How Local Influencers Can Help Your Restaurant Reach New Customers

Posted on March 15, 2023 by absolute.admin3

As a restaurant owner, you know that word-of-mouth is one of the best ways to attract new customers. And what better way to get people talking about your business than by enlisting the help of local influencers?

Influencers are social media users with a large following who can help spread the word about your restaurant to their followers. But how do you go about finding and working with local influencers? In this blog post, we’ll give you some tips on how to get started.

Why local influencers are essential for small businesses

Local influencers can be incredibly powerful when it comes to helping local restaurants thrive. This is because they understand the local market and have relationships with local customers that a business might need help to access. These local connections give local influencers the unique ability to promote products or services within the local area, allowing restaurants to reach out to more customers and potentially increase their customer base in a relatively short period of time. Ultimately, local influencers can accelerate the growth of small businesses and make them more successful by connecting them with the local customers they need to succeed.

How to find the right local influencer for your business

Finding the right local influencer for your business can be daunting. First, it’s important to consider what kind of reach you’re aiming for and which particular audience you hope to target. It’s also important to research potential influencers, focusing on the type and quality of content they produce, as this will serve as a strong indicator of how successful you may be with working with them. Once you have narrowed down your choices, reaching out and getting in touch is best—establishing a personal connection can often lead to deeper collaborations. Local influencers have proven an invaluable resource for many small businesses looking to grow their reach, so don’t underestimate the power of networking!

What kind of content to create with your local influencer

Working with a local influencer effectively allows restaurants to grow their reach and further engage with new and existing customers. When brainstorming content to create with a local influencer, it’s important to think about creative ways that bring awareness of your business to their followers and highlight why you’re the ideal choice for customers in the area. For example, a powerful post could be having the influencer tell their story:

How they use your product or service in their life.
What motivated them to work with you.
What makes your product or service so much better than others?

Or make it interactive by showing how delighted they are when introducing a giveaway exclusive to their followers. Whatever you decide on, remember that it should authentically represent who you are as a business!

How to measure the success of your campaign

Measuring the success of your campaign is essential to understanding where improvements may be needed or how well things are going. With local influencers helping your restaurant grow, it’s important to track their success so you can evaluate the value they bring. Engagement metrics such as likes, comments, and shares are among the most measurable ways to gauge this type of campaign’s effectiveness. Additionally, monitor website analytics and any customer feedback related to the influencer you’re working with. This insight gives you more details on how people engage with your brand and can help you understand what content performs best for future campaigns.

If you’re a restaurant owner, it’s time to start harnessing the power of local influencers. These everyday people can help promote your products or services to their friends and followers, giving your business the boost it needs to grow. But how do you find the right local influencer for your business? And what kind of content should you create with them? At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we have the answers to all of your questions. We’ll work with you to develop a customized plan that fits your budget and meets your marketing goals. So contact us today, and let’s get started on growing your small business into a big success!

The Next Big Thing – TikTok

Posted on December 9, 2021 by absolute.admin3

TikTok has been named “the world’s leading social media site” with over 600 million monthly active followers. This new platform enables users to create and share short videos, paired with visual and sound effects, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long. Even if you are not one to use other forms of social media, TikTok is unique as it features many different genres, including but not limited to dance, comedy, collaboration, and education. Often, users create these videos in hopes of going viral or spreading their content quickly to a large audience. As a result, we have seen many businesses hop on this trend as a new form of digital marketing. However, although TikTok may seem simple, we have found that companies struggle with projecting their message within a few seconds. Therefore, we recommend experimenting with TikTok’s different features before posting to the platform.

Why should you use TikTok to promote your small business?

As previously mentioned, TikTok has millions of users, and the platform is projected to double within the next few years! Due to this growth, businesses can potentially increase their reach when using this platform. Similar to other forms of social media, TikTok allows you to target your business’s ideal age, location, and interest. We have seen companies who use social media marketing to target younger users because they are the dominant consumers. On TikTok, about 60% of users are those ranging from 16 to 23. If this age group synchronizes with your target audience, we recommend creating your TikTok account now!

