Instagram marketing ideas that you and your restaurant can follow. 

If you are managing a restaurant, you are strongly encouraged to go ahead and take a look at Instagram marketing. That’s because it is one of the most effective marketing methods available for you to consider. We can see how many restaurants are achieving positive results through the support that they can get out of Instagram.

Here is a list of 20 of the most impressive Instagram marketing ideas that restaurant owners can follow in order to enhance their business activities and drive more sales.

  1. Promote popular drinks and dishes

To begin with, you can start showing the popular drinks and dishes that are served in your restaurant through Instagram. People love to see such posts. Due to the same reason, people will tend to go ahead and share those posts within their networks as well. If they have consumed the dish that you are promoting, there is a high possibility for this to happen. In the long run, you will be able to get your dishes and drinks to be seen by a higher number of individuals, which can contribute to your sales volume.

  1. You can introduce new foods with ease

If you are planning to release a new dish, you can get people to discuss about it with the help of Instagram marketing. All you have to do is to come up with a strategic marketing campaign, while highlighting the new dish that you are going to release. You can then promote it to both new customers as well as regular customers of your restaurant via Instagram. When people get to know about the new dish, they will come across the need to walk into your restaurant and try that out.

  1. You can create contests

Contests on Instagram can deliver amazing results to the restaurant owners. That’s because organizing a contest is in a position to provide a great assistance to you with increasing the number of engagement that your posts receive. People love to receive free or discounted items. You can have a contest in order to give away a free meal to the followers of the Instagram account. All you have to do is to ask them to upload a creative picture taken at your restaurant. Then more people will engage with your restaurant on Instagram, which can eventually help you to boost the engagement that you receive.

  1. You can share feature posts from customers

People who walk into your restaurant would snap pictures of your dishes and upload them on Instagram. In addition to that, people will also be uploading pictures of interior décor of your restaurant as well. You can think about sharing them through the official Instagram page from time to time. This can help you to get credibility. Other people will then notice what kind of a good service that you will be offering to them. Therefore, you can receive outstanding results with ease.

  1. You can upload behind the scene photos

Your customers would love to see pictures of your restaurant kitchen. Likewise, they will also love to see what the special events held at your restaurant are as well. You can showcase those behind the scene moments in the form of Instagram posts. Then you will be able to create more engagement with the followers on Instagram. Along with time, you will be able to tempt those followers to come to your restaurant and witness what you are offering to them.

  1. Take part in a takeover

You can also think about partnering with the other restaurants available in the neighbourhood for a takeover. Then you will be using each other’s Instagram accounts so that you will be showcasing one restaurant per day. On the day where everyone is promoting your restaurant, you can stick to some of the most popular dishes that you offer. Or else, you can also think about sharing some of the special offers available in your restaurant. This kind of approach can help everyone to boost sales and engagement along with time.

  1. Get the most out of hashtags

Hashtags is one of the important features that you will be able to discover in Instagram. You are encouraged to take the maximum out of hashtags in order to promote your business on the social media network. Before you do that, you are encouraged to go ahead and create a unique hashtag. The unique hashtag should be related to the brand name of the restaurant. Then you can encourage people to keep on using that unique hashtag. It can help you to boost the visibility of the restaurant along with time and end up with outstanding results at the end of the day.

  1. Develop Instagram stories

Stories is another prominent feature that you can discover within Instagram. You should also think about getting the most out of Instagram stories to promote your restaurant business among potential customer groups. You will be able to showcase your creativity and personality to followers with the help of Instagram stories. In here, you will be uploading a small photo or a video clip, which shows what day to day life at your restaurant is. These stories will be visible to your followers for a duration of 24 hours.

  1. Use the Instagram live feature

Instagram recently introduced the live feature and it has received lots of attention among customer groups. You can also think about getting the most out of it in order to promote your restaurant and boost your visibility. If you are having a special event at your restaurant, you can think about using the Instagram live feature to promote it. Or else, you can take a random moment on the day and go ahead with Instagram live. You can also think about promoting your dishes with it as well. No matter for what purpose you use Instagram live, you will be able to receive outstanding results at the end of the day.

