With 90% of guests researching a restaurant or establishment before they dine, the competition between food giants on social media has never been more intense. From TikTok to YouTube, they look to conquer every available platform in an attempt to persuade people to try their newest creations with clever campaigns.
Major establishments such as Wendy’s and McDonald’s have leapt at the opportunity to grow their audiences by using creative social media strategies, and other brands are following suit after witnessing their success.
Wendy’s has built a following of over 1 million Instagram users by making people laugh with their sarcastic and relevant memes. With a large proportion of their audience being Millennials and Gen Z, they have taken the time to study and understand their audience, and as a result, their content always gains high levels of engagement.
Another success story is from a fellow fast-food giant, McDonald’s, with their #RaiseYourArches campaign. The #RaiseYourArches campaign was based on a video, where a group of office workers all agree to visit McDonald’s on their lunch break. They do not say a word, only raising their eyebrows at each other in way of suggesting the idea. The idea of the campaign is to show that the craving to have a McDonald’s is so universal, it can be communicated and agreed to without saying a word.
After teasing the campaign using Instagram posts with cryptic emojis, McDonald’s released the advert on social media and TV in January 2023. To drive people to the food establishment, McDonald’s followed the launch with a two-week promotion scheme that offered app users exclusive discounts every day for the full duration of the campaign.
So, how do you know which social media platform to use for your foodservice establishment? Here are some social media platforms that we recommend you consider to help promote your brand:
- Facebook: You can use Facebook to share everything, from foodie images to essential business announcements. Facebook has an internal business tool where you can look at in-depth analytics to monitor your engagement levels.
- Instagram: Instagram is an essential for any foodservice establishment as it allows you to showcase your food creations on one app, for all to see. There’s also Instagram Stories and Reels, where you can share short videos to your followers and show them some behind the scenes magic.
- Twitter: With Twitter, you can share videos, images, links, polls and more to engage with your followers and attract new customers. You can also like and retweet other businesses tweets to gain more engagement. Although, Twitter has a limit of 240 characters or less when writing a post, so remember to keep this in mind.
- TikTok: TikTok is a relatively new social media platform where users create and share short videos. The ‘For You Page’ feature is where videos are suggested to users by TikTok, using algorithms. By having a feature like the ‘For You Page’ businesses can reach new audiences that they may not usually reach, meaning it is a great platform to use when launching new campaigns.
We have studied the marketing techniques and social media strategies of large food companies, and have created a list of top tips to follow when launching a new campaign:
- Study your customers and target demographic – what do they want to see?
- Choose the right platform for your brand and study the best times to post content on each platform.
- Utilise hashtags. Don’t be afraid to create your own hashtag and encourage customers and followers to use this when discussing your brand or new product.
- Where possible, collaborate with influencers to help you reach new audiences and gain more followers. Consider promoting a competition alongside this to get the attention of your followers.
- Prioritise engagement over follower count. Make sure to check and analyse your data regularly and report on this so you know what works and what needs changing.
- Stay up-to-date with social media trends.
- Keep a close eye on your main competitors – watch them closely to see their marketing techniques or any new campaigns that may be on the horizon.
By implementing these tips, your brand will be well on its way to building a solid online presence which will support you in any future campaigns you look to launch.
If you are in the foodservice industry and want some more information on how Bluestorm can help with your social media, get in touch today!