What type of content is most successful?

TikTok has various videos that users can produce; however, the most popular ones engage other users. For example, a viral video challenge, like the difficult dance to the song Renegade, creates a competitive stage for consumers to communicate. Individuals can also collaborate with other users by merging two videos. This collaboration can introduce followers to new accounts, ideally increasing your awareness and overall following.

On the other hand, life hack videos are popular on TikTok because they quickly fix common problems. Such videos can range from helpful cleaning tips to effective weightless remedies for users to try. Either way, TikTok provides a platform for people to visualize the result of these hacks. In addition, many TikTok users have found success in simply talking to their followers. In the end, people are nosey, and therefore, it is common for users to find interest in people gossiping about their job, relationships, or hobbies.

How can you create content for your small business?

When debuting your TikTok account, we recommend trying any of the mentioned trends to engage your audience. As a small business, you can customize these challenges to relate to your products. For example, could your good or service become a resourceful hack for users? If so, create a video showing exactly how to use your product! You can also try making your own challenge for followers to try. If successful, you could have millions of followers tagging your business with each video attempt.

What else can help my content’s popularity?

Just like any other form of social media, hashtags will benefit your account by categorizing your posts with related topics. However, be cautious of hashtags like #digitalmarketing, which has 478.3 million posts, because you do not want your video to get lost among those other millions of posts. In addition, TikTok creates weekly trending hashtags relating to its sponsors. For example, Chewy, a pet product retailer, partnered with TikTok to create #chewychattypets. Not only does this hashtag encourages users to create pet-related videos, but it also optimizes these posts. If these trending hashtags connect to parts of your business, use them!

We also recommend finding the ideal posting time for your business. For example, our research found that Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Thursdays at noon work well with our audience demographics; however, like other social platforms, this is custom to each industry.

TikTok is a fun and exciting new platform to use in digital marketing. But whether you decide to follow trends or create your own, try not to take yourself too seriously!

We encourage you to look at some of the TikToks we created for Premier Nails Source, Eddie and Sam’s New York Pizza, and Absolute Marketing Solutions for inspiration.

If you are interested in inquiring about social media management, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.

Start Preparing Now for Next Year’s Cyber Monday:

Posted on November 30, 2021 by absolute.admin3

The weekend following Thanksgiving can easily be named one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Just this year, Cyber Monday brought over $11 million in sales from over 80 million people. As a small business owner, this opportunity is not one to miss as it can help you reach your short- and long-term sales goals. We suggest that businesses start preparing now for next year’s chaos to ensure that Cyber Monday is a success.

Thankfully, Cyber Monday has made it easier for customers to purchase their holiday gift list with a simple click of a button. Unlike Black Friday, customers no longer need to map out shopping routes, wait in never-ending lines, or fight their way to the cash register. This significant change in retailing has urged more consumers to order online. To prepare for a large number of shoppers visiting your online store, we suggest updating the speed of your website. You can measure this through Google’s Paid Speed Insights. Note that your website should ideally load in less than three seconds. If your website does not load within that time range, there is a high chance that users may move on to your competitor’s site.

You can additionally use your website to promote offers running exclusively on Cyber Monday. This campaign can create a sense of urgency for customers who may be browsing your website before November 29. As an example, try revealing weekly deals on hot products leading up to Cyber Monday. If your website utilizes cookies, you can track whether a customer has viewed these offers, and therefore, tailer their future visit around this information.

Since there will be a large number of online traffic, it may be helpful to have a customer service team available to answer questions and assist customers with any problems. An effective customer service team can be easy to reach on multiple platforms, such as phone, email, social media, or online chatbot.

As explained in our previous blog, Direct Marketing Solutions, direct marketing can also be an effective tactic to use when communicating with your customers. If your business has established a mailing list, we recommend utilizing the subscriber’s information to send specific details about Cyber Monday. By directly contacting customers, there is an immediate sense of loyalty felt between the recipient and business. You could use this relationship to offer brand advocates a pre-access code to Cyber Monday deals or a product sample with a specific purchase. If successful, this promotional style will translate to word-of-mouth marketing through their advocation for your business.