  1. Comment on the posts of customers

When a customer uploads a post on Instagram, which is taken at your restaurant, you should go ahead and comment on it. In most of the instances, the customers would tag you in the posts as well. In such a situation, you should understand that they are expecting a response from you. You can simply leave a comment on those posts and grab the attention of those customers to what you offer.

  1. Showcase the pride within your community

People love to see businesses that have taken appropriate measures to invest in the community. You need to understand this fact and go ahead with Instagram marketing. For example, you can have volunteer projects, which can benefit the community. A beach cleanup is a perfect example for it. When you doing it, you can wear restaurant branded t-shirts. Then you can provide attention to the good work that you do with the help of Instagram. This can help you to leave a positive impression on the minds of your customers. They will love the work that you do and you will notice that such posts are receiving more attention from the community when compared to others.

  1. You can upload posts about giveaways

It is also possible for you to go ahead and upload posts on Instagram about giveaways that you offer. Giveaways can be considered as one of the fun-filled methods available for you to receive engagement with comments, likes and tags. You can ask your followers on Instagram to guess how many dishes of a specific food will be sold per day. Then you can give something, such as a free meal to a person who wins the contest. Likewise, you can run giveaways from time to time and get more people to purchase what you offer.

  1. Have a sense of humor

Instagram is not a social media network for you to be serious. You need to maintain a sense of humour at all times when you are conducting marketing campaigns on the social media network. This can deliver outstanding results to you at the end of the day. In fact, your followers would definitely appreciate the sense of humour that you will be maintained throughout the posts that are uploaded to Instagram.

  1. Feature your employees

Apart from featuring your dishes and drinks, you can also think about featuring your employees on Instagram. For example, people would love to see the chefs, who prepare their favourite dishes. You can easily promote them on Instagram. Along with a picture, you can also show how long they have been working for your restaurant as well. It is better if you can do this on their birthdays. Then your followers will come forward to wish, which can further boost your engagement.

  1. Feature regular customers

Your restaurant obviously has regular customers. It is possible for you to think about featuring those regular customers through the official Instagram account as well. You can think about providing them with a discounted meal in exchange of the featured post. Then your regular customers will feel valued and recognized as well. This can help you to attract them more and more towards your restaurant while grabbing the attention of new customers.

  1. Celebrate milestones on Instagram

You can celebrate the milestones of your restaurant on Instagram. It is another great Instagram marketing technique available for you to take a look at. This can provide a great help to you with featuring the service anniversaries of the hard-working employees as well. In addition to that, you can celebrate the achievements of your loyal employees with the help of Instagram featuring.

  1. Have polls on Instagram

You can easily have polls on Instagram as well. If you are planning to introduce a new dish, you can see how people would love it by having an Instagram poll. Then you can convince your followers that you care a lot about their opinion as well. On the other hand, this method of Instagram marketing is in a position to increase the foot traffic that you will be getting to your restaurant at the end of the day.

  1. Display gift cards and merchandise

People also love to get their hands on gift cards and merchandise. You can think about featuring them on the Instagram account as well. If you are planning to do this and get the best possible results, you are encouraged to wait until the holidays. For example, giving away gift cards during the Christmas holiday season can deliver outstanding results to you with enhancing the overall popularity of the restaurant and getting more people to come into it.

  1. Create backdrops

You can also create places in your restaurant, which are worthy of taking photos. Then all people who walk into the restaurant would love to take a picture with that background. You can either use a large logo on a blank wall or an interesting wallpaper to create this backdrop. Then you can encourage your customers to go ahead and share that on Instagram as well. While sharing the post, you need to ask them to tag your restaurant as well. Then you will be able to promote your restaurant without spending a lot of effort.

  1. Post content on a regular basis

Last but not least, it is important to understand that you should be active on Instagram marketing to get the most out of it. It is better if you can upload a post on Instagram on a daily basis. Then you will be able to retain the visibility that you have created for your business on the social media network. It can deliver outstanding results in the long run as well.