In the past you’ve probably marketed your restaurant with newspaper ads,
postcard mailings, maybe even a birthday program. But restaurant marketing
has drastically changed in recent years, and like most businesses with a big shift
toward the Internet – and social media is the center of the conversation. It’s one
thing to have a Facebook page – it’s another to have a social media strategy
that yields measurable results. Restaurants that are doing social media right are
acquiring new customers and increasing guest frequency at a fraction of the cost
of traditional advertising.

Here’s a list of tips to improve your Facebook page
to get better results:

Build a Custom Landing Page

Facebook was always known for its uniformity. You could post all sorts of
content, but your page design will essentially look just like everyone else’s.
However, now Facebook lets you develop custom branded landing pages, which
let you personalize your restaurant’s page with photos, videos, contest forms and
much more. Landing pages are often used to promote deals, special events or
simply welcome visitors in a creative way. A good example would be promoting
a contest with a sign-up form, or a big call-out to like the page with an arrow
pointing to the Like button. Try using some of these ideas to personalize your
page, and before you know it you’ll have a have a lot more likes!

Contests are a Winner

Giving away a little something is a surefire way to generate buzz, get people
engaged, and increase your likes. And since your fans are already hanging
out on Facebook doing something else, filling out the online contest form really
isn’t a big deal. Best of all, Facebook contests are a great way to capture data,
including email and physical addresses for re-marketing. Make sure to mention
your contest in your ad. An example would be: “Like us for a chance to win a
$100 Gift Card”

Use Applications

Polls, quizzes and other types of applications are available in the Admin section
for page owners, and they take just a few clicks to install. Facebook offers
some generic ones, like a discussion board, but you can also add other apps
from Facebook’s app directory. A great example would be – the Open Table
app – If you use this popular reservation system in your restaurant, you can
also offer online reservations right from your Facebook page! Plus, if you know
how to develop in HTML, or know a web programmer then the sky is the limit.
Programmers can create customized tabs using Facebook’s HTML-style FBML
markup language, which can do virtually anything a website can do.

Facebook ads are Smart

Facebook ads are the epitome of targeted marketing, and if handled correctly,
can bring you a great return on your investment. Ads can be targeted by city,
age, gender, interests, and other demographic criteria. You can even target your
audience by the pages they like. So for example, if your restaurant is hosting a
wine dinner, run a targeted ad to Facebook users located within 10 miles of your
restaurant, who are fans of Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast magazines. You
can’t get any more targeted than that! Facebook ads are one of the fastest ways
to build likes and to locate a prime audience for your restaurant.

The goal of any restaurant is to build customer loyalty, and get your patrons
to recommend your restaurant to their friends. A simple thing like designing a
custom Facebook page and interacting with your guests can work wonders for
your brand. Post regularly and let your fans feel like they are involved in the
experience. All of these practices will engage your fans in what you have to offer,
lengthen the experience, and keep customers coming back for more.

For more information on social media for restaurants contact, Brainstorm Studio today.