Getting your restaurant’s social media posts to gain proper friction is not easy. With hundreds of rival restaurants filling the internet with their content, it might feel like you need something special to get those views and clicks.
In this article we’re going to go over 20 best restaurant social media post ideas that you can use to enliven your social media presence.
We’re going to go over ideas platform-by-platform but keep in mind that there are no strict rules; if you feel like you can use Instagram ideas on TikTok, you probably can. It’s up to you and how you want your social media channels to look.
Consider using this restaurant social media marketing guide to get the best out of these restaurant ideas.
Get the Instagram Game Going
Instagram – what can we say? This is where you post pictures of your food, maximize your hashtag prowess, and flaunt your sustainable business practices. Some restaurants do it better than others. Let’s make sure you’re doing it best with these couple of ideas.
Remember to measure your progress with dedicated restaurant marketing software.
Chef’s Special Creation
For showcasing your chef preparing a signature dish, it’s crucial to engage with followers across social media platforms and highlight the chef’s skill and personality with high-quality video and audio.
Poor lighting, shaky camera work, and overly long videos should be avoided, as they detract from engagement and clarity. Adding a narrative or captions can greatly enhance viewer understanding and keep them engaged.
Behind-the-scenes
Sharing a day in the life of a kitchen staff member offers a glimpse into the teamwork and culture of your kitchen, and including user-generated content from staff stories enhances relatability.
Collaborations with local businesses can be highlighted to show community involvement. Avoid displaying disorganized or unclean areas, and refrain from sharing sensitive or private information without consent.
Customer Favorites
Posting photos of popular dishes as voted by customers should involve regular updates based on feedback, high-quality and accurate images, and encouragement for customers to share their experiences as user-generated content.
Avoid overly technical language or focusing only on exotic ingredients, as this may not resonate with a broader audience. Ultimately, the goal is to show your audience that you know what you’re cooking with.
Interactive Polls
Utilize Instagram Stories to run polls on new menu items, showing responsiveness to customer preferences and sharing poll outcomes to demonstrate community involvement. Balance the content between fun topics and business decisions.
Don’t ignore poll results or controversial topics. Remember that, in the end, you are dealing with real people. Ignore an unsatisfied customer, and it’ll probably come back to bite you. Make sure to respond to criticism in a manner that shows respect. Otherwise, you might alienate followers and reduce engagement.
Battle-tested and Creative Facebook Posts for Restaurants
Facebook is a perfect place to create and promote upcoming events, like Restaurant Week or a special local festival. A strong social media presence on this platform shows your social media followers that your palace is full of life.
Event Promotions
For event promotions, it’s crucial to effectively incorporate them into your restaurant social media strategy, ensuring each post is engaging and visually appealing across various social media platforms.
Best practices include providing complete event details and leveraging stories for reminders. However, avoid overwhelming your audience with repetitive posts or providing inaccurate information, as this can lead to confusion and disengagement. Measuring the impact of your promotion efforts on event attendance is also vital for understanding the effectiveness of your strategy.
Customer Testimonials
In your restaurant’s social media strategy, sharing customer testimonials helps build trust and credibility. Best practices involve responding to each testimonial and using a mix of text and visual content to showcase authenticity.
Be cautious of sharing fake or exaggerated testimonials, as this can damage your reputation. Additionally, posting too frequently can lead to testimonial fatigue, and neglecting negative feedback can harm customer relationships.
Live Q&A with the Chef
Hosting a live Q&A with the chef can be a great interactive element of your restaurant social media strategy. Ensure you announce these sessions in advance, maintain high audio and video quality, and be prepared with topics while being open to audience questions.
Avoid poor planning and technical issues that can detract from professionalism, and ensure the event is adequately promoted across social media platforms to ensure a good turnout. Engaging with the audience’s questions is crucial to connect and build rapport.
Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday posts are an excellent way to share your restaurant’s history and evolution, adding a nostalgic element to your restaurant’s social media strategy. Mixing old photos with interesting trivia or stories engages your audience.
However, avoid sharing irrelevant or personal content that doesn’t align with your brand image, and always ensure the quality of images is high. Interaction with followers who share their memories or experiences is key to boosting engagement.
Employee Profiles
Featuring employee profiles is an effective way to humanize your brand within your restaurant’s social media strategy. Best practices include regularly featuring different staff members across your social media platforms, and sharing their roles and personal stories with high-quality images or videos.
Avoid posting without employee consent and focus on showcasing the contributions of all team members, not just higher-level staff. Consistent posting and compelling storytelling are essential to maintain follower interest and engagement.
Fun and Hip TikTok Restaurant Post Ideas
TikTok is THE social media platform to go with all of your video materials. This is where you can get a little creative and post content that is a little less ‘professional’. Let’s get you some social media ideas for TikTok.
Trending Recipe Tutorial
Create a fast-paced, engaging video showing a recipe process. Use a mix of top-down and side angles for clarity. Sync your video with trending music or sounds for better reach. Keep it under 60 seconds for optimal engagement.
