If you are a restaurant owner and still asking yourself should I do social media Social Media then you’re a tad bit late! Social Media is the most used marketing channel by restaurants in Nepal so far, and if your restaurants are not on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you are already behind your competitor. Social Media is not a choice for restaurants anymore; it’s a necessity!
Join the bandwagon before it’s too late.
Why is Social Media important for your Restaurant?
- Your Competitors are on Social Media
- Low Investment & Cost effective
- Brand Awareness
- Traffic source for website
- Learn about new trends
- Engage with people
- Track sales funnel and sales
If you are still not convinced, consider the following Stats
9500000
Facebook users in Nepal
3800000
YouTube users in Nepal
1200000
Instagram users in Nepal
2300000
Twitter users in Nepal
500000
Pinterest users in Nepal
540000
Pinterest users in Nepal
Did you know?
There are 300 million food photos on Instagram only topped by 316 million Selfies.
Increasing Trend, Food business and Competition in Nepal
It was not long ago when eating out with friends and family had to be an occasion, and it didn’t take long for restaurants to be an integral part of the daily life for Nepalese People.
Restaurants have been the 2nd kitchen for Nepalese People.
And this increasing trend in Nepalese People and their spending capacity is the reason for the growth of restaurants, bars, fast food outlets and cafes in Nepal.
According to the Department of Industry, there are 716 registered restaurants with an investment of Rs 30 million and above in Nepal.
In the Kathmandu valley itself, you come across a food outlet every 200 steps.
This has led to tough competition for food business like restaurants, bars, and food outlets in Nepal and further predicted to increase.
How to use Social Media effectively to promote restaurants in Nepal
Using social media to promote a business is not an easy task. Setting up your social media accounts and posting content is not enough at all. Everybody does that.
You need a well-planned social media strategy that will leverage the platforms your customers/prospects frequently use.
If done the right way, your audience will turn into fans, and fans into a loyal customer.
Not sure what that action plan is? Here are 12 steps that will allow you to take full advantage of social media marketing for your restaurant
# Step1: Define your Goal
You need to set a S.M.A.R.T goal
-Specific
-Measurable
-Attainable
-Relevant
-Time-bound
Ask yourself What do you want to achieve from this marketing campaign?
Your Social Media goals should align with the overall marketing goal of your restaurant
#Step 2: Understand your audience
Try to know your audience as much as you can. This will help you create your content that will target their preference. You can even understand what kind of food does your audience prefer, what is their spending capacity and what time of the week they prefer to come to your restaurant.
Don’t make an assumption, work on gathering even small information. The way you think may be different from the way your audience think. The greatest mistake in Nepali restaurants is that they make assumptions based on their own experience which can be different from others.
Understanding your audience will let you refine your strategy and target your social ads.
#Step 3. Research the competition
It is very important to track your competitor. Understand who your competitor is, what they are doing well and what they are failing. You will know what your potential customers are expecting in your industry.
This will also help you find an opportunity. For example, your competitor has a great presence in Facebook and has a lot of followings and engagements. But the customer is not using Instagram. This can be your opportunity!
You can start building your presence on Instagram rather than competing on Facebook.
#Step 4. Choose which Platform/s to use
Different audiences use different platforms. Each Social media platform is different from other. You need to understand where your targeted customers are. For instance, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are likely to be the platform for any Restaurants in Nepal.
Any restaurants in Nepal will surely think Facebook as the best social media for them, so they ignore Instagram and Pinterest which can be a bad idea because Instagram has more conversion rate than Facebook. Return on Investment is what matters more than the engagement.
You need to understand which platform has your target audience and if they are active on them. In Nepal, more than 60% of Instagram users are less than 40 years old, so if your restaurant is targeting young customers, it’s better to focus more on Instagram.
#Step 5. Setup your account/Pages and start posting.
After you have decided what platform to use, you need to set up your account and start posting your content. Remember, Your content is the key! So create Post attention-grabbing, share-worthy images, status updates, and Tweets. Be creative and use all kinds of content from images, infographic to Video and short movies. You should use a high-quality image and videos.
Make sure your post is uniform, use same/relative colors that will identify your brand. If your logo has a yellow and purple color, use it in your design. This will also help you build an online brand so people will identify you by just looking at your posts. Also, include your logo or watermark in every post.
#Step 6. Interact and Engage.
After you have started posting on social media through your restaurant account, you should interact with people. Your post should be asking questions and opinions so your audience will comment on it. Get the conversation flowing and encourage your audience to interact with you. The more interaction and the more sharing, the more visible your restaurant is going to be.
#Step 7. Use Social Media Advertisements
Simply Posting on social media is not enough. You are not going to get enough reach for your post. Organic reach in social media is so limited that even all of your followers are not going to see what you post.
This makes paid ads important in Social Media. Paid ads help you reach new and more customers for your restaurants.
You need to be clear on what you want to achieve from the ad. If you want to boost the post to increase your follower, find a content that has more engagement than others.
If you want to create an ad about your special offer, Make a visually appealing content that can directly convert in sales.
#Step 8. Track Metrics
Social Media Metrics such as followers, likes, comments, shares, reach, lead generation, conversation rate is important to track. These metrics provide a lot of information about your audience. You can understand what your audience prefer or what kind of post will get you leads and conversion.
While vanity metrics such as like, retweets, comments may be irrelevant to your decision-making process, they are also an important indicators of how your social media marketing strategy is performing.
Each metric has their indication and helps in retargeting the ad.
Make adjustments wherever you find it is necessary and always be willing to make changes.
Wrapping Up
These are only some basic techniques to a simple social media marketing for a restaurant. To use social media to its fullest, you are going to need to do more than the steps mentioned above.
If you are serious about your Social Media Marketing, it is not limited to part-time handling. You need a person or a team solely dedicated to it because it takes time for a business like restaurants. It takes a lot of time to build your social media presence, Increase your followers and engage & interact with them. Following each metrics and creating a report is also time-consuming.
Interacting with people at the personal level can benefit you and provide a lot of information but can be costly at the same time because You’ll have to dedicate human resources.
Social media success usually doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long-term strategy aimed at building a following that will share your content with others. That’s how you get new customers to discover your restaurant.