Although loyal customers are always beneficial to a business, it is important to reach new customers too. To do this, we recommend using social media to inform and engage prospects about your Cyber Monday offers. At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we like to use Instagram and Facebook ads to reach a larger audience. These platforms allow you to track analytics relating to your advertisement and can be easily managed. To differentiate your Cyber Monday advertisements from others, use hashtags like #cybermonday, #shopsmall, or #cybersales.

Although many other promotional tactics can be used to market a business during Cyber Monday, we have selected these specific methods to ensure success in sales.

If you have any questions regarding promotional or marketing tactics, please contact one of our experts at Absolute Marketing Solutions.

A Business Owner’s Guide to Digital Marketing

Posted on December 27, 2018 by absolute.admin3

The red bubble on your inbox icon reads 52. It’s 7:02 am. Gulping your coffee, you start wading through the email chaos. You clench your mug – half of these emails are ads for digital marketing services. Finding digital marketing help has been on your to-do list for a week, but more options bring more confusion. How do you choose a digital marketing person or team when you don’t know what digital marketing entails? Can digital marketing be done by one person? More importantly, how is digital marketing even defined? Now your head is spinning with questions you don’t know the answers to. Digital marketing efforts will be postponed another day… or five.

We’re often asked, “what’s the difference between regular marketing and digital marketing? and “is digital marketing social media?” so we decided to break it down. The basic definition of digital marketing is: “the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising and any other digital medium.”

The main difference between digital marketing and traditional marketing is, of course, the Internet. Digital marketing is on the rise because it is more measurable, targeted and personable than traditional marketing. However, it’s no surprise that many are unsure about the digital marketing process, the roles that are necessary, and how digital marketing can be utilized for business.

Web Design

Developing a website is not included in digital marketing, but digital marketing activities (when done well) drive traffic to your website. If potential customers are directed to your site and cannot find what they need, the digital marketing practices are useless. It is imperative that your website is fully developed before moving forward with digital marketing, so we always recommend beginning with website design.

In today’s noisy landscape, your website is the first impression, portraying your value to visitors. An informative, eye-catching and easy-to-use website is crucial to any business in defining its brand, connecting with customers and influencing buying decisions. Not only does your website need to be effective on a computer, but it must be equally effective on a cell phone or tablet – this is referred to as responsive web design. Mobile traffic makes up nearly 60 percent of all web traffic, so it is crucial for websites to function on various devices. To learn more about our responsive web design services, click here.

Website Optimization

A website cannot be built and left alone. It takes constant testing, examining and measuring to ensure a website is performing effectively. The goal of website optimization is to convert visitors into customers. This may entail moving features around, changing colors or updating information to cater to different people. Website optimization is a perpetual process of educated experimentation. You can track and compare users’ actions, but preferences and features are constantly changing. By optimizing and updating your website, your online presence will never stagnate. Feel free to read more about our optimizing maintenance services.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

A great website is no use if no one can find it. That’s where SEO comes in. In order for a website to register with search engines like Google, popular keywords must be utilized. The SEO process includes website audits, link building and in-depth keyword analysis to determine which phrases people use when searching for your products or services. SEO requires a trained SEO professional, who sometimes works with the website developer when elemental changes are necessary. Want to read more about SEO? Click here.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is the most common form of SEM. PPC is a key-word focused approach used as a form of paid advertising. The advertiser (you) pays the search engine a small fee each time your ad is clicked. When done efficiently, the visit to your website will result in a sale, which outweighs the amount paid to get the consumer there. This form of marketing generates immediate leads and measurable results. If you’re interested in PPC, or other forms of search engine marketing click here.

