.

Remember, Instagram is a storytelling platform. While imagery rules, writing a long captivating caption is still widely accepted.

Promote UGC

I discussed UGC more in-depth in “How Customers Can Help Build Your Brand on Instagram” but in a nutshell, it stands for User Generated Content. Basically, any content your customers, fans or audience create around your brand or product is UGC. Restaurants have a wealth of UGC because the act of photographing one’s food is so prevalent. So if you’re stumped for content on this platform, search for people who have used the location tag to tag themselves in your establishment. Also search for the hashtag of your restaurant’s name. These are the two main ways a customer would identify their meal if they didn’t have know your Instagram username.

Share your specials

We all know the drill. You sit down in a booth and stare at the menu, dizzy with options. Just when you’ve decided on what to order, your waiter or waitress comes over to tell you the list of specials, sending your mind swirling again as you weigh the options. Personally, I rarely change my mind unless what is on offer is a favorite. But imagine if, while the waiter was describing the dish, he were to show you a high-res photo of the beautiful dish. That might convince diners to try something new and move those dishes a bit more quickly.

With a list of weekly specials, you have built-in consistent Instagram content.

Brag

There may be no such thing as bad press but there’s no better feeling than great press. If someone else has tooted your horn lately, make sure you show it off and let everyone know. Take out the best quotes from a great review and make individual quote posts from them. Tag the publication on Instagram and maybe they’ll repost you on their own page.

BONUS TIP: Grow your secret society

Everyone loves to be the one in-the-know. Reward you Instagram followers (and your email list) for their loyalty and pop a secret code into your Instagram story (and newsletter). Let your customers know that this code unlocks secret menu items only available to those with the code. As a part of your Instagram story, the code will only be visible for 24 hours. This is a great way to keep customers checking your content consistently.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series made special just for restaurateurs. Don’t own a restaurant? No problem. Please use the share buttons below the sign-up box to send this post to your favorite restaurant and help them better serve you!

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