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Getting the most out of your Instagram presence

Having the right type of presence on any social media site is rough, but Instagram takes a certain finesse.

August 30, 2018

By Laura Buckler, contributing writer

We are long past the time when Instagram was just a fun app for the younger generation and celebrities. The growth and development of this social media have turned Instagram into a powerful marketing tool, enabling thousands of brands to reach new customers and promote their products and services. It is estimated that by 2019 Instagram ad revenue will reach $10 billion in revenue. This shows the scale of business involvement with Instagram and the value that this social media holds for online marketing. 

One might argue that Instagram was involved with the food and restaurant industry since its inception. Millenials love to post photos of different delicious meals on their Instagram profiles. Furthermore, a recent study showed that persons between the age of 18 and 35 spend five days a year browsing through food-related photos. This information brings us to a simple conclusion that having your restaurant business present on Instagram is a smart marketing strategy. In order to get you in the best position, we decided to share several pieces of advice on how to make Instagram work for you in the best possible way.

Target your audience properly

When you plan to start a campaign, wasting your views on the audience that isn’t interested in what you have to offer is of paramount importance. Per example, if you’re promoting a new roasted pork recipe, you will do best to leave out areas where pork is not massively consumed. This means that you will have to do some research before you lunch your campaign. In case you don’t have the time to spend hours on research, then you might have to spend a few extra dollars to hire a specialist to complete this task for you. By the end, you will have the perfect demographics enjoying your delicious food photos.

Combine words with visuals

Presenting a tasty dish will take you so far, however, in order to bring your audience even closer to your restaurant, it’s important to add some extra content, simply to fill in the blanks. You could include basic ingredients or propose the best drink that goes with the food that you shared with your audience. If you’re not a gifted writer or simply lack the time to create compelling textual content, you could go online and find a good essay service to create engaging text to follow your photos.          

Use hashtags

Marketing expert, Kim Garst, explained how important hashtags are in terms of marketing. According to her article, there are several benefits that hashtags can deliver:

• More accurate audience targeting, especially if hashtags are related to a certain trend
• Keeping track of your reputation and what others are saying about your restaurant or offer
• Perform better customer service
• Stay in touch with the competition
• Promote special events and offers
• Help you find relevant discussions
• Additionally, you could use geotags in order to share your location with every photo you post.
• Use influencers to promote your content

This relatively new form of online marketing is becoming one of the most prominent social media marketing strategies. Studies show that for every dollar invested in influencer marketing companies get a $7.65 return on investments. This is truly astonishing information, given the fact that influencer marketing works rather simple. All you need to do is contact a person with a large number of followers that posts photos and other content related to your industry and have them post or share your photos with their followers.

You might not get a horde of people rushing in your restaurant all at once but considering the fact that 67 percent of marketers want to increase their influencer marketing budget for the next year, and 55 percent of companies claiming that this form of promotion brought more customers to their business, it seems as a smart business strategy to connect with some VIP Instagrammers.

Conclusion

The restaurant business is connected to social media, especially Instagram, whether we decide to ignore it or use it as a tool. Simply having your brand existing on this platform is not enough if you wish your business to flourish. 

Cover photo: iStock