How to Improve Your Restaurant’s Facebook Page

To avoid running the risk of creating another ‘why Facebook is ace for marketing’ style posts we’ll keep this straight to the point and give you some handy ideas that can give your restaurants Facebook page a bit more personality.

What a restaurateur needs to know about Facebook;

• It’s free
• The majority of your customers will have a Facebook account
• Those that do will check their account several times a day
• Messages, photo’s, videos, polls and offers can be shared on the platform

Before we uncover our ideas and advice for improving your restaurants Facebook page, we’ll first take a look into how it fits in to an overall online strategy for marketing your restaurant.

Position X: The point at where a perfect blend of marketing components are utilised to create a complete and effective online presence for a restaurant.

Key Takeaways

• Facebook alone is not going fill a restaurant; it is merely one of the ingredients required in creating a successful online presence for your restaurant.
• If run efficiently it will not take much time out of your day – spending any more than 15 minutes a day would not be time well spent.
• Interconnecting your other online properties; website, email marketing and Twitter will create a more professional, consistent and thorough online presence.

Right, now you know where you stand with Facebook, let’s look at some of the ways you can derive more benefits for your restaurant.

Improving Visual Enticement

• Cover Photo – Business pages now use the same revamped profile layouts as personal pages. What this means is that the first thing a visitor will see is the large rectangle at the top of your page. To make full use of this space we recommend combining your most enticing photography with a tantalising message that creates the perfect first impression.
• Timeline – The timeline approach allows Facebook pages to tell a story and feed the user with a wealth of information in a short period of time. It encourages scrolling, which means that pictures will be the preferred content for user consumption. Again, here lies the importance of the role professional photography plays in your online marketing strategy. We recommend having a wide portfolio of images to use as ammunition to keep your page fresh with for a long period of time.
• Albums – Make it easy for users to find the pictures of the things they want to see. Create albums specific for dishes, drinks, interior shots, exterior shots, events and even ‘behind the scenes’ glimpses into what makes your restaurant special.

Excite Your Audience

Offers

Although not fully rolled out yet, the new and improved version of Facebook Offers makes it even easier to introduce custom promotional discounts directly to your audience on Facebook. See this quick guide about how to get up and running with the new style. Benefits include providing an additional mechanism for drawing customers in during the quieter periods and the added exposure your page will receive once a fan has clicked on a deal, spreading awareness of this to each of the contacts associated with the respective deal users on Facebook.

Example Offers:

15% off the total bill Monday – Friday
Cheapest Main Dish Free for Facebook fans
Magic Wednesday: 2-4-1

Polls

Quick and easy way of gaining opinions and information from your customers. Customers will view your restaurant in an increasingly positive light should decisions and changes you make come as a direct result of their feedback.

Example Poll Questions:

• Should we expand our Sushi menu?
• Are the chairs we have in the restaurant comfortable?
• What do you think to our children’s menu?
• In summer do you prefer to eat inside or out?

Competitions

A well thought out competition can encourage people to talk about your restaurant, both online and offline. Determine a suitable prize and a method for entry that is accessible by as many people as possible.

Example Competitions:

• Whether you specialise in Pizza’s, Ice Creams or Cocktails, allow your guests to design their own version for a possible inclusion on the ‘Monthly Specials’ menu. Having the opportunity to influence what is on your menu is surely going to excite existing customers, giving you a much more open and friendly persona.
• Subscribe to the email newsletter to be in with a chance of winning a complimentary meal for 2.
• Create a customer eating challenge! Dependant on the type of cuisine you offer, develop something on the larger side that is a fair old challenge, 72ounce steak for instance, and if the customer can eat it, they can have it for free! If done right, your restaurant will generate a lot more PR than without it, for the simple fact that it is newsworthy and interesting. Plus, who doesn’t like a challenge every now and then?

If you have any ideas on what works well on a restaurants Facebook page, please let us know by commenting below. Alternatively, check out more of our online marketing guides for restaurants.