Why Your Restaurant Should Use Social Media (Particularly Facebook)

Word of mouth has always been and continues to be the best way for people to hear about your restaurant – 86% of people say that they trust a review or recommendation from someone they know and 88% say they trust online reviews. That review component is crucial to reaching a new potential customer base and getting people to patronize your restaurant.

Thankfully for you, social media has expanded on that Word of Mouth Marketing by giving customers a space to see ratings, reviews, and great food pictures before entering your establishment or ordering to-go. Setting up a Facebook page where you can post updates in real-time and incorporate the review component will allow you to easily reach a new audience that trusts the good word about your place. It’s also never a bad idea to start an Instagram account – it was basically made for pictures of food. 

Updating Social Media (vs. Your Website) Allows You to be Quick and Agile

Compared to changing the language and pictures on your website all the time, many successful establishments will change hours, add pictures, and post specials on their Facebook and Instagram accounts. It doesn’t take long to make those changes and many customers look here for the most up-to-date information. If you give them guidelines, your staff can be involved by helping create content and actually posting or updating for you. 

Happy Customers Can Easily Tell Your Story

43% of customers say they are willing to leave a good review if they have a positive experience at your restaurant. That is significantly more than other industries and goes to show that if people like you, they will tell their network. There are many groups in cities designed specifically for this purpose (like RVA Dine & Drink) where restaurants will often get tagged in posts extolling the virtues of their cuisine. Having that online presence makes it so that people can easily end up on your pages and accounts, drooling over reviews with pictures that other satisfied customers have left.

Larger Potential Audience = More Potential Customers

In times past, people might stumble upon your restaurant while out walking or driving around and look up reviews on their smartphones. In our current day and age, people are venturing out far less often and are relying much more on digital recommendations when choosing their next nightly meal. Someone may be willing to drive 13 miles for mouth-watering wings if they see amazing online reviews, whereas before they wouldn’t have happened upon your establishment. Tapping into your whole city and surrounding area could introduce your brand to many more people vs. those that live in your neighborhood. This is great for new business and can also help you replace any business you may have lost during pandemic mitigation efforts. 

About Supply Cannon:

Supply Cannon has created an online platform to use modern technology and bring efficiency and cost savings to the dated wholesale sourcing and ordering process for the entire hospitality industry. Discover Supply Cannon’s new intuitive platform connecting distributors and restaurant owners across the USA.