@craigsla You asked. We delivered. THE Honey Truffle Chicken. 🍗🍯🤌 #craigsla #craigs #restaurant #larestaurants #honeytrufflechicken #honeytruffle #recipe #howto #tutorial #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound - Craig’s Restaurant
Engaging with viewers by inviting them to share their own recipe variations or to suggest new ideas for future videos is a great way to boost interaction. Avoiding overly complex instructions and poor video quality is crucial. Additionally, it’s a missed opportunity not to host social media contests, perhaps inviting viewers to recreate the recipe for a chance to win a dining experience.
Food Challenge
Identify current food challenges or create your own. Make sure the video is fun and visually appealing. Use relevant food hashtags to increase visibility. Encourage your followers to participate and tag your restaurant.
@randysantel Tasmania’s Toughest Burger Menu Challenge at The Standard in Hobart weighs over 8lbs and Costs $120 if you lose!! #randysantel #foodchallenge #burgers #cheeseburgers #chickenburger #menuchallenge #tassie #loadedfries #applepie #hobart #tasmania ♬ original sound - Randy Santel
Transforming the challenge into a contest with a host social media contests can increase engagement and excitement. However, avoid creating challenges that are off-brand, potentially hazardous, or lacking in post-challenge engagement, as these could negatively impact the restaurant’s image.
Dance Video with Staff
Participate in popular dance trends. Film in a well-lit, spacious area of your restaurant. Practice the choreography to ensure synchronization. Keep the atmosphere fun and light-hearted. These videos can also serve to cross-promote local events or special nights at the restaurant.
Engaging with the audience by creating dance challenges or inviting them to participate in host social media contests can further enhance interaction. However, it’s important to ensure staff are comfortable and willing to participate, and the content should be appropriate for all audiences.
Time-Lapse of Meal Preparation
Shoot a time-lapse video from a steady angle, preferably from above. Ensure consistent lighting throughout. Time-lapses are great for showing a dish’s transformation in a short, engaging format.
Consider using these videos to host social media contests, like guessing the right ingredients for a chance to win a prize. Avoid overly rapid time-lapses that are hard to follow, and ensure the final product is visually appealing.
User Interaction
Encourage guests to post their experiences and tag your restaurant. Share the best ones on your profile. This builds community and shows customer appreciation. Always credit the original poster.
@404restaurantbar Come visit your favorite restaurant & bar. Hula hoop & Limbo contest every Thursday. #thingstodoinatlanta #404restaurantbar #vibesinatl #foryou #feelingpeachy #Ladiesnight ♬ The Nasty Song - Edited - Lil Ru
Hosting a social media contest where customers share their best moments for a chance to win something can significantly boost user interaction. Avoid reposting without permission, and be sure to address both positive and negative feedback to show that all customer experiences are valued.
X (Previously Twitter) Post Ideas for Restaurants
X, previously known as Twitter, is the place you share your announcements and daily updates. To be fair, it can be treated somewhat like Instagram and Facebook stories. This is where you connect with your followers.
Specials Announcement
Tweet concise, enticing descriptions of your specials. Attach a high-quality image of the dish. Use relevant hashtags to increase discoverability. Pin the tweet for more visibility.
Collaborating with other local businesses for joint specials can expand your reach and foster community connections.
Overposting or lack of content variation can lead to follower fatigue, and it’s crucial to remember that while making posts is important, engaging with the audience’s reactions is only half the battle.
Fun Food Facts
Share interesting culinary facts or trivia. Keep it short and sweet. Use a related image or graphic to catch the eye. This positions your restaurant as both informative and entertaining. Sharing fun and interesting facts about food and dining can be both educational and entertaining for your followers, helping to position your restaurant as a knowledgeable hub.
Tying these facts to your menu or ingredients can subtly promote your offerings. However, sharing incorrect or unverified facts can harm your credibility, and failing to make the content relevant to your restaurant customers can result in disengagement, undermining the effectiveness of your social media strategy.
Hashtag Campaigns
Create a unique hashtag for specific campaigns or contests. Promote it consistently across posts. Monitor the hashtag and engage with users who use it. This helps in building a community around your brand.
Not actively engaging with posts that use your hashtag represents a missed opportunity for interaction and can diminish the impact of your campaign.
Polls on Dining Preferences
Run polls asking about dining habits, menu preferences, or food choices. Keep the options limited for clear results. Analyze and share the results in a follow-up tweet, potentially influencing your future menu decisions.
Using the results to adapt your offerings or marketing strategies demonstrates that you value and act upon restaurant customers’ feedback. However, neglecting the poll results or posting irrelevant or too frequent polls can lead to engagement fatigue, making it less likely that followers will participate in future interactions and share valuable insights.
Industry News
Share relevant news or articles. Add your insight or opinion to make it more personal. Use images or videos to enhance engagement. This positions your restaurant as a thought leader in the industry.
Sharing relevant industry news or articles keeps your audience informed and positions your restaurant as a thought leader in the field. Be mindful, though, as sharing outdated or irrelevant news can lead to misinformation and disinterest among your followers.