Display Advertising

Display advertising includes any type of banner ad used on websites, apps or social media that aim to deliver targeted messages. Digital advertising isn’t limited to banner ads, it also includes forms of outdoor advertising. Did you know that digital billboards can tell when it’s raining, and can change the displayed advertisement to fit the forecast? That’s the difference between traditional billboard marketing and digital billboard marketing. Digital marketers utilize ever-changing scenarios and concepts to their benefit – thank you, technology. Display advertising calls for a copywriter and graphic designer.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is no longer just a way to chat with your friends – it’s an opportunity to improve your business. Social media is a powerful digital marketing tactic; posting consistent, relevant content will help build a loyal following. Consumers have daily conversations about your industry. The best way for your company to remain at the center of the conversation is to become a part of the conversation. Social media is a forum for conversations, reviews and trending information, and must be constantly monitored. It’s crucial to know that it’s not all about receiving likes. One person can handle social media marketing, but the best work is done when writers, photographers and graphic designers create content together. There’s a lot to understand about social media. Here’s some more information.

Content Marketing

Businesses are continually finding ways to carve a place in the minds and hearts of consumers. The days of using a catchy jingle or a colorful print ad to capture customers are gone. In our digital age, one of the best ways to build trust among consumers is to offer something of value. Creating content (like blogs or video seminars) that solves a problem, entertains or educates consumers will help your business stand out. The content marketing process usually calls for a videographer/photographer, writer and graphic designer. Read on about our content marketing process.

Email Marketing

While email may be one of the oldest forms of digital communication, it also is one of the highest converting mediums. An effective email marketing strategy can connect you to your audience; email marketing software helps you understand your audience’s response so that you can plan your next marketing move. It’s a good way to ensure that specific audience members are receiving important announcements and opportunities. Email marketing is not as simple as just hitting send, the writing, visuals and flow of information must be well-thought-out. More about email marketing can be found here.

Public Relations & Reputation Management

Public relations focuses on storytelling, persuading and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships on clients’ behalf. The goal is to ensure that your business is being positively discussed by the public – both in person and online. PR professionals work to repair the business’s reputation and mend the repercussions if a business has been negatively impacted. When a business takes a hit, it doesn’t take long before it’s being discussed on the internet, making crisis management a digital concept. PR professionals must repair the digital status by pushing down any negative articles or comments in search rankings. This also entails sending custom messages to all stakeholders. Writers, spokespeople and social media managers may make up a PR team. If you need help managing your reputation, here’s a more in-depth look at our process.

Although we’ve discussed each component of digital marketing as separate, it takes a team of digital communication professionals to work together for consistency and success. Our clients utilize our team of graphic designers, content strategists, videographers, PR professionals, website developers and SEO experts for every digital marketing project. The best digital marketing is done as a team with a goal, tone, strategy and audience in mind.

Do you have a clearer understanding of digital marketing services? If not, give us a call to learn more about how we can help advance your business: (813) 908-6862.

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Phoebe

A recent graduate from the University of Tampa, Phoebe brings an understanding of journalism, PR, advertising & branding to the Absolute team. Her extensive customer service and cross-cultural communication experiences give her insights into various perspectives.

Will Instagram Likes Pay the Bills?

Posted on December 3, 2018 by absolute.admin3

Social media users are like addicts. I don’t say this lightly – the obsession with likes has been compared to doing cocaine or smoking cigarettes by researchers and psychologists. Likes drive our egos- it feels good to receive a lot of likes. So, it’s no surprise that many social media marketers are also consumed by the pursuit of likes. Many marketers see it as an easy way to validate their efforts on behalf of their company or client.

However, it’s easy to overinflate the value of a like. Likes offer a simple measurement method: having no likes is bad, and having many likes is good. However, a like seldom reflects revenue. After all, we have yet to meet a vendor that accepts likes as payment (if you know of any, please leave a comment below).

Don’t get me wrong, we’re not arguing that likes don’t have value. They serve as an important indicator of how your social content is being received by your audience. However, too many marketers rely on likes and other so-called vanity metrics. Vanity metrics look good on paper, but they are easily manipulated and as mentioned, do not correlate with profitability.

Now we can discuss how social media can actually benefit your business and bottom line. Social media is an effective way to:

engage in meaningful dialogue with existing and potential customers
get informed on relevant trends and tastes
research your competition
monitor your reputation

Let us explain.

