Social media is a great way to connect with current and potential customers. The active user base certainly shows a world of opportunity. According to their 2015 Annual Reports (Form 10-K) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook and Twitter boast an impressive 1.04 billion daily active users in December 2015 and 302 million monthly active users in the three months ending December 2015, respectively. With these figures in mind, discover ways you can turn these daily active users into prospective diners for your restaurant.

Metrics with Facebook and Twitter

Facebook and Twitter provide business users with valuable tools that can be used to gauge their current activities and expand their reach.

For owners who operate a Facebook page for their restaurant, the website’s “Insights” feature allows restaurateurs to track how many users have seen their posts/updates, along with the amount of interactions the post has received, including Likes, Comments, Shares, etc. This information can help restaurateurs get a pulse on how well their posts are performing, help them quantify their audience and also help them get a better sense of what interests their prospective customers.

Twitter is great for staying informed on current topics. The social media website’s “Trends” sidebar allows restaurateurs to see who and what is being discussed based on a specific location. This information can be used by businesses to join trending conversations and expand their online presence.

Another feature restaurateurs can take advantage of on Twitter is its analytics feature, which can be implemented on your Twitter profile. This feature showcases a Tweet activity dashboard which gives beneficial metrics including activities on your Tweets (such as Likes and Retweets) and information on your audience.

Instagram

Instagram is a great vehicle for restaurants since it enables them to showcase their menus. Restaurants can get creative and post appealing pictures of new or seasonal menu items to generate demand.

Additionally, they can find posts related to their restaurant locations as Instagram has the capability that allows users to tag the location of where their photo was taken, also known as geotagging. A recent trend among Instagram users is creatively integrating the app’s relatively new video feature by showcasing recipes. The results are short clips that display quick and simple recipes, which keep followers engaged. This could be a great tool for restaurants to use on simple recipes that can be prepared at home.

A Consistent Presence

An important aspect of a businesses’ online presence is remaining consistent. Avoid long streaks of inactivity and continue to reach out to and engage your followers to avoid losing them. Restraint is equally as important. Businesses should avoid posting too frequently as they could clutter their follower’s feed and frustrate them.

For more information on using social media to promote your restaurant, contact Chris Georgiou at [email protected], or call him at 312.670.7444. Visit ORBA.com to learn more about our Restaurant Group.