Strategies that Set Your Restaurant up for Social Media Success

Social media can only be successful when it’s set up with planning, consistency and execution. When it comes to how most restaurants approach social media, those strategies are not always used. But taking time up front to set up the right systems and engage the right resources, will help set yourself up for success long-term. Here are some powerful strategies we’ve seen, when utilized, can be major time savers and success drivers:

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Create a Content Calendar

A content calendar is a tool that helps you plan what, where and when you’re going to post throughout the month. It helps you see what major events or holidays you can layer onto and by pre-planning, you can ensure proper promotion of whatever you want to focus on that month. Then at the start of each week you can decide what from the content calendar you want to actually execute and post about, as well as scheduling posts through tools like Hootsuite or CoSchedule.

Assign a Team

Whether it’s hiring a social media intern or adding it to the duties of someone on staff, if you want to be successful, you need someone both with the proper skills and time to commit to it. Also think about what kind of process you want to set up for approving posts, if that’s important.

Plan Goals and Celebrations

In order to make sure you’re growing, it’s important to set goals and celebrate milestones. A great way to celebrate is getting your staff involved. For example, maybe you’ll host a small party or surprise when you reach 500 likes or 30 five star reviews. Getting your team involved both helps them feel engaged and connected to making these social media posts successful. Think about it, each person on your staff has their own network on each social media platform. Having their buy-in and support exposes you to audiences you may not have reached before.

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Test, Test, Test

Pay attention and document which posts are getting the most engagement and attention from your audience. Then try to dissect what is making these posts so popular. Was it the time of day or week it was posted? Did it feature a certain menu item or person? Asking questions like this will help you continue to enhance your presence on social media.

Having well-run social media channels helps you connect with your customers when they’re outside your restaurant in a meaningful way, making them feel more attached to your business. However, the only way you can accomplish this is to make sure you have the systems in place to set you up for success. To explore more, check out our Social Media for Restaurants Webinar.

(Source: Upsource.com; by Morgan Thompson)

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