ENGAGING MEANINGFULLY

What exactly is engagement you may ask? In marketing, we sometimes hear the term ‘engagement rate’ used to represent the amount of vanity metrics received. Instead, we like to refer to the vanity metrics received as social transactions and use the term ‘engagement’ to describe social media dialogue. Although dialogue is more difficult to measure than vanity metrics, it is much more rewarding; it is the type of social media use that results in loyal fans and customer insights.

Here are some tips to drive dialogue:

Know your brand personality and stick to it.
Personalize every message.
Stay human and conversational.
Timeliness matters.
Pay attention to what times your audience is engaging.

Engaging in meaningful dialogue takes time and creativity. Users can tell when they’re getting the same, computer-generated responses, and it makes them feel unheard and unappreciated. It pays to put some thought into your responses in order to keep conversations going! It’s also a good idea to take initiative and start dialog yourself by posing questions and asking for opinions. This is how you make the customer feel important and understood. By fostering conversation, you foster trust in your brand.

SPOTTING TRENDS

Social media is a hub for information. It’s a way to learn about local news, events, businesses, products and people. Large companies pay a great deal of money for market research. Major publications publish countless articles on the latest trends. However, these aren’t the only ways to gain public insight! Social media makes it possible for small and independent businesses to do market research and trend analysis independently – but you’ve got to know what you’re looking for.

It is important to read credible blogs, follow specific hashtags and search for industry phrases, acronyms and thought leaders. Since the marketplace is constantly changing, you must do so regularly. Trend-spotting is not just about listening to your target audience, it’s about asking them questions. Tools like SurveyMonkey and social media polls are affordable ways to get direct feedback. Social media is a community of existing and potential customers. You diminish social media’s value if you’re not paying attention to the overarching conversations.

RESEARCHING COMPETITION

Analyzing the competition has never been easier. Long gone are the days of going to your competitor’s establishment undercover – just head to their social media. Here, you’ll be able to find much more than their products and promos. Social media enables you to see who their audience is! Who are they attracting, that you are not? You can even see what their audience members are saying about them and use it to your advantage by differentiating or improving. You can also get an understanding of your competitors’ marketing tactics. What language and images do they use? How often do they post new content? Do they engage with their audience? What are they doing well, and what are they doing poorly? All of this information and more is available via social media.

MONITORING REPUTATION

Social media is an important tool in protecting your reputation. Usually, when someone has a negative experience, social media is the first place they go to complain. For many business owners, it’s hard to read critical comments. For this reason, it is many business owners’ first reaction to act defensively, viewing and answering their “haters” as enemies. This is almost always a big mistake, and it’s one of the main reasons it is beneficial to hire an outside agency to manage reviews and reputation.

Hug Your Haters, written by best-selling author Jay Baer, refers to social media complainers as the “early warning detection system for your business.” He writes about how when handled correctly, haters can be used to your business’s advantage. What matters most is in the response. One must apologize for the issue and pacify the person, all in a speedy manner. This helps make up for the problem, and the insight can be used to ensure it does not happen again.

Loads of likes may be impressive to the eye, but they are not increasing your profit. Social media has evolved into a platform for customer reviews and market research. It’s a marketer’s job to use social platforms to make informed business decisions and strategize for the future.

Engage meaningfully with customers to gain loyalty and brand awareness. Study trends and competitors to discover external standards and inspiration. Accept negative feedback to solve internal issues. When done diligently, you’ll build a stronger social presence and overall business – the real payback of social media.

Contact Absolute Marketing Solutions to learn more about social media marketing that focuses on real customers, in real time, to generate real results.

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Phoebe

Three Reasons Your Restaurant Should Embrace Employee Social Media Advocacy

Posted on February 6, 2018 by absolute.admin3

If you are like many restaurant owners, you know that your staff spends a great deal of time (hopefully off the clock) on social media. Yet if you are like most restaurant owners, you may not have considered how this behavior could have a positive impact on your business.

Restaurant owners have long understood the value and impact that word-of-mouth marketing can have on their bottom line. If a friend, colleague, or family member tells you about a good experience they had a local eatery, you are more likely to trust their opinion and may wish to try it as well.

In 2014, a study conducted by Verizon and Small Business Trends found that 85% of customers learn about a business through word-of-mouth. What’s even more surprising about this statistic is that when the study was first surveyed in 2005, the result was 83%.

By now, you likely know that social media presents an opportunity to leverage similar word-of-mouth recommendations and endorsements. However, there is one surprising social media tactic that is increasing in popularity: employee social media advocacy.

What is Employee Social Media Advocacy?

Employee advocacy refers to the promotion of an organization by its employees. This can take many forms including email, chat, forums, discussion boards, but the most common and effective channel is social media. Assuming your employees care about your restaurant (and if they don’t then maybe they don’t need to be there) then they can be one of your biggest marketing assets.

According to Marketing Profs, employees are hiding their superpowers regarding what they can do for your brand. Some of the most staggering statistics include:

– Content shared by employees receives eight times the engagement than content on branded channels

– 1000 employee advocates can reach 1 million customers, drive 50,000 social engagements, and create 5,000 unique pieces of content.

– A 12% increase in brand advocacy can double revenue growth

(source: http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2014/24740/unleash-the-superpowers-of-employee-advocates-infographic

Three Ways that Employee Social Media Advocacy Works

A bigger reach

If you consider that each employee may have eight or more social network accounts with a few hundred followers, you can begin to see the size of your employees’ social media footprint and the marketing reach it presents. Every chef, sous chef, server, bartender, and host has a personal social media network that could amount to thousands of potential customers within your reach, dramatically expanding the possibilities of peer-to-peer endorsement.

Trustworthy endorsements

A study found that an employee sharing company content on their newsfeed had 20 times more impact than a brand publishing on their page, for the reason that individuals are more likely to trust and believe content shared by another individual rather than a company or brand sharing it about themselves. The same applies to the real world. Would you be more likely to believe that Starbucks employees have high job satisfaction because Starbucks posted it on their corporate press page, or because your friend who works there shared the story on their wall?

Amplified messaging

Social media advocacy works in tandem with your corporate or brand messaging to have a synergistic effect. With your employees contributing to the conversations around your restaurant brand, it further emphasizes your own messaging because you are not the only one having the conversation. Use your employees and their existing social media networks to deliver messages about your products or services in a way that feels authentic, natural, and trustable. Not only could their posts be influential to potential customers, but social postings can spread company culture and can express your values, missions, and goals to their audience.

Build a social media advocacy army

One of the most significant benefits of using employee advocacy on social media is that its momentum can be self-sustained by your employees once they understand the policies that govern your social media presence. Social media marketing’s success is often tied to not only a regular stream of valuable, engaging content but in remaining consistent and spreading approved messages to enhance your brand’s reputation online. In this way, you can leverage social media advocacy by using your employee’s existing social behaviors to grow your brand’s online presence further.

At Absolute Marketing Solutions, we partner with restaurant owners to help educate and empower their staff and employees to devise a custom social media marketing strategy to accelerate growth and build a world-class brand experience.

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Miné Salkin

Miné Salkin is a multimedia producer with a specialty in marketing, tech writing and digital storytelling.

Facebook has changed…. Again. What does it mean for your restaurant?

Posted on January 22, 2018 by absolute.admin3

If you have a Facebook page for your restaurant or business, you’ll want to pay particular attention to the changes that are getting rolled out over the next few months.

In January 2018, Mark Zuckerberg announced upcoming changes to handle the way content appears on news feeds. These changes would define what users see, and with what frequency. What this means is that posts from your brand will show up less and less on users’ feeds.

The changes are meant to increase user activity with the platform. Rather than showing than content put out by brands, media companies, and publishers, Facebook wants to put the power back into the hands of users, rather than content publishers.

How Facebook marketing used to work for restaurants

In the early days, it was all about the number of likes you had. Surely, that was an important indicator of legitimacy, and meant the more the likes, the more the customers. Facebook later told us that having a verified page was a critical visibility factor, and that your business may not be easily found if you did not take the steps to verify your listing. “Likes” became less important as users then became focused on online reviews, the response rate by which you could answer questions about your business, and your ability to carry out customer service. Good reviews became increasingly important, and since you couldn’t delete them, your users paid close attention to how you handled them.

>> Related post: The delicate art of responding to customer complaints

Coupled with this, Facebook showed preference to publishers that created short, catchy, and engaging forms of content. Often, this took shape in the restaurant industry as “snackable” videos – short videos of branded content that enticed users to learn more.

While maintaining customer service on your social media channel, and creating valuable content are still very important to maintain for your brand, Facebook is now focusing on bringing people together to share and watch content together, and bring the “social” back to social media.

So… what does the new Facebook news feed algorithm mean for your restaurant now?

More than ever before, engaging content is only as valuable as it brings people together, and makes people want to share it with their family, friends, and colleagues. Here are some immediate effects of the change:

People will spend less time on Facebook
People will see fewer posts by brands, including your restaurant
You have a narrower window of opportunity to be seen by your followers (because Facebook will display your content even less frequently)
Influencers will have a bigger impact on your social media visibility than ever before

Why did Facebook do this?!?

Facebook has done some soul-searching and wants to improve users’ lives, and expose them to fewer divergent views, opportunities to argue, or passively consume content.

If you think about it, the move totally makes sense. Think of all those hours you’ve spent on your phone, mindlessly scrolling through your feed, clicking through cat videos and quizzes about what Game of Thrones character you are, and other types of content from publishers, rather than engaging with friends and family. While Facebook has been decreasing the organic reach of content published by companies and brands, that’s made the platform increasingly pay-to-play, with publishers dishing out advertising spend just to get in front of the very people they wish to target.

Facebook used to be about the people; but in recent days, has been criticized for being a platform for dividing people, spreading “fake news,” and becoming an ad platform. This move is an attempt to cut through that and restore the sense of community and social engagement that the company started out pursuing.

How can I make sure my audience still sees my content?

Don’t panic; these changes may seem drastic, but they could help your restaurant’s position in the Facebook community. Doing this will motivate brands and companies only produce high-quality, highly-sharable, highly-social content. Here are two ways that restaurants can start planning their Facebook marketing strategy to rise above their competitors.

Watch Party

Rolling out with this change is a new product called “Watch Party,” a feature that will let groups of Facebook users watch a video at the same time.

Restaurants should certainly take advantage of this feature, which is different from live videos but is inspired by the video feature. Facebook said that live videos create six times more interactions than regular, non-live videos, and the reason for this is because people watch them together. When users are watching the same video, no matter where they are and are commenting, liking, and engaging with it, it creates a community.

Host an event, reveal news, or feature other exciting content that is so awesome, your restaurant fans will want to watch it together and share it with their friends. Make users want to visit you after seeing you announce a special new holiday special, a limited-time offer, or another promotion at your venue.

Influencer marketing

If you haven’t found local influencers in your community, you haven’t tapped into one of social media marketing’s most valuable resource. Influencers are tastemakers; people who have trusted followers and can endorse and enhance the reputation of brands by standing behind them.

With the newsfeed algorithm change, influencers will get a boost in value because they not only are engaging content producers, but because their content is user-generated, and their fans are authentic. Facebook is giving the opportunity for influencers to double down on this opportunity, and so should your restaurant.

Having an influencer outreach strategy is of vital importance, and coupled with an engaging content calendar, can massively improve your online visibility and help your brand stand out amongst a sea of competitors who are now racing for finite space on the social media platform.

How can I use Facebook marketing for my restaurant?

As a restaurant owner, you know how important it is for your patrons to visit your establishment with their friends, family, their tribe, and to connect and build experiences there. From here on out, your social media strategy has to reflect the same values of personalization to survive the new ecosystem.

To learn more about social media marketing for your restaurant, contact us today!

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Miné Salkin

Miné Salkin is a multimedia producer with a specialty in marketing, tech writing and digital storytelling.